Case StudyHow UCLA Avoids Issues Before They Happen withZEISS Predictive ServiceZEISS Predictive Service - Case StudyHow UCLA Avoids Issues Before They Happen With ZEISSPredictive Service
performance monitoring to ensure that no issues should arise.
Some time after UCLA happily took ownership of their new
imaging system, Predictive Service alerted ZEISS techniciansthat the microscope was at risk of breaching the acceptabletemperature limits and required investigation.
The confocal laser generates most of the apparatus heatand operational temperature is usually maintained by anexternal thermoelectric chiller. This component helps keep
the temperature stable and ensures consistent, high-quality
image resolution. This is an integral part of the system as image
Figure 1 Professor Jeff A Long, UCLA and local ZEISS Engineer,
Kevinne Aguilar.

acquisition can take place over a long period of time. As such,absolute precision and stability is required.
Immediately after receiving this alert about the potential

The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is home to more

overheating, the local ZEISS engineer got in touch with thethan 40,000 students. Since its foundation more than a hundredlaboratory manager to let them know about the system warning

years ago, it has become a global hub of academic knowledge

and to clarify if they had spotted anything unusual while using

and excellence. As a result, among its graduates are 16 Nobel

it. The UCLA laboratory manager said the microscope had

Prize laureates, 15 MacArthur Foundation Fellows, as well as

performed as expected and so was surprised by their call.

more than 250 Olympic medalists.

Despite everything seeming normal from a day-to-day
UCLA’s microscopy facility is one of it’s many world-classoperational point of view, Predictive Service had successfullylaboratories. Used by UCLA’s Department of Molecular, Cell andmonitored and sent back consistent performance reports.

Developmental Biology (MCDB) and Broad Stem Cell Research

If the overheating hadn’t been recognized at this stage, theCenter (BSCRC) it is a key part of the University’s life science andmicroscope could have eventually suffered from a critical failure

interdisciplinary collaborations.

halting the lab’s work.

In this correlative microscopy lab, both MCDB and BSCRC
members have numerous advanced imaging systems at theirdisposal, including several ZEISS microscopes. These systems areused heavily by both internal and external researchers across theentire week, sometimes at all hours of the day. As such, it’s vital
these systems avoid unplanned downtime at all costs.

The challenge: potential overheating,potential downtime
Having proudly taken ownership of a brand-new ZEISS LSM
980 with Airyscan 2, the facility operated well with no issues
from their world-leading confocal. Additionally, the University
had opted into ZEISS Predictive Service – allowing remote

Figure 2 ZEISS LSM 980 with Airyscan 22ZEISS Predictive Service - Case Study“Predicted Service alerted ZEISS to a potential problem with the cooling unit
on our LSM 980 before it became a serious issue. By the time we started toget warnings that there was a problem a new cooler had been ordered andwas replaced resulting in zero downtime on the scope.”– Professor Jeff A Long, Ph.D., MCDB Department, UCLA
which could have led to the potential loss of hours of research
as well as revenue for the facility. Unobtrusively running in thebackground, it has provided the researchers with absolute peaceof mind in their system’s performance.
Predictive Service is only effective when coupled to an efficient
service organization. Whilst the technician diagnosed the issue
remotely, the fact that the local engineer was on-hand andready to go, made all the difference to UCLA. ZEISS offers afantastic service experience for all its customers as it has theinfrastructure to monitor and recognize issues as well as quickly
and efficiently resolve them.
Figure 3 Professor Jeff A Long, UCLA and local ZEISS Engineer,
Kevinne Aguilar.

The solution: active monitoring,minimized impact

How Predictive Service Works•Given the information that Predictive Service had provided andafter checking with UCLA’s researchers, the local ZEISS engineer
confirmed the remote diagnosis. The system’s chiller was the•source of the issue.
Thanks to the continuous remote monitoring by Predictive
Service, UCLA’s local engineer was able to order the replacement•

part in advance of a scheduled visit to the lab. A week later, theengineer arrived and installed the new chiller quickly and easily
with no unplanned downtime.
After the new chiller had been installed, the data confirmed the•imaging system had returned to normal temperature values andshould be operating as usual. This was confirmed by the lab’sresearchers.

•In turn, the lab was able to continue using the microscope
without worrying about any pending repair or potential fault
all thanks to the quick and proactive actions that could happen
thanks to Predictive Service.

Predictive Service comes pre-installed on every
new X-ray Microscope as well as a number of
our Electron Microscopy and Light Microscopy
systems. You can choose to enable it and takeadvantage 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 aspossible.
System condition information is shared between
your microscope and ZEISS servers via a secureconnection, ensuring the highest levels of data
security. No image data or research information isaccessed 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 the microscope’s
performance remotely, and then study theanalytics data to understand what needs to berectified. All this happens whilst you continue toconduct your research uninterrupted.

Predictive Service saved UCLA from unplanned downtime
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Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH07745 Jena, Germany
Service and Customer Caremicroscopy@zeiss.com
www.zeiss.com/microscopy

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EN_043_012_258 Printed in Germany CZ-062022
Subject to change in design and scope of delivery and as a result of ongoing technical development.