In future, three companies from the Friedhelm Loh Group will be collaborating even more closely: Rittal, German Edge Cloud and IoTOS have joined forces in Bosch Connected Industry to create the first complete solution for the integration, harmonisation and analysis of industrial production data. Alongside German Edge Cloud, the startup IoTOS has now also joined the group. The Friedhelm Loh Group known recently announced the 100% takeover.
“Data is the new raw material,” announced Dr. Friedhelm Loh back in 2016 when the foundations for the new Rittal plant in Haiger were laid. The world’s most cutting-edge, automated and digitally integrated production of small and compact enclosures has begun operation and is already producing more than 18 terabytes of data per day. Today, Rittal, German Edge Cloud and IoTOS offer the first real-time complete solution for edge cloud-based data management and data availability throughout the entire supply chain, from use, to intelligent analyses, through to secure, customer-controlled transmission of data in a highly efficient environment. All three companies are now members of the Friedhelm Loh Group. Today, the group announced the 100% takeover of IoTOS. The company has therefore added industrial IoT applications for smart factories to the range of customer services offered by the alliance. The parties agreed to keep the purchase price a secret.
ONCITE, the industrial edge cloud appliance product offered by Rittal and German Edge Cloud together with IoTOS and Bosch Connected Industry, “is our response to the issue of how manufacturing industrial companies can handle the growing complexity of production data quickly and easily in future,” explained Dr. Friedhelm Loh, owner and CEO of the group. “With the digitalization campaign by VW and BMW, the automotive industry was the first sector to demand complete data availability throughout the manufacturing industry supply chain. Others will follow. Small and medium enterprises must adjust now to these future challenges. With Rittal, German Edge Cloud and IoTOS, we are helping our customers to achieve this and shape the future.”
ONCITE is comprised of edge cloud infrastructures (IaaS) based on flexibly scalable edge cloud data centres from Rittal, platforms for data analysis (PaaS) and industry-specific AI applications (SaaS) including a comprehensive service concept. Combined with software solutions e.g. for device and machine interconnectivity, IoTOS offers real-time analytics and traceability of all components in the supply chain. “Our aim is to give customers transparency across the entire value chain, boost their productivity, minimise maintenance costs and at the same time, implement digitalized business models,” explains Dieter Meuser, CEO of IoTOS. “We are delighted to have joined a powerful group of companies that are recognised leaders in developing digitalization solutions for SMEs.”
Together with Rittal, German Edge Cloud and IoTOS, as well as Eplan (engineering) and iNNOVO Cloud (managed services), the Friedhelm Loh Group also addresses the integration of value chains in industry and IT. In future, having the best product and the most efficient solution in the value chains of industry clients will not be enough. It will also be necessary to integrate the required data-driven processes from one customer to the next and throughout the supply chain and within smart factories in a way that adds value, says Dr. Friedhelm Loh. “The future belongs to the companies with the best products and the best platforms with suitable applications.”