New cloud platform technologies have provided new opportunities for business model innovation. Mid-sized companies, in particular, can leverage a deep understanding of their customers to go beyond providing products or simple transactional services, and instead offer more value-added solutions based on a subscription basis.
Actovent in Germany is a great example of this trend, and explained the technical and business opportunities in its entry for the SAP Innovation Awards 2023.
The family business, with just a handful of staff, was established in 2009 as a specialist wholesaler of residential ventilation. But the company has now introduced a new product called FreshAirManager (“frischluftManager”), an all-in-one solution that orchestrates everything needed to provide “fresh air as a service”.
It’s designed for large buildings such as offices, factories, retail stores, hospitals and climbing gyms, and offers clear benefits: Poor indoor air quality is associated with poor health and reduced productivity, and a constant change in building use This means that most ventilation systems consume energy unnecessarily. Already more than 1,000 ventilation systems are already using the platform, with benefits of energy savings of up to 40% (with associated cost and CO2 savings, depending on the energy used).
With the help of services partner AGILITA, the customer portal was built in a matter of days using a design thinking approach and the SAP business technology platform. You can see the system in action in this video featuring the Mobilier Arena in Bern, Switzerland:
For an initial investment of less than €3,000, the system allows customization, automation and visualization of all aspects of an air conditioning system by connecting to instruments to detect fine dust particles and air pressure. This has helped to guarantee high quality air while reducing energy costs by more than 20% – with further cost-cutting opportunities expected in the future. Machine learning is used to identify correlations between air quality and system controls, and to make suggestions to technicians on how to adjust the system.
The system can also detect when filters are getting clogged, resulting in cheaper, more proactive, more sustainable maintenance – in a recent interview, two Actovent managing directors, Jörg and Franz Penka, explained:
“Today, many filters are purchased based on price. Equipment owners are often unaware that the price of a filter only represents about 15% of the total cost over the life of the filter. Over 70% of the filter’s energy cost Unfortunately, this is not a topic that a buyer necessarily finds on their target agenda. It is difficult to place the topic of sustainability in the current supply chain process. Furthermore, most filter changes occur according to fixed change intervals. are carried out. With Frischluftmanager, we can offer our customers filters that optimize their energy needs as well as provide a total cost analysis. With affordable measurement systems, we can monitor the filters And can order a change when actually required.We help achieve the optimum in terms of energy demand, cost, quality and turnaround time, while achieving the desired as well as required air properties.
This is a good example of how cheap sensors, intelligent sensors, a customer portal and a new pricing model combined together is a win/win/win opportunity. It has helped provide a better customer experience, improve efficiency and cut costs, and has helped make the world a better place!
For more examples of new business models with a little help from the SAP Business Technology Platform, see my interviews with innovation leaders as part of the SAP Better Together Customer series.