In what appears to be a direct response to anti-competition claims raised in the ongoing FCC v. John Deere Right to Repair lawsuit, the equipment manufacturer has released an updated digital service tool to enable equipment owners to maintain, diagnose, repair and protect farm equipment.
The new Operations Center PRO Service tool is available now in John Deere’s Operation Center app to equipment owners in the U.S. and Canada.
John Deere says it will charge farmers an annual license starting at $195 per machine for the tool. The company is charging independent service professionals $5,995.00 per year, which includes up to 10 local downloads.
The increased functionality of the new service tool replaces John Deere’s previous digital service iteration, known as Customer Service ADVISOR. John Deere representatives confirm ADVISOR will be phased out over the next year.
What farmers need to know
John Deere says the new Operations Center PRO Service “delivers digital repair content filtered by year and model number and provides users with additional relevant machine information to help troubleshoot, diagnose and repair Deere equipment. It’s designed to be intuitive and deliver support in real time.”
Here are the new service and repair capabilities within the tool:
- Machine health insights and diagnostic trouble codes
- PIN-specific machine content, including manuals
- Software reprogramming for John Deere controllers
- Diagnostic Readings
- Diagnostic Recordings
- Interactive diagnostic tests
- Calibrations
Quick Analysis
If you’ve been following the FCC v. John Deere Right to Repair lawsuit, you may recall FCC’s legal team asking the equipment manufacturer to release a full digital repair and diagnosis tool for farmers and independent service technicians as part of its filed request for injunctive relief.
Related: What Does Right to Repair Really Mean?
Right to Repair advocates and antitrust attorney James Kovac, along with the FCC’s legal team, at the time were critical of the Customer Service ADVISOR, calling it an incomplete diagnostic tool. Kovacs himself says “independent repair pros and the farmers have access to (the tool), but (it) doesn’t give them the full suite of options to repair all the needs of their farming equipment.”
What John Deere is saying about the new tool
“Our development of these tools reaffirms John Deere’s support of customer self-repair,” says Denver Caldwell, vice president of aftermarket and customer support with John Deere. “We view continuously enhancing self-repair as consistent with our mission to ensure John Deere customers have the best machine ownership experience possible.”
What about independent repair technicians?
In addition to equipment owners, a local service provider can also use Operations Center PRO Service, John Deere says. With a John Deere equipment owner’s permission, independent technicians can gain access to diagnostic and repair information to support the equipment owner’s needs.
On the John Deere online store, it currently lists a Operations Center PRO Service annual license for a “Service Business” as costing $5,995.00. The license provides for 10 local downloads of the PRO Service application, the listing says.
“Our message to our customers is clear,” Caldwell continues. “Whether you want the support of your professionally trained and trusted John Deere dealer, to work with another local service provider or to fix your machine yourself, we’ve created additional capabilities for you to choose the option that best fits your needs.”
How does it work?
Equipment owners must access Operations Center PRO Service through the John Deere Operations Center. Once connected to the platform, owners will add their equipment into their account using the machine’s serial number. Use of an electronic data link might be required for more advanced features within Operations Center PRO Service, including software reprogramming. Certain interactive tests, calibrations and reprogramming limitations will exist at initial release.
John Deere says it will deliver additional capabilities in future updates. See JohnDeere.com/PROService for further details.
How can I find out more?
Operations Center PRO Service is available today. For more information on how to access all of the digital support tools offered by John Deere, visit Deere.com/RunItYourWay or see your local John Deere dealer.
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