Grundfos drives innovation in water management with global connectivity
Efficient water management requires an agile IoT ecosystem to collect intelligence from millions of connected assets. Grundfos' connected pumps use connectivity management and cellular roaming.
Highlights
A global water management ecosystem
- Grundfos wanted to collect data from their next generation of water pumps
- They needed a robust and agile IoT ecosystem to support their transformation
- Ericsson IoT Accelerator allows Grundfos to collect actionable insights from their assets and not just sell pumps, but evolve to sell them as-a-service.
- Telenor Connexion provides global cellular connectivity and SIM management
Denmark- based Grundfos began manufacturing and shipping water pumps in 1945. The first customers were local farmers, but since then, the customer group and the range of products sold have expanded vastly. The company has always been on the technological forefront of its business, and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has allowed Grundfos to achieve even greater innovation and evolve the products and systems they sell. They provide critical solutions to regions', cities' and buildings' entire water infrastructure. They are now leaders in water management.
Supporting the Sustainable Development Goals
The highlighted Sustainable Development Goals are included in the project.
The challenge
Grundfos makes roughly 18 million pumps a year for customers in more than 55 countries. Sensors relay data on pump health and performance, such as pressure, temperature, and velocity. By gathering this data, forward-thinking Grundfos could take more responsibility for the functioning of their products. The intelligence gathered allow them to predict when pumps need repair or replacement, resulting in fewer unplanned outages and more effective maintenance – something greatly valued by their customers.
To make this digital transformation, Grundfos required a robust IoT platform and cellular connectivity to ensure pumps are connected and track performance.
The solution
Grundfos selected Ericsson and Telenor Connexion as the partners to help create an IoT ecosystem that could manage water infrastructures all over the world and maintain their position as a global leader of advanced pump solutions.
Telenor Connexion supplies Grundfos with managed connectivity. The global IoT connectivity solution enables Grundfos to monitor and digitalize millions of connected water pumps worldwide.
Grundfos deployed the managed connectivity solution from Telenor Connexion powered by Ericsson IoT Accelerator to track and control networked assets at local, regional, and global levels through a single, unified and intuitive device connection platform.
Data regulations such as GDPR often prevents data from leaving its country of origin, making geolocations a relevant concern. To address this, Grundfos implemented de-centralized clouds so that data would remain in compliance with regulations.
The results
The data collected will be turned into actionable insights that immediately delivers value to Grundfos' customers. Predictive analytics can determine not only when a pump may need to be replaced, but it can also show how to optimize the flow and delivery of water. These analytic capabilities also put Grundfos in a position where they can successfully evolve their business from selling pumps to selling them and their maintenance as a service.
Grundfos' expertise and role in water management continue to grow, so will their role in the establishment of smart buildings and cities. As a global leader in water management systems, the company will be paramount in the creation of smart water networks and related critical infrastructure. The digitalization of assets and capitalization on industry transformations will ensure Grundfos can adapt and evolve to the preferences of their customers, as they've been doing for nearly three-quarters of a century.
By building the IoT ecosystem for water management, Grundfos will remain an innovative leader in water management technology. Grundfos adheres to their core values of providing ground-breaking solutions and improve the quality of life for people and take care of the planet.
When referring to a concrete business outcome, Fredrik Östbye, Grundfos, says "Today 10% of all electricity used in the world goes to pumps – and if we swapped all of those pumps to the latest technology, that percentage would be 6% and expected to go even lower when IoT now is introduced. That is quite a big saving in energy consumption by making our pumps intelligent."
