“Having reliable coverage and the flexibility to operate across regions was essential. Soracom delivered on both.”
Ubiquicom Team
Ubiquicom
From manufacturing to logistics, modern industrial systems are more advanced, and more complex, than ever. This complexity brings greater performance, but also new vulnerabilities, from supply chain disruptions to workplace safety concerns.
A new wave of real-time location technologies is emerging to meet these challenges. By combining continuous location intelligence with flexible connectivity, these solutions help organizations improve operational efficiency, safeguard workers, and maintain business continuity.
Milan-based Ubiquicom has emerged as a leader in this space, recognized by the Financial Times as one of the 100 fastest-growing technology companies in Europe and ranked 2nd-fastest in Italy by Sole 24ORE.
Ubiquicom’s Locator and TrackVision RTLS platform goes beyond traditional RFID tracking by eliminating the need for physical scans and fixed checkpoints. Instead, assets, vehicles, and personnel can be located continuously, anywhere, indoors or outdoors.
Key capabilities include:
In manufacturing, Ubiquicom helps operators identify work-in-progress items instantly, even among hundreds of similar units. In logistics and warehousing, RTLS ensures assets are stored correctly and found instantly. In all contexts, real-time worker and vehicle visibility supports both productivity and safety.
Their TrackVision telematics solution provides accident prevention and safety monitoring, while the AI-driven SYNCHRO platform optimizes warehouse handling with measurable benefits:
In 2017, Ubiquicom conducted a rigorous vendor selection process, evaluating multiple IoT connectivity providers. Soracom was selected for:
Today, Ubiquicom uses Soracom Air SIMs to connect over 10,000 telematics devices deployed in Italy, integrating with customer systems and complementing client-provided connectivity where needed.
Ubiquicom has earned the trust of major industrial leaders including Toyota Material Handling, Venice Airport, Daikin, CNH Industrial, and ABB.
Currently focused on logistics, manufacturing, and transportation in its domestic market, Ubiquicom is actively expanding across EMEA. A Series B funding round launched in 2021 will fuel further R&D and support entry into additional sectors, including:
With Soracom’s connectivity platform ensuring reliable, scalable device communication, Ubiquicom is poised to transform asset tracking and telematics for industrial customers worldwide.
Concrete is the foundation of modern life—but it’s also one of the world’s largest sources of carbon emissions. Increasing structural durability can reduce costly remediation, minimize safety risks, and limit environmental impact.
Toronto-based EXACT Technology offers a data-driven solution that helps construction teams build faster, safer, and more sustainably. By monitoring concrete during its critical curing period, EXACT enables engineers to meet precise temperature specifications that can extend a structure’s lifespan to over a century.
“If you monitor that concrete while it’s being placed for the first seven days, and you keep the temperature within certain constraints, you will get 125 years of a lifespan out of your bridge, dam, building, or tunnel,” said Jordan Korenzvit, CEO and co-founder of EXACT.
EXACT Technology was born from a practical challenge: large-scale projects had no efficient way to monitor thousands of concrete pours with multiple temperature checkpoints. Existing solutions relied on decades-old data loggers and manual site visits to collect readings – costly, slow, and prone to human error.
Korenzvit and co-founder Stacia van Zetten developed a simple prototype that delivered real-time, 15-minute interval temperature data online. The pilot installation proved an immediate success, winning a purchase order for a multi-billion-dollar subway project.
Today, EXACT’s solutions provide:
This real-time visibility helps builders address problems early, reduce costs, improve safety, and maximize project lifespan.
Global-scale construction projects require industrial-grade connectivity. Early carrier partners failed to deliver – one even went bankrupt, forcing the recall of 100 devices. EXACT needed a partner with stability, coverage, and flexibility.
Soracom met all of those needs:
“With Soracom, we can say from the beginning that we control data communication from beginning to end. Our customers just plug it in. And Soracom only charges us when they use the service. It’s exactly the way we charge our clients,” said Korenzvit.
EXACT now monitors over $20 billion in public and private construction projects, with strong adoption in North America and Australia. A 2021 acquisition of Products Engineering, Inc. brought more than 50 years of precast industry relationships, accelerating U.S. market penetration.
While international expansion has not been a primary focus, demand is emerging organically—and Soracom’s connectivity ensures EXACT can deliver anywhere concrete is poured.
“As we get deeper into the American market, connectivity is key. We need to be present on certain networks, especially in rural areas where cellular access is sparse,” said Korenzvit.
