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How Peterson builds a smarter wood chipper with Azure IOT

Focus on: Empower Employees, Optimize Operations, Engage Customers, Transform Products

Forestry is an industry as old as time. Like any field, it has evolved as new technologies and tools have been developed. From axes to chainsaws, and on to massive industrial harvesters, lumberjacks (and jills) have benefited directly from every new age of innovation. But with those new developments come new responsibilities. Axes need sharpening, chainsaws require oiling, and heavy machines must be monitored and maintained for optimum performance. As these professionals move further and further into the woods, the consequences of a snapped belt or blown piston become greater and greater. A poorly timed breakdown doesn’t just take the machine down, it can bring the entire operation to a grinding halt.

In 1981, Peterson was founded to fill a demand for more efficient forestry machines. Since then, the company has found its niche identifying industry needs and creating equipment to fill that market gap. As massive changes in technology, from the internet to big data and IoT, continue to shape the forestry industry, Peterson’s Remote Monitoring IoT Manager, Matt Prenevost, and his team have adapted their service model to constantly meet those new demands.

Thirty years ago, Peterson was a small, family-owned company that saw a need for a specialized piece of equipment in the forestry industry and designed a solution. Since then, the company has grown to include a recycling division. Last year, Matt began leading the company’s digital transformation journey, focusing on technology that had yet to be explored in their industry: IoT.

Proactive predictions for improved performance Peterson is known for its innovative, high-end products. “We are always trying to improve how our equipment works and how we take care of our customers,” Matt explains. Peterson realized that enabling the company’s customers to know what their equipment was doing, regardless of location, would help them do their jobs better every day and minimize breakdowns.

“We started with an in-house remote monitoring package,” Matt says. The simple, HTML-based display connected to a machine and tracked key performance metrics like engine temperature. While this early model couldn’t provide machine history or predictive analytics, it was certainly a start. “As technology has evolved and cloud computing has become so prevalent, we wanted to see what we could do with it,” Matt says.

Before adopting a new system, Matt and the Peterson team wanted a clear benefit for their customers. Azure IoT is both retrofitted to active machines and built into new ones. Operators and techs can monitor performance metrics, anticipate when a part is going to fail, and have it delivered and replaced before there’s ever an issue, all of which keeps their customers on schedule and workers engaged.

“In the early days, the only way you’d know if something was wrong was when you received a phone call,” Matt says. The company’s control systems consisted of relays and point-to-point wiring, that later evolved into PLC-type controls. “It was common for our customers to buy a machine but not know how to set it up or run it most efficiently,” Matt remembers. Getting customers up and running, and dealing with onboarding issues was a time-consuming, manual process.

With the implementation of Azure IoT, the new “Peterson+,” program allows the Peterson team to walk customers through problems, and even anticipate issues before they happen.

Techs can update operating code or apply safety updates remotely rather than sending someone out from the factory so customers can get up and running in a fraction of the time. The upgrade means Peterson’s machines are smarter, customer satisfaction is higher, and their investment is protected. It also gives Peterson direct interactions with the people using their machines, and a huge influx of data that they use to continually improve their products and refine the customer experience.

Quick and clear communication with Dynamics 365

Peterson has been working with Microsoft partner Mazik for several years now. “They were Peterson’s implementation partner for Dynamics 365,” Matt says. Learning that Dynamics 365 would give them the ability to leverage their existing systems made the decision an easy one.

“I also serve as our CRM administrator,” says Matt, “so I’m working to customize our CRM solution and switch our ERP solution over to the cloud.” Mazik’s executive staff helped Matt and the Peterson team work through the planning stages and got them up and running smoothly. “We’re very happy with where we are and how our product is looking.”

Although the company is still in its IoT infancy, their goal is to scale quickly. “Our intent is to offer parts and have them available when customers need them, and even deliver products well before they’re needed.”

Another plus of working in the cloud is the ability to provide access to off-site workers. “We have quite a few off-site employees,” Matt explains, “but because we struggled with a VPN and the ability to access servers off-site, we needed a better, more secure solution. Dynamics 365 blends well with some of the other cloud-based solutions we’re using.” Connecting and working in the cloud versus relying on their internal servers made a huge difference in both productivity and security.

Where before, off-site workers would have to make phone calls and potentially fold-in three or four people on a simple request, now they can access info in real time via the cloud.

The evolving role of IT

As more companies embrace big data and IoT, both siloed solutions and department roles are transforming into a more integrated approach. Matt started his career in engineering, was a fan of tech, and earned a degree in computer science. Where that journey led him is a sign of the times. “A year and a half ago my position didn’t exist within the company,” Matt explains. “I’m tied in with engineering and service rather than the IT group.”

Before Matt’s new position, Peterson’s IT group was a separate entity, but he’s working to bridge that gap. “The more you can integrate and evolve, your IT group and your technology group need to evolve and expand as well,” Matt advises. “A tech computer background is great, but having knowledge about company products and how customers use those products has become a key component of the whole package. I wouldn’t have thought that 15 years ago.”

The Future of Forestry

Moving forward, one of Peterson’s primary goals is integration. “We are looking to leverage these new solutions throughout our sales, marketing, and service groups.” Currently Peterson handles equipment and customer tracking in an Access Database, that doesn’t work well when multiple people log in at the same time. Integrating these tasks into Dynamics 365 will allow the company to offer its customers direct contact with the service staff, marketing, sales, and parts departments. “At a macro level, we envision a one-stop-shop for everything related to Peterson equipment,” Matt says, “from the ability to access information to ordering parts online.”

Others in the industry seem ready to jump-start their own digital transformation. At the recent CONExpo in Las Vegas, the company unveiled the new “Peterson+” program to great feedback. “People are excited,” Matt admits. “We’ve received positive feedback across the board.”

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