Bearing Assist: How SKF Transformed Bearing Mainte
SKF, a leading global manufacturer of bearings and rotating equipment, is based in Sweden and operates in 130 countries through over 17,000 distributors. In 2022, Accedia teamed up with SKF to revamp their Bearing Assist mobile application, evolving it from a simple product catalog into a comprehensive maintenance tool for field technicians. SKF sought a software development partner that could take charge of product delivery, conduct thorough research for clear guidance, and make prompt, informed decisions. Accedia assembled an independent, cross-functional Scrum team, including a Product Owner, UI/UX Designer, Technology Lead, engineers for both iOS and Android, Backend Developers, QA Specialists, and DevOps Engineers, working as an extension of SKF's product team rather than as a typical outsourcing vendor. The project began with product discovery, user research, and competitor evaluation. Due to challenges in conducting direct research with less experienced technicians, Accedia implemented app instrumentation to track usage habits, revamped in-app feedback systems, and collected insights from service centers and field technicians. Concurrently, the team updated the app's technical infrastructure, replacing outdated frameworks, creating a design system, implementing behavior-driven testing, and developing CI/CD pipelines. The redesigned Bearing Assist now provides technicians with step-by-step guidance for mounting and dismounting, prompts them to record measurements with tolerance alerts, and maintains a traceability journal of completed tasks. A conversational AI agent, based on SKF's technical documents, enables technicians to quickly access the appropriate instructions. Teams can also collaborate through shared notes and photos, and export completed workflows as PDF reports. SKF's service technicians now consider Bearing Assist an essential tool for ensuring quality in bearing replacements, and the application aligns with SKF's sustainability objectives by extending the lifespan of bearings.