Lamplight Logistics is a software-first IoT provider specializing in Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS). By creating a “blue dot experience” for industrial assets, Lamplight helps enterprises track everything from high-value automotive components to sensitive pharmaceutical shipments. Their platform is designed to be tech-agnostic, merging various data streams (Bluetooth, UWB, and even machine vision) into a single source of truth for the enterprise.
“Success is far beyond the dashboard,” says Kurt Nehrenz, CEO and Co-Founder of Lamplight Logistics. “It’s about hydration of existing business systems. We want to fill that ‘current location’ field in a customer’s SAP or ERP automatically, making their daily workflows more effective without adding another portal to log into.”
In the world of RTLS, the “where” is only as good as the “how.” For Lamplight, the primary obstacles to scaling their solutions were threefold:
To overcome these hurdles, Lamplight partnered with Soracom and Cassia Networks to provide a secure, cellular-first backbone for deploying enterprise-grade Bluetooth gateways. This approach transformed their deployment model into a true plug-and-play experience, allowing them to bypass the customer’s internal network entirely. “Our goal is minimal effort,” explains Nehrenz. “We ship gateways and say, ‘Please plug these in. Game done.’ Soracom ensures that as long as they can see the sky, they’re going to work.”
Advanced Management and “Game-Changing” Diagnostics Beyond global reach, the Soracom platform provides the granular control necessary to maintain high-fidelity RTLS streams. Lamplight leverages Soracom Napter and Soracom Peek as “game changers” for their remote service model.
Cloud-Native Integration This entire suite is delivered as a managed service built on AWS infrastructure, allowing Lamplight to route telemetry directly into their private cloud environment. This ensures that sensitive asset data remains encrypted and isolated from the public internet while allowing the team to use Soracom’s APIs to monitor data usage and signal health in real-time. By leveraging this native integration, Lamplight can reliably execute complex commands, such as triggering a specific Bluetooth tag to start blinking via a cloud-to-device command, with near-zero latency.
Eliminating Infrastructure Friction Soracom allows Lamplight to bypass the “IT negotiation” phase by using cellular-backed gateways. Instead of waiting months for corporate Wi-Fi access, they can achieve Day 1 deployment with plug-and-play hardware that connects to the cloud the moment it is powered on.
Global Continuity and Scalability Soracom’s multi-carrier coverage eliminates “dark spots” as assets move across borders or through remote facilities. This reliable connectivity, managed through a single cloud console, allows Lamplight to troubleshoot and scale their SIM fleet globally without the need for expensive on-site maintenance.
Optimized Asset Intelligence By offloading security and protocol conversion to the Soracom network, Lamplight significantly extends the battery life of its field sensors. This ensures high-fidelity data flows directly into client ERP systems (like SAP), shifting the focus from simple tracking to automated business outcomes.
By pairing a flexible software stack with Cassia’s gateways and Soracom’s reliable global connectivity, Lamplight has turned RTLS into a predictable, high-ROI business tool. They have successfully eliminated the “dark spots” in automotive supply chains, where losing custom-molded pallets or sequence racks previously resulted in massive capital losses.
“No more dark spots,” says Nehrenz. “People are going to expect to know where their things are. It’s going to be mandated rather than a nice-to-have before too long, and Soracom provides the trusted connection that makes our stuff work.”
Moving forward, Lamplight is focused on evolving RTLS from a “nice-to-have” into a mandatory operational standard. By deepening its integration with Soracom’s Connectivity APIs, Lamplight aims to embed real-time network diagnostics and automated billing alerts directly into its UI, creating a single pane of glass for both asset and network health.
The next phase of the partnership centers on “Anti-Tamper” security, leveraging IMEI locking and Virtual Private Gateways (VPGs) to ensure field hardware remains dedicated strictly to mission-critical data. As Kurt Nehrenz notes, the goal isn’t just “tech for tech’s sake,” but rather “getting as close to the dollars as possible” by uncovering the hidden ROI found in total supply chain awareness. Whether via advanced Bluetooth standards or Satellite IoT (NTN), Lamplight’s mission remains the same: eliminating every remaining dark spot in the global supply chain.
