Aras Innovator Helps MacGregor Set Sail With New Monitoring Solution

Downtime and transportation delays are the Achilles heel for maritime transportation companies. That’s why, as part of its on-going transition to digital solutions and services, MacGregor, a global leader in cargo and load handling solutions, zeroed in on real-time condition and predictive monitoring services as a way to help its customers mitigate the risk of costly unplanned downtime.

With MacGregor equipment onboard half of the world’s maritime fleets, it was smart business to create a solution that would give customers in the shipping industry real-time insights into the health of their equipment along with recommendations for ensuring proactive and timely actions. OnWatch Scout is also designed to help improve first-time fix rates.

As a long-time user of Aras Innovator for PDM and later, PLM deployments, MacGregor worked with Aras technical consultants to develop OnWatch Scout, an advanced monitoring solution designed to support a vessel. OnWatch Scout gives customers real-time insights into potential problems aboard a ship, yet it goes further by serving up the relevant documents and identifying the spare parts required for a fix, saving valuable time typically devoted to problem-solving. The software delivers clear visibility to engineers working onboard the ship as well as on-shore technical staff and other key stakeholders.

“Our intent was to go a step further by not just offering predictive maintenance, but also prescriptive maintenance capabilities into a solution,” said Bhavik Thakker, director for digital solutions at MacGregor, in prepared remarks. “One of the key features of OnWatch Scout is having all relevant data at hand, such as equipment manuals, specification sheets, and other related documents. We link all the recommended steps, spare parts, and documents related to those alarms.”

Aras Innovator serves as the backbone for creating the database, functioning as a single source for managing the data, which includes manuals, step-by-step instructions, and spare parts documentation. Aras Digital Twin Core is used to create a digital twin configuration of a physical vessel, both an as-maintained and as-built model.  The digital twin piece also provides the necessary context, that when coupled with performance data, enables advanced analytics, visualization, and simulation capabilities to further improve reliability predictions and ensure timely maintenance planning.

Watch this video to learn more about OnWatch Scout, which won the SMART4SEA Technology Award in 2022.