Digitalisation is the buzzword for Wartsila as it slowly forges a new future away from its traditional business of manufacturing engines and other hardware for shipping companies.
That might sound an odd choice for one of the world's leading suppliers of marine engines.
Yet, looking to the future, vice-president Pierpaolo Barbone suggests that digitalisation is the best way to bring value to customers. The deal with Carnival represents the sort of future deals that Wartsila sees as becoming one of the mainstays of its business.
“As a technology company, we are in transformation, we are on a digital journey from hardware to software, and we want to do that to create value for our customers, and the value for our customers is in reliability in optimisation,” he said.
“If this is then made through also providing spare parts or whatever — the traditional business — that is fine. But the main target for us now and in the future is to create value, to help customers increase the profits and decrease cost. To do that, we are moving from hardware to software. That is our obsession for the future.”
The network is already being developed, with a series of knowledge centres around the world. A virtual service engineer system transmits live video to shore, which then gives real-time assistance to the onboard engineer.
“Our strength is that we have a unique footprint with our own competences and our own people in 70 different countries. I believe we are forerunners but there are others, and for me the competition is always welcome because it helps us to improve,” Barbone said.