Senzary is an industrial IoT solution provider helping enterprises unlock actionable data from physical infrastructure quickly, securely, and without disrupting existing systems. Its cloud-native platform, IoTLOGIQ, is designed to streamline operations like predictive maintenance, compliance monitoring, and air quality tracking using wireless gateways and modular integrations that scale across the enterprise.
“We’re not just another point solution,” said Eric Schummer, Senzary CEO. “We’re building what I call the ERP of IoT – an operating system that brings visibility and control across departments.”
By focusing on rapid deployment, seamless integration with legacy protocols, and a horizontal platform architecture, Senzary helps organizations go from pilot to production without vendor lock-in or internal resistance within weeks, rather than months.
Whether they be Fortune 500 manufacturers or complex infrastructure operators like airports, modern enterprises face two main challenges when launching a successful IoT project:
The Internal Challenge: IT Delays. The most common obstacles tend to be internal security processes, as even sensitive needs such as monitoring dust emissions for regulatory compliance or tracking vibrations to prevent equipment failure must pass rigorous scrutiny. Internal security procedures may force teams into long queues for security reviews and firewall approvals. “One of the biggest obstacles is the layers within large companies,” said Schummer. “Projects can lose all sense of urgency while waiting for IT clearance.”
The External Challenge: Coverage Inconsistencies. Of course, the world at large poses its own challenges. Companies with a national footprint will find that no single mobile carrier offers uniform coverage for their entire operational area, to say nothing of those operations that cross international borders. One area may favor Verizon, while another is exclusively covered by AT&T or T-Mobile. Managing multiple carrier relationships – and bills – can lead to all sorts of logistical fragmentation that can undermine the scalability of any cellular-connected deployment.
To address these challenges, Senzary partnered with Soracom, whose global IoT platform delivers multi-carrier connectivity, remote SIM management, and enterprise-grade networking features. Together, Senzary and Soracom enable a uniquely flexible deployment strategy.
Step One: Rapid Pilot, No IT Required
To bypass IT delays, Senzary deploys smart gateways equipped with Soracom SIMs. These devices operate fully outside the customer’s internal network, connecting instantly to the strongest local carrier – without the need for local contracts or tech intervention.
“Our first conversation with a Fortune 500 client isn’t about network diagrams,” said Schummer. “It’s about solving their immediate pain point. We tell them, ‘We can get you visibility on that critical asset next week, without a six-month IT review.’ Once they see it working, scaling the solution becomes a business decision, not an IT debate.”
Step Two: Seamless Failover for Business Continuity
After a pilot proves successful, that same secure cellular connection can be repurposed as a resilient backup link. If the customer’s primary network ever goes down, the gateway automatically fails over to the Soracom connection, ensuring uninterrupted access to mission-critical telemetry.
This entire solution is delivered as an end-to-end managed service, built on a foundation of security. All data passes through Soracom’s Virtual Private Gateway (VPG), securely encrypted and isolated from the public internet and ensuring enterprise-grade protection.
By pairing Soracom’s flexible, secure connectivity with Senzary’s turnkey platform, enterprises can now deploy IIoT solutions on their own terms – starting fast, proving value early, and expanding with confidence. This dual-role model allows customers to both innovate quickly and protect operations long term, all without sacrificing control or complicating procurement.
“When we’ve had issues, the Soracom technical team has been there,” said Schummer. “I don’t think of Soracom as a vendor. I think of you as part of my business.”
Senzary is now scaling deployments across cement plants, airports, municipal systems, and manufacturing facilities – each one starting with a single urgent need and evolving into a smart, connected operation.
“Predictive maintenance may be the first need, but what happens when the rest of the company wants in?” said Schummer. “That’s where our platform really shines.
Commercial kitchens are busy, high-pressure environments where food preparation, inventory control, equipment maintenance, and staff coordination happen all at once. Small inefficiencies can quickly translate into wasted food, increased costs, and potential health risks. According to the National Restaurant Association, 92% of restaurateurs list food costs as a top concern, with about a half-pound of food wasted per meal served. Poor air quality, equipment downtime, and lack of data visibility further complicate operations.