Theft of agricultural equipment is on the rise, with British farms seeing a 26% increase in claims from 2017 to 2018 according to NFU Mutual. Isolated locations make rural communities especially vulnerable, and organized crime groups operate a robust international market for stolen tractors, quad bikes, and other high-value machinery.
Loss of a single piece of equipment can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, with replacement taking months, causing lasting impacts on crop yields and farmer livelihoods.
Go4ioT founder Pascal Lavaur saw an opportunity to address this problem with IoT technology. The result is KHIKO, a programmable anti-theft device capable of detecting suspicious movements and alerting owners via SMS, email, or even voice calls.
“It’s a very sturdy device that’s small enough to hide,” says Lavaur. “If an asset starts to move during the night, KHIKO will start tracking it with GPS. Wireless data connection enables continuous tracking of the asset and recovery.”
While originally designed for agriculture, KHIKO is now used to protect construction machinery, boats, classic cars, camping vehicles, and other commercial assets.
Lavaur drew on 18 years in commercial battery manufacturing to design a device that can operate for years without maintenance. KHIKO uses the Sigfox global 0G network to send tiny data packets, such as GPS coordinates, over long distances with minimal power, enabling battery life of up to 10 years.
Because Sigfox is not universally available, KHIKO seamlessly switches to 3G or 4G cellular backup when needed. Soracom’s global SIM and integrated management console make it possible to track assets even when they move outside Sigfox coverage areas.
“The benefits go much deeper than the connectivity aspects,” says Lavaur. “With Soracom, you can send data to other networks in the same compressed format as Sigfox, then extract it into a usable format for cloud systems.”
This capability allows Go4ioT to focus development on core firmware, monitoring movement, location, and configuration—while Soracom provides the connectivity backbone.
Beyond cellular coverage, Soracom delivers built-in services like Soracom Harvest for data storage and visualization, eliminating the need for Go4ioT to build its own infrastructure. The Soracom Console also manages both Sigfox and cellular devices through a single interface, enabling seamless protocol switching without software rewrites.
“KHIKO would have been too complex to build without Soracom,” said Lavaur.
By combining Sigfox and Soracom cellular connectivity, KHIKO offers a highly reliable and low-power theft prevention solution that can be deployed anywhere in the world. This flexibility ensures valuable and mission-critical assets remain protected, delivering greater operational stability, financial security, and peace of mind to users.
Aethon Labs is an IoT design and engineering firm dedicated to developing connected products that improve everyday life. From the Sutro smart pool and spa monitoring system to Fluux, a dual smartphone-and-vape charger that also tracks and reduces vape usage, the team focuses on creating habit-changing devices and new user experiences.
“We’re particularly interested in underexplored use cases,” says Himanshu Shah, CEO of Aethon Labs. “Whether it’s helping people monitor pool chemistry, change health habits, or improve elder care, our goal is to build devices that make a measurable difference.”
In addition to consumer electronics, Aethon Labs is also developing healthcare solutions, such as a device to help elderly users predict and prevent falls before they happen.
The company first connected with Soracom during development of the Sutro smart pool monitor, which uses LTE as a backup when Wi-Fi is unavailable. However, the LTE connections frequently dropped, leaving devices unresponsive.
“On Wi-Fi everything worked perfectly, but LTE connections kept timing out,” recalls Shah. “We knew it wasn’t a server issue, but diagnosing cellular behavior is usually tricky without the right tools.”
Working with the Soracom Solutions Architecture team, Aethon Labs set up a Virtual Private Gateway to capture packets directly from the cellular connection. This revealed that the server was not closing sockets properly, causing TCP requests to time out. With this insight, the team worked with their cloud partner to resolve the issue.
“It was a great lesson in the difference between basic cellular connectivity and connectivity designed for IoT,” says Shah. “Soracom didn’t just provide a SIM, they helped us solve the problem.”
Beyond providing connectivity, Soracom’s architecture and team offered the diagnostic capabilities Aethon Labs needed to get devices online and keep them there.
“Soracom’s commitment to getting projects live really stood out,” says Shah. “They gave us both the tools and the expertise we needed to troubleshoot at the packet level.”
This IoT-first approach allows Aethon Labs to move quickly from prototype to deployment, knowing that they can identify and fix issues without weeks of guesswork.
Building on its experience with connected hardware, Aethon Labs is now developing IoT Doctor, a software product that helps companies managing IoT fleets to track, diagnose, and maintain devices in the field. Initially designed for engineers, IoT Doctor now offers integrations with Slack, Zapier, and other platforms, making it useful for sales, marketing, and manufacturing teams.
