How Haargassner mastered the shift from product to connected solution

IoT Internet of Things GmbH is a pioneer in the field of digitalizing consumer devices. As early as the start of the 2010s, the Salzburg-based IT specialists developed an IoT platform for the digital connection of devices such as electrical appliances and heating systems. This platform enabled the digital generation and processing of device data, which made it possible to control and monitor devices via an app, perform predictive maintenance, carry out online firmware updates, and manage devices across various authorization levels.

After 10 years of IoT experience, the company bundled its know-how from customer projects into a single software product: IoTECpro, the powerful IoT platform.

The challenge

Sustainably successful B2B strategies today are based largely on incentives and added value that successful digitalization concepts create for dealer networks. The key to success lies in the digital connection between the manufacturer, its devices, and the dealers who sell, install, and maintain these devices. At the center of this system is an IoT platform that acts as a data hub. It visualizes incoming data from the connected devices according to individual requirements and triggers events in line with an innovative product strategy. Beyond that, it enables the control, programming, and calibration of the devices.

More than a decade ago, a renowned Austrian manufacturer of pellet heating systems recognized the opportunities and potential that digitalizing its products could offer its business model. The challenge, however, was to do pioneering work, since at that time there were hardly any mature systems on the market and only limited experience available for implementing comprehensive digital connectivity of a large number of devices in live operation. The pellet-stove provider therefore decided to give a young software company from the region a chance – the dedicated programmers of what would later become IoT Internet of Things GmbH.

The solution

In close collaboration with the heating manufacturer’s systems-engineering suppliers, the Salzburg team succeeded in 2013 in digitally connecting several thousand existing stoves. This enabled them to receive and process device data. This development laid the foundation for one of the first end-to-end smart product concepts in the field of heating technology.

Success through digital device management

The IoT solution IoTECpro enabled the heating company to visualize device data and monitor status data. Beyond that, it provided access to the devices.

Centralized data management enables efficient digital device management at all distribution levels, from the importer through the dealer to the consumer. This is achieved through a sophisticated permission system. On a B2B platform, installers can access the device data of the heating systems they have installed in order to monitor them and carry out predictive maintenance on the stoves. This leads to proactive service interventions that significantly improve service quality, product functionality, and safety.

Firmware updates are rolled out centrally in digital form and installed on the device, or triggered flexibly by maintenance technicians or end customers.

Digitalization offers benefits for everyone involved. The technical ability to synchronize all systems, and the ability to extensively personalize products, increase product quality, reduce costs, and strengthen customer relationships at all levels.

End consumers benefit from new, highly attractive features

Thanks to the customer apps provided by the IoT technology, heating systems can be controlled, programmed (e.g. through timer functions and weekly schedules), and monitored anytime and from anywhere. Important notifications, such as faults or operating instructions, are sent directly to smartphones or tablets.

In addition, these apps can be integrated into various common smart-home systems.