Development of software for the service employees' digital toolkit
The IOLMaster 700 Service Tool is deployed for both production and customer service missions involving the IOLMaster 700 biometer. This application ensures the correct functionality and hardware settings, and it provides service employees with a software-based tool. That makes the IOLMaster 700 Service Tool a modern and more digitalized approach that will considerably increase efficiency during maintenance missions and step up customer satisfaction.
ZEISS Digital Innovation tasks
Through this project, ZEISS Digital Innovation has spent several years and run multiple release cycles to develop the Service Tool for the IOL Master700. The focus was on implementing individual, complete functional units that can be integrated into a variety of service or manufacturing use cases.
The process
To ensure transparency, flexibility and ongoing feedback cycles, the team at ZEISS Digital Innovation worked closely with stakeholders from Carl Zeiss Meditec AG. And in order to meet process-related requirements and the high demands made in terms of the software quality in the strictly regulated medical technology environment, a great deal of time was spent working on the accompanying documentation, a high level of testing automation was ensured and ongoing product demos were run from an early stage.
I was impressed at just how quickly the ZEISS Digital Innovation team got to grips with the topic. It was uncharted territory for us all, but the team quickly came up with ideas about how they could optimally design the service workflows. Together, we got a highly innovative solution off the ground that will make service calls at our customers' sites much easier in the future.
Reducing complexity and enhancing quality of life
The optical biometer IOLMaster 700 is used to perform preliminary examinations for cataract patients. It's important to ensure flawless functionality and correct hardware settings during both system production and maintenance. The Service Tool is the leading application when it comes to supporting service and production employees.
The software's range of functions has continued to grow throughout the product life cycle thanks to close collaboration with service management and service engineers at Carl Zeiss Meditec AG. Service engineers are now able to use the software and reliable service process to provide targeted support in replacing individual components of the IOLMaster 700 or performing repairs or modifications. The software uses step-by-step instructions to guide them through the process for a production or service measure – essentially making them a kind of digital colleague.
This means the complexity of these activities can be viewed and understood on the tool itself. Errors are minimized and system downtime is noticeably reduced as these measures can be performed at the customer's site. Shorter downtimes are ensured through a functioning product and ultimately help enhance the quality of life of cataract patients.