The company is also working on a content initiative to share its expertise in bringing connected products to market – a kind of “Lonely Planet” guide for IoT development.
“We’ve learned a lot about the path from idea to deployed device,” says Shah. “By making that knowledge accessible, we can help more teams succeed.”
SST Wireless began its journey in 2004, earning recognition in the New Ventures BC Competition for a novel IoT-based tire monitoring system designed for passenger cars. While the technology was promising, the company quickly recognized that the passenger vehicle market was crowded and competitive, with many players pursuing similar approaches.
Rather than join the race for consumer adoption, SST Wireless pivoted to focus on industries where ruggedness and reliability were essential. By tailoring its advanced heat, pressure, and vibration sensors to withstand harsh industrial environments, the company found a powerful niche where few competitors could match its combination of performance and cost-efficiency.
Today, SST Wireless offers a broad portfolio of high-performance monitoring solutions. These sensors are now helping operators in mining, transportation, and other heavy industries reduce maintenance costs, extend asset life, and optimize safety without the complexity and expense of traditional wired monitoring systems.
Mining provides a clear example of the challenges that SST Wireless set out to solve. Surface mine operators rely on massive haul trucks to transport rock and ore, often in extremely demanding conditions. Tires on these trucks can cost upwards of $80,000 each, and because of terrain, heat, and payload stress, they are prone to premature wear and failure. For many operators, tire replacement accounts for nearly a third of all operating costs.
The scale of this challenge is global. Mines across Canada, Chile, Mexico, South Africa, and Mozambique face similar issues, with maintenance often representing one of the largest line items in the budget. Unplanned downtime from equipment failure doesn’t just increase costs, it directly impacts production and safety.
Beyond mining, fleets in the industrial transportation sector face parallel challenges. Trucks, buses, and trailers are frequently subjected to long hauls, heavy loads, and variable environments. Without accurate, continuous monitoring, operators are left exposed to costly breakdowns and inefficient preventive maintenance schedules.
SST Wireless addressed these challenges by designing rugged wireless sensors capable of monitoring equipment under the harshest conditions. Their product line includes tire pressure and temperature sensors, vibration monitors, and high-heat detection devices that can withstand the extreme demands of mining and industrial transport.
One of the system’s most valuable features is its ability to provide real-time condition data. By combining wireless sensors with LTE connectivity, operators can receive automated tire pressure readings every time a rig hooks up to a trailer, or monitor heavy-duty trucks as they travel between worksites. This eliminates the guesswork from maintenance decisions and enables predictive servicing.
The results are significant. Mining operations using SST Wireless solutions have reported savings between $5 million and $10 million annually. In addition, equipment life has been extended, unplanned downtime reduced, and operational safety improved. Major industry brands, including Kal Tire, Translogik, and AM Bromley, have already adopted the technology, and SST Wireless is pursuing partnerships with global manufacturers like BYD, Volvo, Daimler, and New Flyer Industries.
To ensure reliable operation, SST Wireless needed a connectivity solution that would work across long distances, in remote locations, and within rugged environments. Wi-Fi and Ethernet lacked the coverage and resilience required, while PLC-based systems proved complex and costly to deploy.
Soracom’s LTE connectivity offered a simple and effective alternative. By building Soracom connectivity into their sensors and gateways, SST Wireless could ensure seamless communication across diverse work sites. Whether underground, remote, or in motion, operators receive accurate, real-time condition data that drives smarter maintenance decisions.
In addition, Soracom’s user console gives SST Wireless the visibility needed to manage every device in the field. This capability has simplified deployment, reduced overhead, and allowed the company to scale quickly across multiple industries and geographies.
Historically, most equipment monitoring solutions have been designed for large enterprises with significant budgets and in-house expertise. These systems are often complex, require third-party integration, and demand long-term investments that put them out of reach for smaller organizations. As a result, fewer than 5% of SMBs have adopted IIoT monitoring, despite facing the same operational challenges as larger players.
SST Wireless is determined to change that. The company is developing a new generation of industrial IoT solutions that combine rugged sensors with plug-and-play LTE modules. These solutions can be installed in minutes, making advanced equipment monitoring accessible to organizations of any size.
By dramatically lowering the cost and complexity of IIoT adoption, SST Wireless aims to empower businesses of all scales to extend equipment life, optimize safety, and improve efficiency. The company’s vision is clear: condition monitoring shouldn’t be limited to the largest operators, it should be available to everyone.
