SOPHY (ancient Greek for knowledge) is a universal trolley add-on that makes it possible for airlines to measure and further enhance their catering operations throughout their entire catering process chain.
With SOPHY airlines can get access to information helping them to take the right business decisions to further improve efficiency, reduce costs while enhancing their inflight product offering. Operational and business information will become available on the key milestones in their catering operations including handover, cleaning, food quality, stock and maintenance.
The solution is easy to integrate in existing and new trolleys fleets, resulting in low implementation efforts. SOPHY is designed to resist demanding conditions that are inherent to daily catering operations. All tags are watertight and temperature resistant, ensuring perfect operation in the aviation industry. SOPHY complies with worldwide regulations and certification standards.
Developed in partnership with Undagrid
The mature and tested technology is developed together with Undagrid, a specialist in Internet of Things Solutions for the aviation industry. The company provides already autonomous dynamic asset management at more than 20 airports worldwide.
Norman Jordan, CEO of Safran Cabin says: “Thanks to the partnership with Undagrid, we will be able to provide our customers with a product that will bring valuable insights on their catering processes; this product will allow them to further improve their daily operations.”
“The introduction of SOPHY is the result of the cooperation between our two companies. From the initial design-thinking process to the final steps for this market introduction: Safran has shown leadership in future-acting. Their believe in a connected trolley and how to make this a reality, can be seen as an example how new initiatives can be launched in the global aviation industry”, said Undagrid CEO Rolf van de Velde.
The Sophy solution will be presented on the Safran stands on Aircraft Interiors Expo (7B40) and World Travel Catering Expo (4E10) in Hamburg from 2-4 April, 2019.
Connectivity SolutionsSOPHY | Undagrid]]>Digitization Lufthansa Technik’s Ground Support Equipment
Under the banner of ‘Industry 4.0’, Lufthansa Technik has recently turned toward digitization of its ground support equipment (GSE) to boost long-term competitiveness. Following its successful rollout of Paperless Maintenance, the company’s ‘GSE 4.0’ project focuses on increasing transparency in the requirements, usage, and availability of GSE. Establishing new processes for predicting and allocating materials will increase aircraft availability. From equipment and tools to service staff and coordinators: all will be networked together within GSE 4.0.
Saves time and money
Networked GSE saves time and money and speeds up the information exchange within Lufthansa Technik. The quality of work processes improvesthrough standardization, simplification, and predictive information makes them less susceptible to errors. Additionally, by making asset information such as maintenance history, work orders and certification dates more transparent, Lufthansa Technik expects to simplify its compliance processes.
Undagrid’s autonomous network
Undagrid offers comprehensive sensor and platform technologies that provide all the valuable insights Lufthansa Technik requires. The Undagrid sensors, communicating via an autonomous network, identify, locate and manage objects of all kinds. It allows tools and materials to be localized immediately, continuously monitoring their current conditions, and determining and predicting usage patterns. Undagrid’s mobile web application informs the service staff of pending tasks and allocates all assets, everywhere, at any time. Plus, the ATEX-certified sensors can be used in hazardous environments, like during aircraft maintenance operations and engineering.
GSE 4.0 Project
Undagrid’s proven, scalable technology is the optimal solution for Lufthansa Technik’s GSE 4.0 project. Lufthansa Technik had recently begun converting its logistics processes into event-based operations to improve customer satisfaction and gain competitive advantages. Time-consuming tasks like searching for available equipment and tools are now a thing of the past. Real-time access to relevant information like fuel levels, temperatures or equipment malfunctions help avert outages and errors. Lufthansa Technik can now predict which materials are ready to be used for specific jobs, like aircraft maintenance and handling. It offers end-to-end transparency for planning and auditing. Ultimately, this project will serve as a template for coordinating equipment across all Lufthansa Technik locations worldwide.
Location tracking
“With the help of ‘GSE 4.0’, location tracking is now possible at any time and in any place so that we can locate all networked GSE both outside and in the hangars. Undagrid helps us make ‘Industry 4.0’ really sustainable for maintenance, repair, and operations. They transformed shared, ambitious goals into a successful pilot, followed by a production rollout with thousands of sensors at Hamburg and Frankfurt, in just a couple of months. The system is expected to be up and running on more sites starting in August before spreading to other users”, says Lufthansa Technik’s Manager of Corporate Innovation, Gerrit Rexhausen.
“Meet high expectations”
Undagrid CEO Rolf van de Velde comments, "We are pleased to jointly launch the global GSE 4.0 project as Lufthansa Technik’s IoT partner. Our consolidated research, international implementation experience and user data have enabled us to create this optimized experience for Lufthansa Technik. We've become a leader in collecting, processing and analyzing information from asset sensors in the aviation industry. Our concept has scaled up into a complete enterprise solution with a mobile application, intuitive programming interfaces, and integration with major IT systems. The customer response has been great within Lufthansa Technik and beyond. We increasingly believe we have an opportunity to revolutionize the entire MRO and ground-handling business in the airline industry.”
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Undagrid track & trace at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Undagrid technology has been applied with GSETrack, a joint venture of Undagrid and S-P-S International. This track & trace solution ensures that non-motorized objects or ones not connected to the power grid can be easily traced in an energy efficient manner. The application is used in places such as Schiphol Airport, where baggage carts and aircraft stairs are fitted with Undagrid network technology.
Objects share information
The devices on the objects transmit information to nearby devices, which in turn relay this information to others in their vicinity. This is how ground equipment such as dollies, carts, and staircases communicate their position to each other. An operator can check the location remotely via the cloud or a dashboard, which makes maintenance and equipment management for example more efficient and cost effective. Each device only needs one battery to keep the network operational for years at a time.
Communication between objects
According to Undagrid's CEO and co-founder Rolf van de Velde, "Companies usually have multiple objects to manage, from big to small. Up until now, if they had no power, there was almost no way for vital information about these objects to be shared, such as the location, temperature, or their current status. If a situation like this occurs, it's always a matter of: where exactly are the objects now and/or what's the status of the objects? Undagrid technology ensures that objects, not matter what size, share useful information not only with each other, but also with the people operating the objects."
Optimal use of vehicles
"Undagrid technology makes it possible to track non-motorized vehicles in real time, at low costs. This ensures optimal use of the vehicles, so we also need less of them. Hence, it enables us to cut expenses considerably", says Erik Swelheim, Managing Director & CFO of KLM.
Growth ambitions
Bram Ledeboer, Investment Manager at Mainport Innovation Fund: "MIF's investment, along with that of our partners KLM, Schiphol Airport, TU Delft and Rabobank, positions Undagrid to achieve their international growth ambitions as the communications solution for airport logistics faster. Not to mention, it helps them break into other markets outside of the aviation industry."
Note for the editor
About Mainport Innovation Fund
MIF is the investment fund partnership between the Schiphol Group, KLM Royal Dutch Airline, Delft University of Technology, and Rabobank (www.mainportinnovationfund.nl). The fund invests in promising technology companies with revolutionary innovations in the logistics, transport, and aviation sectors. Undagrid is MIF's 9th investment. NBI Investors, MIF's funds manager, will be launching the "MIF 2" successor fund in the near future.
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