The installed base of an industrial manufacturer is, in economic terms, its most valuable commercial asset and, simultaneously, the worst managed. The asymmetry is not ideological. It is an empirical observation documented by different firms in different sectors with convergent conclusions.
PwC published in 2022 a central figure. Only 30 per cent of industrial manufacturers have visibility of their installed base beyond the first year post-sale. The remaining 70 per cent maintain static information from the moment of sale and, after the first year, operate without updated knowledge of the state, location, use or evolution of the equipment in the customer's hands. Without that information, the commercial capture of aftermarket becomes structurally difficult.
A complementary figure comes from Deloitte on servitisation in manufacturing. Only 19 per cent of B2B manufacturers use usage data or telemetry of installed machines to detect upsell opportunities, preventive maintenance or scheduled replacement. The remaining 81 per cent operate with the information the customer voluntarily shares, which in most cases is scarce and reactive.
The operational consequence is that the installed base becomes historical memory rather than active portfolio. The equipment was sold at the time, the customer is in the system, but knowledge about how it is operating, when it will need major maintenance, when it will enter the replacement zone and what expansion opportunities it generates resides mostly in the heads of some long-serving sales reps, in dispersed files or in unsystematised intuitions.
The reverse of the pattern is feasible and technically accessible. Industrial companies that have rebuilt active installed-base visibility combine three sources. Service-contract data, which contributes information on interventions performed and usage patterns reported by the customer. Telemetry or remote-monitoring data, where the nature of the equipment permits and the customer accepts access. Field data collected by the sales and service team during in-person interactions, systematised in a common management tool.
For general management, the organisational implication is direct. Rebuilding installed-base visibility is not an IT project. It is a commercial leadership project requiring coordination between sales, technical service, engineering and, where relevant, IT. Without executive coordination, data remains dispersed and the capacity to act on the installed base remains limited.
Three levers move the indicator in companies that have addressed the problem. Define a post-sale information capture protocol that begins on the day of delivery and remains active throughout the useful life. Build a single installed-base management system that integrates dispersed sources and produces actionable commercial intelligence. Assign explicit commercial responsibility per account on the installed base, with specific activity metrics on that asset.
The standard objection is that many industrial customers are reluctant to allow telemetry access or to share detailed operational information. The objection is valid and manageable. Negotiating access is part of the modern commercial proposal, especially in recurring service contracts, and is resolved with clear consideration: guaranteed availability, predictive maintenance, continuous technological updating or reduction in total cost of ownership.
Rebuilding installed-base visibility is one of the projects with the highest ratio of implementation cost to available return for a mid-sized industrial company, and one of those that meets the most organisational postponement in its strategic prioritisation.