Charge Analytics

The Opportunity: Protecting Air Quality in High-Risk Industries

In sectors like manufacturing, mining, construction, and chemical production, poor air quality can impact worker safety, productivity, and regulatory compliance, sometimes with severe financial and legal consequences.

The urgency has only increased in the wake of COVID-19, which has highlighted the dangers of airborne contaminants in enclosed spaces. Manual air quality monitoring can expose staff to hazards, and record-keeping errors risk both safety and compliance.

The solution? A continuous, reliable, automated monitoring system that can gather and transmit environmental data without requiring workers to enter dangerous or hard-to-reach areas.

The Solution: Long-Range Wireless Sensing at Scale

Boston- and Seattle-based Charge Analytics delivers IoT-powered environmental and process monitoring systems designed for safety, efficiency, and simplicity.

Key capabilities include:

• Real-time data transmission from industrial sites to secure cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure
• Support for multiple sensor inputs to track diverse environmental and process parameters
• Compact, flexible hardware integrating a cellular modem, power supply, and optional custom modules
• Intuitive dashboards accessible on any device for instant analysis and decision-making

With over 25 years in pollution control, founder Ed Cline designed Charge Analytics systems for ease of installation, minimal upfront costs, and low subscription fees, ensuring industrial facilities can deploy quickly, scale affordably, and comply with environmental regulations without disrupting operations.

Why Soracom: Reliable Connectivity, Lower Costs, and Lifecycle Management

“Cellular connectivity is a critical component of our system. It enables important plant data to be available remotely, from the convenience of any device, anywhere,” said Ed Cline, Founder & Technical Director, Charge Analytics.

Many industrial sites are too remote for Wi-Fi, or have spotty coverage and security concerns even when wireless is available. Charge Analytics relies on Soracom Air for secure, multicarrier cellular connectivity that ensures devices can transmit data from anywhere to Azure.

Soracom delivers additional advantages:

• Low-data pricing plans tailored for IoT deployments
• Pay-as-you-go flexibility for predictable costs
• SIM “hibernation” to pause billing between testing and deployment
• Hands-on solution design to optimize connectivity architecture

The result is a cost-effective, scalable connectivity model that meets strict budget requirements without compromising performance.

The Outcome: Safer Facilities, Smarter Operations

Charge Analytics now helps industrial facilities and equipment manufacturers protect their workforce, comply with environmental regulations, and reduce operating costs through its cloud-powered IoT platform.

“Our turnkey systems provide valuable, reliable, and consistent predictive data,” says Gerry Kaelin, Director of Business Development. “Accurate plant data is securely delivered whenever or wherever it is needed. Uptime is maximized, while operating costs are minimized.”

The platform has eliminated the need for manual data logging, enabled monitoring in hazardous or remote areas, and delivered a clear, rapid return on investment for customers.

Looking ahead, Charge Analytics is developing a low-power LTE-M device capable of prolonged battery operation, potentially enhanced by Soracom Beam to enable lightweight protocols like UDP while delivering secure HTTPS to Azure.

With environmental pressures increasing and demand for automation rising, Charge Analytics is well-positioned to lead the next wave of Industrial IoT adoption.