Recognizing the need to digitize outdated “pen and paper” processes, SmartKitchen developed a suite of IoT-enabled solutions to track performance, improve safety, reduce waste, and extend the lifespan of costly kitchen equipment. Their offerings include:
“Our goal is to make the busy day of the kitchen staff easier by automating routines,” said Matti Verkasalo, CEO of SmartKitchen.
For SmartKitchen, the challenge was to securely connect a large and diverse fleet of IoT devices in kitchens around the world. They needed reliable, multi-carrier connectivity for uninterrupted service, as well as a secure way to protect sensitive operational data.
As Verkasalo explains, “We are particularly proud to have developed a complete software stack from embedded firmware to cloud server, focusing on the food industry. We use three different wireless technologies in IoT solution measurements, and the IoT devices are designed and manufactured by SmartKitchen. All collected data is processed and analyzed in SmartKitchen’s own cloud service with guaranteed data protection. It’s unique that we don’t rely on 3rd party software or hardware.”
SmartKitchen partnered with Soracom to meet their connectivity needs, deploying Soracom Air SIM cards in every mobile device and gateway. This ensures devices automatically connect to the most reliable available network, backed by Soracom’s global multi-carrier infrastructure.
“From the very beginning, Soracom provided good help and advice in getting started,” said Verkasalo. “During our three-year journey with Soracom, we have always received fast and professional support.”
Security was just as important as connectivity. SmartKitchen uses Soracom Virtual Private Gateway (VPG) to isolate devices from the public internet, enabling secure, bi-directional communication strictly between deployed devices and SmartKitchen’s servers.
“Implementation of VPG was quick and has resulted in significant business benefits,” said Verkasalo. “There have been no communication interruptions, which is very important to our customers.”
With Soracom’s connectivity and private networking in place, SmartKitchen has been able to expand into many of Europe’s top hotels and restaurants while adding new features such as POS integrations. Customer feedback continues to drive innovation, ensuring their solutions stay ahead of the industry’s needs.
“With Soracom’s SIM cards, we can easily expand our operations to new countries,” said Verkasalo. “We want to be at the forefront and offer our customers the latest reliable technology. We are currently expanding our distributor network, especially in Central and Western Europe.”
In 2018, credit and debit cards overtook cash as the most common form of payment worldwide, a trend accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic. Across markets like the US, UK, Australia, and Canada, cashless payments have more than doubled, with the UK seeing a drop in cash transactions from nearly half in 2019 to just 17% in 2020.
For merchants, this shift places electronic payments and point-of-sale (POS) systems at the center of retail operations. The global payment processing market is projected to surpass $147 billion by 2027, creating demand for secure, adaptable, and complete payment solutions.
Modern retailers need more than a credit card terminal – they require end-to-end systems that integrate seamlessly with their existing operations and can adapt to industry-specific demands.
Aurora Payments identified a growing need for payment solutions that combine ease of use with robust backend support, all while maintaining security for sensitive customer data. The challenge lay in designing a platform flexible enough to serve multiple verticals, from traditional retail to industry-specific operations, while meeting strict compliance requirements.
“Our aim is to be best-in-class for vertical markets, bringing to them a solution that actually will help them run their business and do more than just payments,“ said Derek Maxwell, Head of Enterprise Data and Automation at Aurora Payments. “Where it used to be credit card terminals that did payments, now the expectation of those merchants who run those businesses is that you’re going to bring to them a more complete solution.”
Aurora Payments offers a full suite of hardware and software, from simple POS systems to advanced eCommerce platforms, ACH, and check processing capabilities. Recent initiatives focus on partnering with developers to create tailored, vertical-specific systems that can integrate with existing infrastructure and scale as the business grows.
When it came to connectivity, Aurora Payments sought a partner that could deliver reliable performance, global coverage, and industry-leading security. Soracom’s Virtual Private Gateway (VPG) met all three needs.