Founded as the national Sigfox operator for Austria, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland, HELIOT Group delivers reliable low-power, wide-area (LPWA) connectivity through a distributed network of over 800 base stations. Their infrastructure is designed to support the rapidly growing demand for IoT applications, where small sensors and devices need to communicate efficiently and at scale.
Sigfox connectivity offers a unique balance of extremely low energy consumption, long transmission range, and low cost. Devices can transmit small data packets across distances of up to 10km in cities and up to 50km in rural regions. This makes Sigfox an ideal choice for use cases like asset tracking, smart building monitoring, and environmental sensing, applications that don’t require high bandwidth but benefit from wide-area coverage and years-long device battery life.
Heliot’s mission is to make IoT accessible and sustainable. By providing a strong backbone for Sigfox-based solutions, they help innovators, enterprises, and municipalities bring projects to life, whether it’s monitoring air quality in urban areas, tracking assets across borders, or supporting smart agriculture in rural communities.
Sigfox already connects more than 10 million devices across 65 countries, proving its value as a global IoT standard. But for a regional operator like HELIOT, ensuring service quality at scale presents unique challenges.
One of the most significant issues is Europe’s fragmented telecom market. Many IoT projects require multi-national coverage, yet establishing individual agreements with separate carriers in each country adds unnecessary complexity and cost. For customers, this can translate into deployment delays, administrative hurdles, and uncertainty around reliability.
Heliot also recognized the risk of relying solely on a single type of connectivity. A network outage, even a short one, could disrupt mission-critical applications, lead to lost data, and in some cases raise safety or compliance concerns. The challenge was clear: design a network with world-class reliability while keeping service affordable and straightforward for customers.
Heliot engineered its Sigfox network to include multiple connectivity options at every base station. By supporting several wireless operators simultaneously, the network creates a built-in failover system that ensures service continuity. If one carrier experiences downtime, traffic can automatically switch to another, maintaining seamless coverage for end users.
This approach not only reduces the risk of service interruptions but also strengthens Heliot’s ability to meet demanding service-level expectations. Customers deploying IoT devices for asset tracking, security monitoring, or industrial control can rely on consistent, resilient connectivity without having to manage multiple operator agreements themselves.
To make this possible, Heliot needed a back-end cellular connectivity solution capable of delivering secure, reliable coverage across all three countries they serve. That solution also needed to integrate cost-effectively into their existing service model, which prioritizes efficiency and scalability.
Heliot’s extensive experience working with wireless providers made the advantages of Soracom immediately clear. Soracom’s global, multi-carrier coverage gave HELIOT a simple way to unify connectivity across Austria, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland, reducing administrative overhead while enhancing resilience.
Rapid deployment was another critical factor. Soracom’s console and APIs allow Heliot to provision devices instantly, monitor connections in real time, and manage hundreds of SIMs with full transparency and control. For a growing network already spanning more than 225 base stations, these capabilities are essential to delivering best-in-class service.
Perhaps most importantly, Soracom’s pay-as-you-go model aligns perfectly with HELIOT’s business case. Since cellular is used primarily as a failover resource in their architecture, costs are incurred only when needed, eliminating waste while preserving reliability. Together, these advantages make Soracom a trusted partner in building Europe’s most reliable Sigfox network.
Over the next two years, HELIOT Group plans to expand Sigfox availability to cover 85% of the population across Austria, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland. This expansion will extend the benefits of affordable, low-power IoT connectivity to more industries, communities, and citizens across the region.
At the same time, Heliot is looking outward. With global demand for Sigfox IoT solutions continuing to rise, the company is exploring opportunities to extend its model into new markets. By combining Sigfox’s proven low-power capabilities with Soracom’s global cellular integration, HELIOT aims to deliver scalable IoT connectivity solutions across borders.
Ultimately, Helio’s vision is to provide the foundation for a smarter, more connected world – helping innovators bring IoT projects to life with reliability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency at scale.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Asahi Glass Co. (AGC), a global leader in glass and chemical manufacturing, has long relied on data to improve its operations. For years, however, the methods for collecting and analyzing that data were highly manual. Supervisors and engineers often used photos, videos, paper logs, and stopwatches to capture workflows on the factory floor.
The data that was gathered typically lived in personal computers at each site. Rather than being stored in a shared environment, insights were often locked away in individual files, usually analyzed in Microsoft Excel. This siloed approach made it difficult to consolidate findings or apply them consistently across teams.
