Supernova Award Category
Internet of Things
The Problem
Most of the 645,000 restaurants in the U.S. use glycol chillers to control temperatures of refrigerated systems, adhere to regulatory standards, and retain freshness of perishable food and beverages. But what happens if the equipment malfunctions? How can an establishment ensure that food or beverages are kept at optimal temperatures if there is a power outage? Chilling system malfunction and failure can cause huge financial loss. Large venues such as sport stadiums spend as much as $500,000 on chilling and monitoring systems to guarantee a malfunction never happens, but that budget isn’t realistic for every business.
For craft brewers, glycol chillers control the temperature of beer during brewing, storage and in-draft systems. Recently, Savagewood Brewing Company, a well-known craft brewery in San Diego, CA lost $23,000 in inventory and nearly $60,000 in potential revenue when their chilling system failed over a weekend, ruining eight vats of beer.
The Solution
After experiencing chilling system failures twice, the Savagewood Brewing came to DCS for a solution that could help prevent these malfunctions and the resulting financial loss. DCS was challenged to develop a solution to facilitate the monitoring of glycol chillers and other important systems at similar facilities looking to monitor liquid temperatures and humidity, while keeping small-to-medium business needs in mind. The solution needed to be reliable and cost effective
At the core of DCS’s solution is an application that sends real-time alerts via text or email to instantly notify staff if there is a malfunction that needs to be addressed. The complete solution is enabled by the CalAmp TTU-2830 telematics device and then customized for the individual customer use case with the appropriate environment sensors. It also has a backup battery and on-board LTE cellular connectivity to ensure alerts can be sent even during power outages.
The results
Before implementing the DCS glycol chilling solution, Savagewood Brewing had no way of knowing about a failure, and more importantly did not have proper information to take action to avoid loss. Now that the system is in place, the brewery has peace of mind knowing they have up to date information and alerts about any equipment malfunction. While the device cannot prevent a malfunction, its backup battery and LTE capabilities ensure that it will always notify the correct staff as soon as a malfunction occurs, enabling the business to save money and inventory that could be lost if a malfunction goes unnoticed.
Brewery and restaurant owners can also keep records and generate reports from DCS’ solution to provide as proof of adhering to food temperature safety standards. The reports help prove how temperature spikes have been addressed to prevent damage or spoilage, which can be a useful tool for managing the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) programs required by the FDA.
Having reliable monitoring systems not only preserves perishable inventory but also protects the establishment’s overall brand and customer experience. Real-time monitoring and reporting can help any sized business ensure consistent quality of products and services and protect their bottom line.
Metrics
After losing nearly $23,000 in inventory and $60,000 in potential revenue each time their systems malfunctioned, Savagewood Brewing needed peace of mind that they wouldn’t experience this kind of loss again. Over 1 million bars and restaurants in the US can gain the same peace of mind if/when their equipment malfunctions, be made aware of it and have the opportunity to fix it in a timely fashion.
The same goes for the other industries DCS tailors their solutions to, including water treatment, water damage repair, energy and utilities, and fleet management.
One of DCS’s customers in the water damage restoration industry found it was spending $6,000 a week to send employees to take manual humidity ratings at their job sites -- that’s more than $300,000 each year. By implementing a DCS solution, the business can save hundreds of thousands of dollars and have round the clock monitoring of their job sites.
DCS also created a solution to monitor the temperature and humidity of walk-in refrigerators at restaurants, bars and grocers. The remote monitoring solutions support up to six sensors to capture and analyze data, providing real-time alerts and instant visibility on the operation of equipment at the business. The sensors can detect whether a door has been open for too long, along with temperature, humidity and water leaks. It also monitors a panic button in case someone is trapped inside. CalAmp devices are at the core of these DCS solutions.
The Technology
DCS’s MiSensors glycol chiller and temperature/humidity monitoring solutions are supported by the CalAmp TTU-2830 asset tracker device. The TTU-2830 is equipped with programmable settings that monitor the storage tank and tap lines, sending an alert if the temperature exceeds a certain threshold. A backup battery and on-board LTE cellular connectivity ensure that alerts can be sent in the event of a power outage, when chilling systems are most likely to go offline.
Disruptive Factor
DCS creates some of the most competitive solutions on the market by pairing LTE enabled technology with affordable prices for a complete solution. While many competitors are still integrating LTE for their connected solutions, DCS and CalAmp are already there--giving their customers a big head start in the industry. By leveraging the CalAmp product quality and certifications with all major carrier networks, DCS’ monitoring solutions are more reliable than other IoT offerings on the market.
The complete “mount and monitor” DCS solution is practical for the small-to-medium-size businesses (SMB) andonly takes approximately 15 minutes to install. Additionally, the devices have a backup battery, which is a huge differentiator with businesses looking to mitigate the impact of power outages or system failures.
These solutions are practical in implementation as well as affordable. Designed with the SMB in mind, DCS sells its glycol chiller and temperature/humidity monitoring systems for half the price of its competitors, while using its LTE capabilities and back-up battery to deliver 2x better technology.
Shining Moment
While these solutions are practical in implementation, there is a much broader impact on business performance. Anyone who walks into a bar and asks for something on tap can experience the lack of efficiency. For example, if a keg puts out too much foam, that’s likely the result of a glycol chiller malfunction or CO2 imbalance. Thousands of dollars are lost every day at restaurants and breweries due to this issue which can be resolved by a DCS monitoring solution.