Orkel built 2 customer apps on data its machines already generate

The goal

Making industrial and agricultural machine data a useful tool for farmers, mechanics and product developers

Orkel manufactures and delivers agricultural and industrial compactors around the globe from their headquarters in Fannrem, Norway. The compactors help farmers get more out of their crops, and help industrial companies handle bulk materials and waste more efficiently.

Every compactor generates data that could be useful for both Orkel and their end customers. Together we set out to explore:

• How can data from the machines improve manufacturing and lifetime maintenance?
• How can data from the machines be used to innovate and give Orkel customers new value?

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The challenge

Making continuously streaming data from machines worldwide available and useful for a wide variety of users

Every machine has an industrial control system onboard, generating data about operation, machine health and the quality of the compacted material. That data is worth even more when combined with internal systems and open APIs such as onsite weather observations.

But as in many industrial cases, data exists in silos (not the farming kind) and is not easily available. The core challenge was making it available and useful for Orkel internally as well as for their end customers.

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The solution

Integrating machine and process data with Clarify, and using the Clarify API to power new Orkel data products

Clarify connects directly to the Epec Globe control system onboard every machine. This is combined with other sources, such as weather observations and production systems, through Clarify's open API.

Domain experts and teams get one common interface to explore and collaborate around machine data, organized in timelines for benchmarking, predictive maintenance and end user consulting.

The same data is available through the Clarify API and SDK, enabling Orkel to build tailored apps and fleet management solutions under their own brand. That creates new touch points and business opportunities from data they already have.

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The results

Easy access to data for problem solving, improvement and innovation

• Easy access to all machine data, for both human and machine use. Clarify timelines and the API fuel data driven innovation, predictive maintenance and product development.
• New digital touch points and added value for Orkel customers. On top of the Clarify API, Orkel has built 2 mobile apps for Android and iOS for machine and fleet management, adding software and data driven services to their commercial offering.