An Internet of Things (IoT) Model for Optimising Downtime Management: A Smart Lighting Case Study

Brenda Scholtz,Jean-Paul Van Belle,Mando Kapeso

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-15651-0_9

Brenda Scholtz, Jean-Paul Van Belle + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15651-0_9

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Publication Date: Jan 1, 2019
Citations: 4	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Nelson Mandela University, University of Cape Town

Abstract

AbstractIn today’s global, competitive economy, downtime has been identified as a key performance indicator for field service organisations. The emergence of an Internet of Things (IoT) has brought new enhancement possibilities to various industries such as the manufacturing and field service industry. This paper provides a vision and motivation for using IoT in Field Service Management (FSM) in order to address data quality and service delivery issues. The theory of information quality was used to undergird the research and a model for the optimisation of downtime management in the field service industry using the IoT is proposed. The model was used to drive the design of a “proof of concept” prototype, the KapCha prototype. The paper also includes a report on an empirical study of the application of the proposed IoT model in FSM. The experiment findings showed that the prototype reduced the round trip delay time for sending and receiving data and was scalable. As a result, access to quality information supporting advanced data analytics and artificial intelligence was provided. Therefore, service technicians can be alerted more quickly as soon as any potential technical problems occur. In turn improved diagnostics and more efficient decision making can be achieved. The model and the lessons learned provide valuable guidance to other researchers and fill the gap in research of empirical studies conducted on IoT implementations.

Highlights

The lack of accurate, available and real-time information is a common challenge faced by field service organisations [1]
There is a need for solutions that efficiently address the challenges of Field Service Management (FSM) and downtime management and that support the provision of quality information and improved decision making and service delivery levels [3]
There is a need for research into how technologies in the Internet of Things (IoT) can be applied to various business domains [20]. This paper addresses this gap by investigating an IoT application in the domain of smart lighting

Summary

Introduction

The lack of accurate, available and real-time information is a common challenge faced by field service organisations [1]. There is a need for solutions that efficiently address the challenges of FSM and downtime management and that support the provision of quality information and improved decision making and service delivery levels [3]. In the context of cities, streetlights are one of the most important assets to maintain as they provide safe roads and enhanced security for homes, businesses and city centres They are costly to operate and account for an estimated 40% of the amount of electricity spent in an urban city [5]. To address this issue, city managers are implementing smart lighting solutions. The IoT is described as a decentralised system of “smart” objects with sensing, processing, and network capabilities [7]

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