RATIONAL AG Digital products to save energy and prevent device downtime
Technologies
Customer benefits
- Generate added value from IoT data
- Save costs and energy
- Increase efficiency and sustainability
inovex has partnered with RATIONAL AG, a global leader in commercial and industrial kitchen equipment for hot food preparation, to develop digital products which leverage IoT data and statistical, mathematical, and AI models to generate specific added value for customers. These products provide end users − from chefs to branch managers and service technicians − with needs-based insights into their equipment data. They also make practical recommendations for minimising energy waste, identifying and eliminating equipment faults early, and using the equipment sustainably.
The challenge: targeted maintenance and specific recommendations for action
In modern production environments, efficiency and resource conservation are key to achieving decisive competitive advantages. The current lack of skilled workers and rising energy costs call for innovative solutions to optimise device and equipment usage while simultaneously reducing maintenance.
The extensive networking of devices and equipment and the systematic capturing of IoT data enables the continuous analysis – and thus the targeted optimisation – of these systems. Target-group-orientated, specific recommendations for action provide decisive added value, enabling resources to be allocated in a targeted manner and system usage to be optimised.
inovex has worked with RATIONAL AG to use device data to develop digital products which make specific recommendations for action, thereby fostering both efficiency and equipment longevity.
The goal is to provide targeted support to users such as chefs, store managers, and service technicians in order to ensure optimum equipment performance and minimise resource waste.
From vision to data product
The development of a data-driven system for RATIONAL AG began with a vision: to use digital products to generate added value for customers. Based on this primary objective, increasingly complex value-added features were developed in an agile development process involving device data, service notifications, service technicians, equipment developers, and, of course, end customers.
The initial features were very simple: descriptive evaluations based on device data were made available via RATIONAL AG’s “Connected Cooking” IoT platform. Based on this initial consistent chain from data to end-customer result, we were able to use additional device data and customer feedback to develop increasingly complex evaluations, models, and specific recommendations for action.
Predictive models now provide information on the remaining life of critical components, thus enabling targeted maintenance. Statistical and mathematical models also reveal systematic operating errors in the equipment.
Technological implementation
The system was created using a scalable data architecture based on Databricks in the Azure cloud. A lakehouse architecture enables the integration and analysis of device data, which includes sensor and actuator data as well as usage and service data. Highly scalable Apache Spark workflows continually process new device data as it is added and analyse it using statistical, mathematical, and AI models.
The analysis results generated are made available to the various user groups via RATIONAL AG‘s own “Connected Cooking” IoT platform, together with specific recommendations for action.
Conclusion and future prospects
inovex’s collaboration with RATIONAL AG shows how data-driven innovations can provide decisive advantages for companies and their customers. The combination of IoT data, intelligent algorithms, and an agile development process which focuses on customer benefits has enabled the creation of products which facilitate both energy and cost savings and promote sustainability.