Most EV charging stations are unattended, which makes it difficult for manufacturers to accurately understand the cause of an issue when one is detected. Determining whether the problem is due to a station malfunction, connectivity outage, wear and tear, or even vandalism is challenging without the ability to physically inspect the station.
Our client, one of the world’s largest EV charging station manufacturers, wanted to ensure that their service operations were equipped to deliver at the next level as it continued to rapidly scale its network of charging ports.
Challenges
Most EV charging stations are unattended, which makes it difficult for manufacturers to accurately understand the cause of an issue when one is detected. Determining whether the problem is due to a station malfunction, connectivity outage, wear and tear, or even vandalism is challenging without the ability to physically inspect the station. Conversely, some stations may appear operational on the network but not actually be able to provide a charge to an EV or accept payment, and detecting this discrepancy can take days.
As a result, the company’s service leaders have no choice but to send a field technician onsite simply to diagnose the issue, followed by additional visits to complete the repair.
The business impact of multiple technician visits to diagnose and repair the same station was:
- Lengthy resolution times with a Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) of 7 days.
- Increased operational costs owing to multiple onsite visits and increased truck rolls.
- Loss of revenue because of non-functional charging stations.
These challenges additionally affected customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores and brand equity.
Solution implemented: Bruviti Issue Agent
With Bruviti’s Issue Agent, the manufacturer realized that customers using the station could help solve the challenges by becoming an integral part of the diagnostic process.
- Enhanced image recognition for troubleshooting: Issue Agent capabilities are integrated into the company’s mobile app, allowing customers at the station to use their phone cameras to troubleshoot issues with intuitive step-by-step guides. Customers can report issues directly to the manufacturer with precise image capture.
- Automated diagnosis and predictive resolution: Trained on a large array of data including service and warranty records and parts Bill of Materials (BoMs), the AI agent automatically recognize individual charging stations, diagnose the root cause of issues, and predict the parts and triage steps needed for resolution.
- Seamless service workflow integration: Work orders containing precise details of the station, the issue to be repaired, and the required parts are generated in the manufacturer’s service management system for rapid dispatch of a field service agent.
- Ongoing model training and enhancement: The AI models continuously tune with new data to enhance their accuracy and effectiveness.
Solution deployment
Bruviti Issue Agent is fully embedded within the manufacturer’s secure enterprise environment and deployed through a plug-in to the company-wide customer and service management system, delivering seamless integration with existing service workflows and UI.
Results with Bruviti Issue Agent
Conclusion
Bruviti’s Issue Agent transformed the manufacturer’s ability to identify and diagnose issues with charging stations in the field. By accurately pinpointing root causes through detailed image capture and analysis, the agent can rapidly determine the necessary parts and technician expertise required for repairs. This seamless integration into the company’s service management system significantly enhanced process efficiency, ensuring timely and effective resolutions without the need for initial on-site diagnostics.
By making customers an integral part of the process, our client enhanced productivity, cost-effectiveness, and ultimately customer satisfaction, effectively addressing their challenges and preparing for profitable growth in the electric vehicle supply equipment market.
