What Is Prognostics And How Does It Work In Trucks And Buses?

With years of experience building engines and innovating groundbreaking technologies to address our customers’ greatest challenges, Cummins Inc. knows that businesses need forward-looking diagnostic system solutions. As the only manufacturer offering asset-based prognostics for Commercial Vehicles, Cummins’ digital vehicle maintenance goes beyond traditional diagnostic systems.

Here’s all you need to know about prognostics and Cummins predictive service solutions.

WHAT IS PROGNOSTICS?

Predictive service insights, also known as prognostics, is preventative technology at its finest.

Cummins digital remote diagnostics solutions are constantly evolving to support customer’s greatest needs. Our prognostics products have the capability to combine remote monitoring and predictive technology with real-time equipment operation that has advanced analytics. This helps avoid unnecessary downtime and reduce cost, all while providing the reliability you need. Technology like this detects likely component failures before they occur.

It can identify performance abnormalities before a fault is triggered and rank notifications by severity, enabling customers to address the most pressing issues first and develop a smarter maintenance plan for equipment. Customers are able to intervene sooner, avoiding more costly repairs while preventing potential further issues. This proactive approach decreases unplanned downtime while enhancing an engine’s overall performance and reliability.

Cummins’ full suite of digital technologies, applications and hardware are designed for your equipment and business. Cummins Connected Solutions® meet stringent data security, storage, processing and transmission requirements. They’ve been validated to deliver optimal performance for current and future capabilities. Cummins ensures that customer data is protected and only shared in the manner to which customers agree.

HOW DOES PROGNOSTICS WORK?

With real-time remote monitoring and advanced analytics, prognostics uses data-driven insights to anticipate potential faults. It can analyze those data trends and performance patterns so that future problems can be avoided before they occur.

Cummins is constantly receiving and monitoring data to evaluate the health and performance of every engine in a customer’s fleet – whether it’s ten or a thousand engines. While insights are gathered for every engine, including the healthy ones, Cummins will only notify customers of the critical few that require attention. For example, a customer with 5000 vehicles in their fleet may only receive notifications for 500 of their vehicle’s engines as the remaining 4500’s data was evaluated, and all came back with no issues. Cummins remote monitoring technology maintains a high level of accuracy across every engine in a customer’s fleet, not simply the ones with potential issues.

Ultimately, preventative maintenance can greatly extend the lifespan and performance of engines and vehicles while helping customers reduce downtime and costs. It also gives customers peace of mind knowing that Cummins continually monitors all vehicles while the customer can focus on the few that need attention. Cummins stands by our predictions, covering the cost of replacing components predicted to fail during the vehicle’s warranty period.

Prognostics can be enabled directly through Acumen®, Cummins’ smart computing hardware, or via your original equipment manufacturer or telematics service provider.

WHY IS PROGNOSTICS IMPORTANT FOR FLEETS?

Increased uptime

There are many benefits of remote prognostics. With costs and logistical challenges associated with unscheduled downtime, having a tool that provides early warnings of potential engine problems is invaluable.

The ability to predict problems before they threaten smooth operations means repairs can be scheduled to align with routine maintenance stops. This increased uptime not only ensures that truck and bus services remain consistent but also improves customer satisfaction.

Cost savings

Prognostics can offer financial benefits that are crucial for efficient vehicle management. The ability to preemptively identify potential problems allows for better budget planning and control. It can also aid in reducing unexpected repair costs and extend the life of the vehicle by ensuring that minor issues don’t escalate into major, costlier problems. Prognostics even has the potential to reduce the total cost of vehicle ownership.

Additionally, prognostics’ role extends beyond immediate vehicle maintenance. The collection of data allows for better long-term strategic decisions. Understanding patterns of wear and tear under specific operating conditions, for example, can influence future vehicle purchasing decisions.

Improved engines

Data analyzed through prognostics helps Cummins continue to build and innovate. Such insights ensure that we’re not only continually providing the best engine for you today, but also building for your power needs for the future, ensuring only the highest standards of durability and reliability.

KEY EXAMPLES OF PROGNOSTICS IN ACTION

Cummins can monitor and predict, using advanced datasets, when a component is likely to fail on an engine. An alert is sent to the customer providing detailed information about the issues and recommending preemptive maintenance. This proactive measure ensures the issue is addressed before it becomes truly damaging, significantly boosting vehicle uptime and avoiding costly, unplanned downtime.

Explore Cummins’ full suite of electronic service tools, from software and mobile applications to digital hardware geared to optimize the performance and reliability of your Cummins-powered equipment. Ask your Cummins representative, Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) or Telematics Service Provider (TSP) about how to sign up for access.

Cummins’ prognostic solutions provide a critical tool for modern trucking and bus fleet management, offering powerful predictive capabilities to anticipate and prevent future vehicle issues. To discover more about Cummins’ remote technologies and products coming soon, contact your local Cummins sales office today.