By configuring Soracom VPG with two fixed global IP addresses, Aurora Payments ensured that upstream payment processors could verify the source of any incoming traffic. Only traffic originating from these IPs is accepted, with all others denied – a critical safeguard for payment security.
“When dealing with people’s money, security is a must,” said Maxwell. “Soracom provides that extra layer of security we need to keep our customers’ data from falling into the wrong hands.”
Today, Aurora Payments serves over 23,000 merchants across the United States, processing approximately $10 billion in transactions annually. With Soracom’s secure, scalable connectivity in place, the company is positioned to continue expanding into new verticals and markets, delivering comprehensive payment solutions that help modern retailers thrive in a cashless economy.
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.”
K’s Design Lab specializes in advanced 3D design, prototyping, and fabrication tools for both professional and industrial users. Their solutions support a wide range of materials and workflows, from vacuum forming to product prototyping and external design, giving creators the tools to bring ideas from digital models into physical form.
The company’s flagship 3D-Mill K-650 was designed from a technician-first perspective, combining precise cutting capability with the flexibility required in modern fabrication. Once material passes through a 3D printer, it moves into cutting operations, where the K-650 enables free-form curves, fine textures, and high-quality finishes that more closely reflect the original data.
By empowering designers with versatile fabrication equipment, K’s Design Lab has positioned itself as an essential partner for the growing demand in rapid prototyping and advanced industrial model-making.
Cutting jobs can vary widely in length depending on size and complexity, sometimes running continuously for hours or even days. During this process, operators typically use a tablet to monitor progress and make adjustments in real time. However, staying physically present throughout an entire job is often impractical or inconvenient.
Without the ability to step away, designers risk reduced productivity and unnecessary downtime. The lack of remote control options also limited the flexibility of the K-650, making it harder to take full advantage of its capabilities.
K’s Design Lab recognized that in order to maximize efficiency, users needed a secure, reliable way to remotely monitor, manage, and adjust the cutting process—without compromising the safety or precision of the equipment.
To address this challenge, K’s Design Lab integrated Soracom Air into the 3D-Mill K-650, enabling a secure mobile data connection that allowed operators to carry the machine’s controller with them wherever they went. This mobility meant users could remotely oversee the cutting process in real time, without needing to stay tethered to the machine.
The team also developed a custom application that allowed users to personalize their controls for designing, testing, and cutting 3D models. This combination of mobile connectivity and flexible software gave designers more freedom and control over the entire workflow.
Security was a critical priority. To ensure data integrity and safe access, K’s Design Lab implemented Soracom Gate with a Virtual Private Gateway (VPG). This setup allowed devices using Soracom Air SIMs to operate on the same subnet with private IP addresses, creating a secure channel for communication between tablets, machines, and company servers.
For K’s Design Lab, the combination of Soracom Air and Soracom Gate provided the best of both worlds: secure connectivity and flexible deployment. By leveraging Soracom’s cellular services, they avoided the risks of relying on shared Wi-Fi networks and created a system that could be reliably accessed from anywhere.
The use of a Virtual Private Gateway was especially important. It ensured that K’s Design Lab could loan tablets freely to operators and clients, while still retaining secure access to monitor equipment and make adjustments as needed. This protected sensitive workflows without creating unnecessary barriers for end users.
By building their solution on Soracom, K’s Design Lab drastically improved the usability of the 3D-Mill K-650, delivering a more powerful and user-friendly tool for both designers and industrial professionals.
The rising demand for rapid prototyping and advanced model fabrication continues to push innovation in 3D production tools. K’s Design Lab is committed to expanding its portfolio of precision equipment to help makers, designers, and industrial users translate digital designs into high-quality physical objects.
As manufacturing workflows evolve, the company plans to build on its existing IoT foundation to deliver even greater levels of efficiency and precision. Future developments will focus on accelerating the prototyping process while maintaining the highest standards of accuracy and finish.
By integrating secure IoT connectivity with advanced fabrication technology, K’s Design Lab aims to help customers achieve new levels of creativity, productivity, and manufacturing excellence.