T-Industry has been operating on the market for 20 years. They are experts in applied research and development for smart technologies (Smart City, Smart Metering, Smart Grid), the Internet of Things and fully customized hardware and software solutions. During this time period, the company had the opportunity to supply their solutions and equipment to more than a hundred customers.
Interview with Juraj Tomlain, CEO at T-Industry, s.r.o.
Easy Engineering: Which are your best-selling products / solutions?
Juraj Tomlain: The best-selling solutions in the market today are linked around an Industry 4.0. One product that stands out is the OpenBox Remote Terminal Unit (RTU), which is designed for remote control and system management. The OpenBox RTU can be combined with the AdvancedIO measuring platform to create a powerful solution for industrial automation. With its compact design and efficient processing of measurements and commands, the OpenBox RTU with AdvancedIO enables remote management and monitoring of critical systems and equipment.
E.E: Why do users choose your products / solutions?
J.T: Users choose our products for a variety of reasons, but primarily because they require accurate information about their application’s status and the ability to control it remotely. Our systems are designed to meet all basic measurement and control requirements with a user-friendly graphical interface for displaying relevant events. They are highly scalable and can be easily integrated into any installation. Because we develop and manufacture everything in- house, we can offer customized devices and implement special functions tailormade based on user requirements.
E.E: What special features do your products / solutions have?
J.T: Our products and solutions have many special features that make us different from other providers at the market. One of our biggest advantages is our 20 years of experience producing hardware and software for measuring and controlling applications. This experience has allowed us to gain deep insights into the needs of these systems and to implement functions that help operators and integrators with automation and control. Our web interface is another key feature that allows users to configure and monitor the system. Our archiving and alarm system is especially helpful for monitoring, as it can send email or SMS notifications based on any condition.
Additionally, we offer a variety of communication protocols for integrating with existing web applications, making it easier to adopt our products into an existing infrastructure.
E.E: Tell us a short tutorial of how a task is done more efficiently with one of your products / solutions.
J.T: Start by connecting the OpenBox RTU to the equipment you want to monitor or control. This can typically be done using a variety of communication protocols such as Modbus, MQTT, SQL, OPC client IEC-60870-5-101 or IEC-60870-5-104.
Connect the AdvancedIO measuring platform to the OpenBox RTU to enable processing of measurements and commands. The AdvancedIO platform provides advanced analytics and monitoring capabilities that can help you to optimize your system’s performance.
Set up the AdvancedIO input and output points, which allow you to monitor and control the equipment. This can typically be done using the OpenBox RTU’s software or web-based interface.
Use the OpenBox RTU and AdvancedIO measuring platform to monitor and control your equipment remotely. You can apply the software or web-based interface to view measurements, set alarms and notifications, and control your equipment from anywhere.
E.E: How did your products / solutions improve efficiency for the users overall?
J.T: One of the key benefits is the ability to collect and store large amounts of data over time, allowing users to analyze trends and patterns in the system. This data can be used to identify areas for optimization or improvement, and to make decisions more informed about resource allocation and process control. This data can also monitor of critical parameters such as temperature, pressure, flow rate, and level. This enables users to quickly identify issues or anomalies in the system, and take corrective action before they lead to equipment failures or downtime.
Overall, our systems can greatly improve efficiency for users by providing real-time monitoring, data collection, analysis, remote control and automation of processes. These results in improved productivity, reduced downtime, and lower operational costs.
E.E: Give us some examples of projects in which your products / solutions were used?
J.T: One of the most significant projects is located in the ski resort of Jasná in Slovakia, where it was necessary to regulate the filling of the snowmaking reservoirs. The biggest challenge was maintaining the required water level and flow in the rivers from which the reservoirs are filled. Of course, the reservoirs need to be monitored and regulated to ensure that they are sufficiently filled for the needs of the ski resort’s snowmaking. This project required a lot of measurement of analog and digital signals from flow meters, level sensors, valves and pumps control.
E.E: What products / solutions were used in these projects?
J.T: In this project, we utilized our compact RTU units, OpenBox and Apollo II, to collect, evaluate, and control data. Our system is fully accessible online through a web interface, which enables convenient administration, regulation, archiving, and visualization of measured data.
Due to its excellent capability of measuring analog quantities, we have used our AdvancedIO measurement and control devices in this project. The AdvancedIO Analog + Rel was used for level measurement in the reservoir and flow measurement in the pipeline. The AdvancedIO Phase monitored power consumption of pumps and equipment, allowing us to detect faulty states and switch equipment on and off. Finally, we apply the AdvancedIO Binary to control slide valves and ball valves for filling and emptying the reservoir.
E.E: What was the feedback from users?
J.T: The most pleasing feedback from users is, when they decide to use our services for more than one time usage. More than 90 % of customers use our solutions also for other projects related to the Industry 4.0 solutions. We offer to our clients a secure long-term partnership with special aftercare regime, which they really appreciate.
E.E: How can users work more sustainably with your products / solutions?
T-Industry: Since we develop all products in-house on the hardware and software sides, there is no problem with maintenance or adding new features. All products are designed to withstand the harsh weather conditions that await them in real installations. To this day, we have systems that have been running for over 10 years without maintenance and we try to keep the devices as backward compatible as possible. We consider our solutions and products with the highest sustainability at the market.
E.E: What are your forecasts for the first half of 2023?
J.T: Regarding our forecasts for the first half of 2023, we are confident that we will continue to provide high-quality products and solutions for our customers. As always, we are committed to investing our time and resources into research and development, to create new and innovative products that meet the evolving needs of our customers.
In terms of the ongoing chip shortages, we are taking proactive steps to ensure that we have a sufficient number of modules in stock to meet a demand. This also includes changes to secure the necessary components and forecast demand to avoid potential problems and shortages. In addition, we optimize our production processes to minimize waste and shorten delivery times, allowing us to respond quickly to any changes.