Digital Transformation of Atlanta Grout & Tile: An IoT Case Study

Chettinad Cement recognized that further efficiencies could be achieved in its cement manufacturing process. It looked to investing in comprehensive operational and control technologies to manage and derive productivity and energy efficiency gains from the assets on Line 2, their second plant in India.

Atlanta Grout & Tile, a Tile, Stone & Grout restoration company based in Woodstock, Georgia, was facing challenges with its traditional business model. Despite steady growth over the years, the company was falling behind the web revolution and missing out on the opportunity to tap into a new consumer base. They were using independent software from different vendors for each of their department information and workforce management. This resulted in a lot of manual work on excel and the need to export/import data between different systems. This not only increased overhead costs but also slowed down their response to clients. The company also had to prepare numerous reports manually and lacked access to customer trends for effective business decision-making.

Ash Grove Cement would like to find a solution in automate maintenance data collection at each facility for a well-defined enterprise asset management process to support equipment performance reliability.

Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd. (IFFCO), the world’s largest manufacturer and marketer of fertilizers in the cooperative sector, was facing several challenges in its quest to innovate and improve the livelihood of farmers in India. The organization had recently launched a new product, nano urea, which brought new demands to IFFCO’s cloud computing needs. The organization needed a reliable cloud vendor to support the processes of 6–7 new manufacturing plants during the upcoming year, enhancing its production capability 300–350 million bottles of nano urea to meet increasing demand. IFFCO’s cloud adoption was driven by a need to innovate. The organization wanted capabilities for a dynamic business that can adapt to the changing needs of the market while growing fast. However, it was inhibited by rigid on-premises data center deployments and the overhead of maintaining legacy systems. IFFCO wanted to apply the elasticity and availability of cloud for improving overall performance of applications at lowest possible operational overhead. Lastly, IFFCO needed to provide the benefits of its technology to all its stakeholders, including employees, members, transporters, and farmers, some of whom have limited literacy. To accommodate all stakeholders, IFFCO wanted to add a voice interface to its applications.

ProsRent, a startup that won the 'Best Financial Opportunity' and 'Best Pitch' at CodeLaunch 2016, aimed to revolutionize the way construction professionals source and rent heavy equipment. In the construction industry, project managers and contractors typically rent heavy equipment from supply companies. However, predicting inventory can be challenging, and finding the required equipment at the right time and place can be a hassle. If the preferred vendor doesn't have the required equipment, it results in wasted time and money in searching for it, often leading to higher costs due to non-preferred rates and increased delivery costs if the vendor is located far from the job site. Suppliers, on the other hand, desired access to a wider base of trusted renters that they didn't have to vet themselves and wanted to offer dynamic rental pricing based on demand and availability in their market. ProsRent's challenge was to produce a minimum viable product that was fast and first to market but also strong enough to engender loyalty and repeat business from the target market.

Modern buildings are required to run longer hours, support a variety of end uses, and contribute to higher levels of economic productivity, leaving a thin margin for error. However, even the most advanced building and environmental control systems have failed to adequately support facilities and operations management. Buildings are often inefficient and the people using them are underserved. To meet occupant comfort and maintain cost and energy efficiency, a dynamic, AI-assisted approach is needed.