Meiko Equipment Co.

Supporting critical equipment

Meiko Equipment specializes in refrigeration, air conditioning, and automatic control systems used across industries like supermarkets, agriculture, and fisheries. Because this equipment is critical to business operations, Meiko traditionally performed maintenance within weeks of delivery, ensuring performance before handing systems off to clients.

While this model worked, it wasn’t optimized for long-term efficiency. Maintenance schedules were fixed rather than based on real-time equipment performance, meaning potential issues were often discovered too late. Small businesses in particular lacked access to predictive monitoring, which was typically limited to larger enterprises able to afford expensive remote systems.

Meiko wanted to change this dynamic by creating a cost-effective way to monitor refrigeration and HVAC equipment remotely. Their goal was to empower even small and mid-sized businesses with the same predictive maintenance capabilities that larger competitors had already adopted.

The limits of manual and local monitoring

To make predictive maintenance possible, Meiko needed to track variables like temperature, humidity, and pressure within refrigeration and air conditioning systems. By analyzing these values in the cloud, they could detect early warning signs of failure and trigger alerts for preventive action.

The team already had experience using BI tools and knew they wanted a dashboard to display findings. What they lacked was a reliable and secure way to collect data from the equipment in the first place. Connectivity quickly became a major challenge. WiFi might have worked in some customer environments, but sharing networks with store staff or customers introduced security risks that made it unsuitable for sensitive industrial data.

Beyond connectivity, Meiko also needed to solve for data compatibility. Many of their sensors relied on analog signals like 4–20 mA outputs, which would need to be converted into a digital format before they could be transmitted and analyzed over the Internet.

Building an IoT-enabled prototype

Meiko found a solution by combining their expertise with Soracom’s IoT platform. Using the Grove IoT Starter Kit, complete with microcomputer, sensors, and a cellular connectivity module, they built a prototype capable of capturing sensor data directly from HVAC and refrigeration units.

Once collected, the data was transmitted securely to the cloud via Soracom Air. From there, Soracom Harvest provided simple data storage and visualization, eliminating the need to maintain separate servers or databases. This streamlined approach allowed Meiko to quickly move from prototype to production without a heavy infrastructure investment.

To make the system accessible to customers, Meiko added Soracom Lagoon, which transformed Harvest data into shareable dashboards. By logging into a web console, customers could see real-time performance data from their equipment, gaining transparency and peace of mind while giving Meiko the ability to act on anomalies proactively.

Why Soracom?

For Meiko, Soracom offered a way to deliver predictive maintenance as a practical service, not just an enterprise luxury. By using Soracom Air for connectivity, they avoided the risks of relying on shared WiFi networks while maintaining control over security and reliability. Deployment was fast and cost-effective, making the solution viable for smaller businesses.

The integrated services of Soracom Harvest and Soracom Lagoon further simplified operations. Harvest eliminated the need for dedicated servers, while Lagoon gave Meiko an easy way to share dashboards directly with customers. This not only reduced IT complexity but also enhanced customer engagement by making monitoring data easily accessible.

Altogether, Soracom provided the connectivity, scalability, and security that Meiko needed to expand its service model. What started as a prototype quickly became a foundation for delivering ongoing value to clients of all sizes.

Future Plans

Meiko sees connected services as a critical way to respond faster to customer needs. With IoT monitoring in place, their maintenance teams can identify issues as they arise, rather than waiting for equipment failures to trigger service calls. This reduces downtime for customers while strengthening Meiko’s role as a proactive partner.

Over time, Meiko plans to expand the system’s reach by supporting more equipment models and additional communication protocols. While the initial rollout focused on analog 4–20 mA sensor outputs, future versions will include Modbus RTU with RS-485 interfaces, broadening the range of devices that can be monitored.

By extending predictive maintenance to more customers, Meiko is helping small and medium-sized businesses reduce costs, improve reliability, and access insights once reserved for larger enterprises. With Soracom as a backbone, they are positioned to scale their monitoring services efficiently and securely.