AGC recognized that while they had valuable information, their system for capturing and processing it was holding them back. To drive meaningful improvement, they needed a faster, more scalable way to acquire, analyze, and act on operational data.
AGC found that every stage of their improvement process – data acquisition, analysis, and action – required modernization. Data acquisition was too manual, analysis was too time-consuming, and supervisors often struggled to translate findings into effective improvements. The result was a cycle where valuable insights were delayed or never fully realized.
Leadership believed there had to be a better way to consolidate data and deliver insights directly to the people who could use them. The goal was not just to reduce effort, but to create a system where information was instantly available and actionable.
By rethinking their data strategy, AGC aimed to empower engineers and supervisors to spend less time gathering data and more time designing improvements. This would allow their teams to accelerate innovation and improve efficiency across manufacturing lines.
To achieve this, AGC developed a work dynamic analysis solution called Smart Logger in partnership with CEC Corporation. Workers and engineers were equipped with smartphones and IoT-enabled wearable loggers, such as smartwatches and glasses, that could automatically capture workflow data as tasks were performed.
The collected data was transmitted securely via Soracom Air, which allowed each device to connect directly to the cloud. From there, Soracom Beam encrypted transmissions, managed authentication, and routed the information to AGC’s business intelligence (BI) platform for visualization and analysis.
This new approach transformed the process. Data that once required hours of manual collection could now be consolidated instantly in the cloud. Supervisors could view dashboards, spot inefficiencies, and act on insights quickly, while engineers gained more time to focus on developing innovative solutions rather than collecting data.
AGC chose Soracom because it provided a connectivity solution that was both easy to deploy and cost-effective. By inserting Soracom Air SIMs directly into smartphones and wearables, AGC was able to connect devices immediately, without the need for complex networking infrastructure. This kept costs low and ensured the system could be rolled out quickly.
With Soracom Beam, AGC gained secure data transfer and flexible cloud integration. Rather than requiring devices to manage authentication themselves, Beam handled encryption and credentialing in the cloud, allowing devices to remain lightweight and efficient. This design reduced both overhead and battery consumption, making wearables more practical in a demanding factory environment.
Another advantage was global reach. With AGC operating factories overseas, Soracom’s international compatibility meant the same connectivity model could be applied across multiple geographies. This consistency simplified deployment and ensured that learnings from one facility could be extended across the company.
AGC believes that adopting IoT and cloud-based analytics is essential for building more reliable, stable, and efficient operations. While manufacturing often involves strict security requirements, AGC sees secure connectivity and cloud platforms as the best way to overcome these barriers and unlock new opportunities.
The company plans to expand its Smart Logger program beyond factories and into office environments. By equipping office workers with wearables, AGC hopes to capture new categories of data, particularly around value-added time, that can be used to improve workflows and productivity.
By continuing to integrate IoT into more aspects of its business, AGC expects to not only streamline existing operations but also foster a culture of continuous innovation. With Soracom providing the connectivity backbone, AGC is positioned to scale securely and efficiently across both manufacturing and office settings.
IHI Corporation is a world-leading provider of heavy-industry equipment, from aerospace systems to industrial machinery. Its power generation business supports the entire lifecycle of gas turbine power plants, ensuring efficiency and reliability from installation through decades of operation.
Because these facilities are often located in remote areas, IHI has been innovating in monitoring and support for decades. Its first remote monitoring system, launched in 1995, relied on secure, proprietary wireline connections to deliver one-way diagnostic data. These links provided a constant flow of information to IHI engineers for real-time turbine analysis and preventive maintenance.
As gas turbine installations expanded worldwide, IHI continued developing ways to enhance its remote monitoring services and meet the growing need for secure, responsive maintenance solutions.
While remote monitoring could detect issues, on-site adjustments were still required when maintenance alerts were triggered. Sending teams of engineers to distant facilities introduced delays and raised costs, especially for sites in hard-to-reach locations.
To increase responsiveness and improve customer support, IHI wanted the ability to make secure, real-time adjustments remotely. Yet power plants represent critical infrastructure, and opening a pathway for external access over the public internet was considered too risky.
The challenge was clear: IHI needed a secure, reliable, and cost-efficient way to enable two-way connectivity with customer systems without exposing sensitive data or systems to external threats.
IHI turned to Soracom to create a connectivity solution that balanced flexibility and security. Using Soracom Air, gateways at each power plant can connect directly to IHI headquarters in Toyosu, Japan, regardless of where the facility is located.
