A Data Warehouse Approach for Estimating and Characterizing the Installed Base of Industrial Products

Perfect knowledge of the installed base of their products has high value for any manufacturer. This information is not only useful for strategic marketing and future product planning but also for immediate product sales and service. In slow growth economic cycles and with increasing pressure to boost margins product related services are increasingly important. Delivering the right service in a cost-effective manner requires good knowledge of the installed base. However, this information is hard to compile accurately and to maintain this over time. In this paper, we discuss the challenges of estimating and characterizing the installed base. We outline a cost-effective solution that combines sampling methods with data from well defined organizational processes in order to compile and maintain the installed base information. We also discuss ways in which the quality of installed base information, maintained in a data warehouse, can be improved