WIKON case study Vodafone Global M2M Vodafone M2M solution helps WIKON streamline global logistics for industrial gas suppliers Vodafone Power to you

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1 WIKON case study Vodafone Global M2M Vodafone M2M solution helps WIKON streamline global logistics for industrial gas suppliers Vodafone Power to you

2 WIKON case study Vodafone M2M solution helps WIKON streamline global logistics for industrial gas suppliers WIKON, a remote monitoring and control company based in Kaiserslautern, Germany, has been an M2M provider for over two decades. After starting out in 1991 with solutions for heating systems and air conditioning, the firm soon moved on to provide a wider range of remote monitoring services.

3 3 The need Throughout the last 15 years, one of WIKON s biggest lines of business has been the remote monitoring of tank levels for companies that supply liquefied gas to industry. It s easy to see why the offering has proved to be so popular. From argon used in the welding of specialist aerospace alloys, to helium used in the manufacturing of semiconductors, gases are often the fuel that drives growth and innovation. According to Dennis Rech, Data Centre Solution Architect for WIKON, the supply of those gases is crucial to so many industries that it creates pressure on the suppliers to perform without error. The delivery of gases and maintaining the correct levels usually rests with the supplier, not the customer, and the business is governed by strict SLAs, Rech explains. Running dry usually means production downtime for the customer and can lead to significant financial penalties for the supplier. For many years WIKON has provided an efficient and cost-effective remote monitoring service that communicates fill levels via SMS over GSM networks. It s an end-to-end service that includes hardware and data communications. The service also includes a dedicated WIKON data centre that receives the incoming fill level transmissions, archives them and makes them available to the user on a secure and password-protected website. Until 2011, however, WIKON was only able to provide this complete end-toend service in Germany and a few other countries around Europe. The global element was a gap in our portfolio, says Rech. Many of our customers promise an uninterrupted supply of gas anywhere in the world. To support them, we needed to deliver a consistent and reliable remote monitoring service wherever they do business. Working with its long-term communications partner, Vodafone, WIKON has now developed the product, AIRMO which has made its global ambitions a reality.

4 WIKON case study The solution The WIKON AIRMO product is built on two core elements of Vodafone s global M2M offering Vodafone s Global M2M Platform, and a global SIM that is designed to support M2M capabilities and applications across the world. Rech says that the two Vodafone elements combined give WIKON great visibility and control over the worldwide M2M operations it provides to gas suppliers ensuring a high-quality, reliable service. Vodafone s M2M Platform is one of the key factors that make AIRMO work so efficiently, he explains. Using a simple web interface, we can activate or decommission SIMs remotely, monitor data usage, set thresholds and check price plans. Vodafone provides a complete self-service solution, enabling us to significantly simplify the set-up of new tank monitoring installations for our customers anywhere around the world. WIKON s remote monitoring and control service monitors the data collected by the various AIRMO devices. It provides full control of the gas tanks by using the Vodafone platform and the WIKON RMC platform to WIKON s customers. The global SIM supplied by Vodafone which is compatible with Vodafone s own networks as well as a comprehensive range of affiliate partner networks, adds to the strength of WIKON s offering. With the global SIM supplied by Vodafone, we can provide a dedicated M2M SIM to our customers that is ready to work in virtually any country without any extra configuration, adds Rech. It s also important that the Vodafone global SIM is designed to withstand extreme industrial conditions, including high temperatures and condensation levels. This has enabled WIKON to achieve certification for the AIRMO service from DEKRA, a leading global provider of auditing and certification services that specialises in safety, environment and health. What we aim to do is provide a quality service that is built to the highest standards, says Dennis Rech. Working with the largest mobile network operator in the world enables us to do that. It s a key selling point for us. Vodafone provides a complete self-service solution, enabling us to significantly simplify the set-up of new tank monitoring installations for our customers anywhere around the world. Dennis Rech, Data Centre Solution Architect, WIKON

5 5 The impact The global AIRMO family of products is a valued addition to the WIKON portfolio that is already proved to be highly attractive to a number of its high profile customers, including Praxair in the UK and Messer Group in Germany. Part of the reason, says Dennis Rech, is that providing a genuinely world-wide service helps customers to plan their resources more effectively. AIRMO doesn t just monitor individual tanks in isolation, he explains. Using the Vodafone management platform, we can give customers an overview of all installations that enables them to identify trends early and optimise their logistics operations accordingly. In addition, WIKON is benefiting by dealing with Vodafone as a single source for all its global data communication needs and is passing those benefits onto its customers. M2M is currently a very fragmented market with lots of suppliers offering different components, including hardware, connectivity, application services and software, says Dennis Rech. Vodafone brings everything together, so we only need to manage one supplier. That means we can provide a simplified, cost-effective and highly efficient service for our customers. Stefan Terkatz, Application Technology Head of Technical Service, for Messer Group Industriegase GmbH and one of the early adopters of the global AIRMO product, agrees that the benefits of bringing everything together in one package are clear. Since using the new AIRMO product we have reduced the number of companies we deal with for tank monitoring on each site from two or three down to one, Terkatz explains. We don t have to talk to separate companies about hardware or software and ultimately this is more cost-effective. In Germany, for example, we will be saving around 30% by using WIKON as our single supplier. These savings will soon multiply also in the Messer Group organisation because we are deploying AIRMO as a standard solution in a further 15 countries around the world.

6 WIKON case study The future In the coming years, WIKON is planning to build on the success of AIRMO by focusing on international activities and introducing new products to the water, gas and energy markets. It can do so, confident in the knowledge that Vodafone will provide future-proofed services, enabling WIKON to benefit from all the latest advances in network and M2M technology. The global Vodafone M2M team is dedicated to providing a comprehensive end-to-end service, and we are very similar in the way we like to design solutions for our own customers, he says. It s a very productive partnership and one that will help us to keep ahead of the game through innovation and new products and services. More than that, Dennis Rech says the firm is happy that they are working with a like-minded company that will help it to realise many more new business opportunities. The global Vodafone M2M team is dedicated to providing a comprehensive end-to-end service, and we are very similar in the way we like to design solutions for our own customers. Dennis Rech, Data Centre Solution Architect, WIKON

7 7 Executive summary Business need WIKON one of the most established remote monitoring and control companies in the world has provided tank monitoring services to European gas suppliers since the late 1990s. To take this service to the next level, it wanted to introduce a standardised solution for customers that operate across the globe. Solution WIKON s new solution uses Vodafone s Global M2M Platform to manage the deployment of the WIKON M2M portal to customer sites worldwide. Vodafone also provides WIKON with a global SIM, designed to withstand extreme industrial conditions, provisioned to work in any region. Fill level transmissions are automatically transmitted over the Vodafone network and made available to WIKON s customers on a secure and password-protected website. Business benefits Streamlined global service helps WIKON s gas supplier customers to optimise logistics, meet Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and reduce downtime The Vodafone global SIMs are designed to withstand the harshest conditions, enabling WIKON to achieve DEKRA certification for durability, Germany s Motor Vehicle Inspection Association Vodafone Global M2M Platform enables WIKON to manage all M2M data communications in-house including SIM activations, roaming and price plans Global SIM provided by Vodafone makes it easy to roll out services for global contracts, eliminating the need for WIKON and its customers to deal with separate data network providers

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