Case Study
How ZEISS Predictive Service Prevents Unplanned Downtime
at the National University of Singapore

ZEISS Predictive Service - Case Study

How ZEISS Predictive Service Prevents UnplannedDowntime at the National University of Singapore
the microscopes in the MBI facility. These were related tothe ZEISS LSM 980 confocal microscope which shipped with
Predictive Service pre-installed.
The microscope’s scanhead had overheated twice. Specifically,
Predictive Service had recorded two temperature spikes, both ofwhich were above the recommended operating temperature.
Confocal microscopes such as the LSM 980 use a scanhead tocollect the photons from the sample that will make the finalimages. If these overheating spikes occur regularly, the system
is likely to start displaying poor-quality or high-noise images. If
not dealt with, over the long-term overheating can permanently
Figure 1 Photo of LSM980 with Wang Haiyang, Senior Researchdamage the instrument.

Fellow, Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore andEric Ma, ZEISS engineer.

Once a notification is received, ZEISS Technical Supports
conducts remote diagnosis to triage the reported fault fromThe Mechanobiology Institute (MBI), National University ofPredictive Service. If possible and with the user’s permission,

Singapore is one of Singapore’s Research Centers of Excellence.

the remote team will also resolve the fault by logging into theFounded in 2010, the MBI was conceived to promote long‑termsystem. If required, the team will then book in an engineer tofirst-class scientific research in the country and encourage

visit the facility.

multidisciplinary expertise.

Upon visiting the instrument and reviewing it firsthand,
The MBI is a core imaging facility equipped with a vast array

overheating didn’t come as a surprise to tech support. As itof microscopes and systems that the University uses to train

turned out, the overheating microscope had been placed in one

its students. Due to its broad range of systems, MBI takes on

big room alongside many other instruments. While this room

different academic research imaging projects from various

was initially built for a smaller number of instruments, ten years

schools at the University.

later it was home to many more instruments than initially builtfor.

Moreover, the MBI is also home to the Singapore Microscopy
and Bioimage Analysis (SIMBA), an imaging consultancy firm,

Engineers didn’t take long to understand the impact thatallowing it to provide imaging services and training for private

the accumulation of instruments was having on the room’s

companies in addition to its teaching and academic research.

temperature. Engineers also noticed that the room had a

The challenge: diagnosing
overheating to prevent downtime

centralized ventilation system with one temperature set for all
the instruments. In other words, it was impossible to control
the temperature effectively for each instrument, including thisoverheating microscope.

Without interrupting the user, ZEISS Predictive Service constantly
checks the instruments’ state and shares certain operational
data securely with ZEISS, allowing support engineers to remotely
monitor the system. In addition, Predictive Service pre-emptively
alerts support teams when instruments begin to show criticalvalues. While these instruments may not yet be malfunctioning,responding to early alerts can prevent instruments fromunexpectedly failing.
In this case, Predictive Service sent two alerts from one of“The alarm kept us informed about the system status
while no one was in the lab. We had the chance tospot irregularities with the constant monitoring. We
believe this feature provides great help to keep thegood health of the system.”- Liu Jun, Laboratory Executive at Singapore
Microscopy and Bioimage Analysis (SIMBA –MBI/NUS)
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ZEISS Predictive Service - Case Study

With Predictive Service, if the system starts behaving unusually,
remote engineers will attempt to diagnose and fix the issue prior
to any visit being made. In this way, Predictive Service works
as an extra hand when tech support communicates with thecustomer, acting as a tool for troubleshooting when receiving acall.
Predictive Service is equally welcomed by industrial
Figure 2 LSM 980 with Airyscan 2 and Elyra 7 dualcam on Axio
Observer 7.

The solution: using Predictive
Service, ZEISS advises the facility on
best practices

organisations and academic institutes alike. ZEISS appreciates
the need for top-class security protections to ensure the sanctityof sensitive microscope data. To match their security and privacy
requirements to the highest standards, Predictive Service follows
data security best practices.
For example, the communication between the instrument’sworkstation and the ZEISS Enterprise Server takes place overThe engineers found that the temperature of the scanhead

HTTPS. Additionally, Predictive Service does not collect any

went back to normal after one hour from the spike, so they

personal or image data, and only ZEISS support engineers are

discarded the theory that overheating could be due to pushingauthorized to access the instrument’s data. ZEISS stores thethe system with significant, long-term usage. After examining

data on Microsoft Azure Cloud and, for ensuring privacy, it

the instrument and the room, engineers consulted with theanonymizes all sensitive data.

facility manager, concluding that the layout of the room,
alongside the universal ventilation system, was responsible forthe overheating.

How Predictive Service Works•

The ZEISS engineers let the facility know that the centralized
temperature control was most likely the root cause, advising
they change the layout. It was necessary to provide more roomfor each instrument or move the LSM 980 to a new, isolated
location with a dedicated ventilation system.

•The facility was impressed with the support provided
and the engineers’ recommendations. From the momentPredictive Service warned about overheating, through to thevisit and final diagnosis, the system was never once shut down.

•As such, unplanned downtime was avoided.
At the same time, the facility was happy that Predictive Service
was able to detect a cause of failure in its early stages before
manifesting and becoming a larger issue affecting other•

researchers and their instruments. For microscope users, every
minute, every hour of uptime counts, and they appreciate asystem that ensures no interruptions.

•The facility was also pleasantly surprised by the fact that they
could use Predictive Service to monitor their instrument’sperformance themselves. The facility was so pleased by thisfact that it began talks to upgrade one of their older confocal
microscope to a second LSM 980.

Predictive Service comes pre-installed on
every new X-ray Microscope as well as anumber of our Electron Microscopy and Light
Microscopy systems. You can choose to enable
it and take advantage of the benefits available,or not.
Once connected to your network, Predictive
Service will monitor the health of your system– ensuring that it is running as effectively as
possible.
System condition information is shared
between your microscope and ZEISS servers via
a secure connection, ensuring the highest levelsof data security. No image data or research
information is accessed or shared.
Predictive Service evaluates the performanceof your microscope over time to ensure yourmicroscope runs as efficiently and consistently
as possible.
If the system behaves abnormally, ZEISS
engineers are alerted, can monitor themicroscope’s performance remotely, andthen study the analytics data to understandwhat needs to be rectified. All this happens
whilst you continue to conduct your research
uninterrupted.
3Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH07745 Jena, Germany
Service and Customer Caremicroscopy@zeiss.com
www.zeiss.com/microscopy

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EN_043_012_261 Printed in Germany CZ-092022
Subject to change in design and scope of delivery and as a result of ongoing technical development.