For a long time, service was considered a cost center. Today, it is becoming a key driver of growth and resilience. Markus Fournell, Senior Advisor and service expert, and Edgar Schueber, CEO and founder of logicline, discuss why this is the case and how machinery and plant manufacturers can turn their service business into a profit center. The two share a common vision for the future of service—and they’ve known each other for quite some time.
Edgar Schueber: Markus, you say that service is more than just a stabilizing factor. What do you mean by that?
Markus Fournell: “Stabilizing” doesn’t quite capture it for me. In an environment marked by geopolitical tensions, fragile supply chains, and a shortage of skilled workers, service becomes a key factor in resilience. It ensures recurring revenue, direct access to customers, and data from the installed base—all of which form the foundation for innovation. Resilience means more than just stability: it means absorbing shocks, adapting, and emerging from crises stronger than before. This is precisely where the opportunity for service lies—if you think of it strategically rather than just operationally.
Edgar Schueber: In many companies, however, customer service is still treated as a secondary priority from an organizational standpoint. What do you think is the problem?
Markus Fournell: Time and again, I see the same pattern in projects: Service is viewed from an operational perspective, organized reactively, and too rarely understood as a standalone business model. There’s a clear gap between awareness and implementation. Many people know that their service business is valuable, but they continue to operate in reactive mode. What’s needed is a shift in perspective: away from managing, toward shaping. Service must become part of the company’s DNA—with strategic integration, appropriate structures, and targeted investments.
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Edgar Schueber: You often refer to the installed base as an underestimated lever. We see it the same way in our projects—most of the time, things fall apart right at the data stage.
Markus Fournell: Exactly. The treasure is right in front of us, yet it’s rarely tapped. Information about assets, contracts, and service histories is scattered—across various systems, in Excel spreadsheets, or in the minds of individual employees. This knowledge was built up at one point but has never been consistently developed further. The result is enormous untapped potential: for better services, for data-driven business models, and for true customer success.
Edgar Schueber: That’s why we start at the very beginning: Without a structured digital machine filethat accurately maps the installed base, every subsequent step remains piecemeal. But assuming the data is there—what happens if companies fail to tap into this potential?
Markus Fournell: Then others will do it. Platforms and new competitors are ready to position themselves between companies and customers—and to develop their own business models based on precisely this data. Waiting, therefore, is not a strategy. Companies that fail to take control of the customer interface and maintain sovereignty over their own installed base risk losing them.
Edgar Schueber: For me, that’s the crux of the matter. We deliberately design our intelligence layer so that the data remains on the customer’s premises and every AI recommendation is traceable with a source reference—data sovereignty as an architectural decision, not as a requirement imposed after the fact. We’ve outlined exactly how this works in our article on data sovereignty in AI for service . But back to the path to getting there: How does a company transition from reactive service to a business model?
Markus Fournell: We need to take a holistic view of the entire service operating model—from strategy and portfolio to processes, organization, and technology. Traditional services such as spare parts, maintenance, and retrofits remain important; they are the anchor of resilience. The next step is digital and data-driven services: predictive maintenance, usage-based, and outcome-based models. It’s crucial to consistently think from the customer’s perspective: What outcome do they want to achieve? Where are they currently wasting time, money, or getting frustrated? It’s also important to make service more robust globally while at the same time making it more localized—with regional structures and fewer dependencies.
Edgar Schueber: What role do recurring and performance-based models play in this context?
Markus Fournell: A big one. Customers don’t want one-time solutions; they want reliable results. Recurring models—from maintenance contracts to Equipment-as-a-Service—generate predictable revenue and foster stronger customer loyalty. However, the focus must be on customer value, not on the billing model. And a performance guarantee requires a robust data foundation: without knowledge of the equipment’s condition and usage, availability cannot be reliably guaranteed.
Edgar Schueber: For me, this brings things full circle—this is exactly the sequence we follow in our phased model: first digitize and connect, then use Service Decision Intelligence , and, building on that, scale service operations in an outcome-based way. Finally, Markus: What advice would you give to service managers who want to get started now?
Markus Fournell: Start with a clear strategy that combines customer focus and digitalization. Turn your installed base into a robust data foundation. And actively involve your team—change can only succeed if service is understood as a mindset, not just a department. Celebrate successes, and use setbacks as opportunities to learn. And above all: Start now. The competition won’t wait.
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FAQs
Why Is Service Becoming a Profit Center in the Machinery Industry?
Service was long considered a cost center, but it generates recurring revenue, provides direct access to customers, and yields valuable data from the installed base. In an environment marked by volatile supply chains and a shortage of skilled workers, it thus becomes a key factor in resilience and growth. This requires strategically embedding service rather than managing it solely on an operational and reactive basis.
How can the service business become a standalone business model?
By shifting the focus from management to innovation: a clear service strategy, an appropriate organizational structure, and targeted investments. Digital and data-driven services build on traditional offerings such as spare parts, maintenance, and retrofits—including predictive maintenance and usage- and results-based models. The key is to consistently think in terms of the results the customer wants to achieve.
What role does the installed base play in profitable service?
It is the most important—and at the same time the most frequently underestimated—lever. In many companies, information about assets, contracts, and service histories is scattered across various systems, Excel spreadsheets, or in the minds of individual employees. Those who organize the installed base and make it usable create the data foundation for better services, data-driven business models, and predictable service revenue.