When monitoring systems flag a maintenance requirement, IHI uses Soracom Gate to establish a secure, private networking channel between headquarters and the customer site. This on-demand connection enables real-time remote adjustments to turbine equipment, bypassing the public internet and minimizing the risk of unauthorized access.
Because adjustments are needed only occasionally, Soracom’s pay-as-you-go model proved to be a perfect fit. It eliminated the expense of full-time data connections while giving IHI the flexibility to spin up secure sessions only when necessary. With Soracom’s global SIMs, IHI also avoids negotiating local connectivity contracts, ensuring consistent service worldwide.
By integrating Soracom Air and Soracom Gate, IHI achieved a remote management solution that enhances customer satisfaction and lowers operating costs. Power plants can now remain at peak efficiency with minimal downtime, even in challenging or remote environments.
An in-house software application built on the Soracom API allows IHI engineers to make secure adjustments without requiring advanced technical knowledge. Routine fixes can be handled remotely, and urgent issues can be addressed immediately, even while teams are traveling to the site. This flexibility has reduced unnecessary site visits, accelerated response times, and improved plant reliability.
For IHI’s customers, the benefits are clear: enhanced performance, lower maintenance costs, and the assurance of secure, professional oversight at all times.
Looking ahead, IHI plans to continue expanding its portfolio of gas turbine power plants worldwide, particularly in emerging markets. With installations increasingly located in remote or hard-to-reach regions, the ability to remotely monitor and manage facilities will be central to delivering long-term customer value.
IHI will continue to strengthen its service offerings across the full power plant lifecycle. Remote maintenance will increasingly complement real-time diagnostics, providing a seamless support system that helps customers maximize performance while minimizing operational risks.
With Soracom’s global connectivity and secure networking, IHI is well positioned to keep delivering advanced support services wherever its customers need them most.
The construction industry has long struggled with stagnant productivity, particularly in earthwork operations. With nearly one-third of skilled workers expected to retire within the next decade, SITECH Japan recognized that technology would be essential to closing the labor gap.
Government agencies like Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport began encouraging “full use of ICT” to improve efficiency and make construction more attractive to future generations. SITECH responded by seeking out solutions that could enhance productivity at the ground level without disrupting existing workflows.
Yet, one of the biggest hurdles was connectivity. Hundreds of machines on-site required real-time data transfer, but conventional SIMs were costly, slow to provision, and often unreliable in remote or rugged locations where many projects take place. SITECH needed an agile, scalable, and resilient solution that could keep construction projects on track.
To transform construction sites into connected environments, SITECH Japan integrated IoT-enabled sensors and displays into heavy machinery like excavators. These devices measure angles, GPS positions, and operational data, transmitting it in real time to SITECH’s cloud-based Trimble Connected Community platform (VISIONLINK).
Through VISIONLINK, supervisors gain unprecedented visibility into machinery performance and site progress. They can monitor excavation depth, track asset usage, and receive automated safety alerts. This level of oversight helps reduce delays, optimize workflows, and improve safety across worksites.
To make this ecosystem viable, SITECH turned to Soracom Air, which provided cellular IoT connectivity that was fast to deploy and reliable even in challenging environments. This ensured that every piece of machinery, regardless of location, could be seamlessly integrated into SITECH’s digital construction framework.
SITECH Japan found in Soracom a partner that understood the demands of IoT at scale. Traditional SIMs took up to 10 business days to provision, but with Soracom, SITECH could activate Air SIMs instantly via the Soracom User Console. This agility eliminated costly SIM inventories and allowed them to respond quickly to new projects or sudden client needs.
Equally valuable was Soracom’s flexibility in managing data transmission. Using the console, SITECH could adjust speeds on demand – choosing low-speed connections for transmitting GPS and machine logs, or high-speed connections for large 3D design files – without physically swapping SIMs. This reduced labor, minimized downtime, and simplified troubleshooting.
With Soracom’s cloud-integrated management tools, SITECH now operates with greater efficiency, ensuring their IoT-enabled construction sites deliver the productivity gains needed to address Japan’s labor challenges.
SITECH Japan is committed to expanding its role in shaping the future of construction. With government initiatives mandating ICT adoption in 30% of machinery, SITECH plans to manage over 100,000 connected terminals within the next three years.
The company is exploring advanced IoT use cases such as autonomous piloting systems, construction navigation, and data-driven maintenance solutions. By continuously analyzing data from connected machinery, SITECH will further streamline workflows, improve safety, and accelerate project delivery.
Through IoT innovation, SITECH Japan is helping ensure that construction remains not only productive but also an attractive and sustainable career path for future generations.