Unlocking the power of industrial big data for SMEs

Egils Janis Rubenis, CEO of integrationWorks Asia

Thailand is moving forward to become a value-based and innovation-driven economy under the “Thailand 4.0” policy. The Internet of Things (IoT) is increasingly playing an important role in transforming the country with the new S-Curve targeted industries. Big data provides many opportunities such as cost reduction, as well as support for the efficiency of decision-making and the creation of new business ideas.

The German-Thai Chamber of Commerce (GTCC) recently interviewed Mr. Egils Janis Rubenis, CEO of integrationWorks Asia Co., Ltd. He co-founded the company in 2015 in Bangkok as a joint venture with integrationWorks GmbH, headquartered in Berlin, Germany. In close co-operation, they have set up global projects, from Managed Project Outsourcing (MPO) over the implementation of Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) architectures to software development projects such as the implementation of Microservices architectures.

Established in January 2015 in Bangkok, integrationWorks Asia aims to become one of the leading integration specialists in Thailand. The company has been providing services to customers in the banking, trading and automotive sectors. The architecture and development team in Bangkok, led by specialists with deep knowledge of Industry 4.0 and various types of software such as IBM WebSphere Integration Bus, IBM WebSphere MQ, Java Software Development, Microservices Architecture, and MindSphere (Siemens). In addition to implementing EAI solutions for global customers, the company is set to launch its new cloud-based platform, “OCTOBUS”, in August to expand its market to all industrial sectors, with the focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

What opportunities in Thailand motivated you to set up a company here?

Back to 2014 in Munich, Germany, we signed a BMW project but did not have enough staff to set it up. At that time, it was very difficult to find software developers in Germany as the market was expanding and the costs were exploding. Thus, we started looking for a market somewhere else for outsourcing. After consulting with aThai company owner who had already operated an IT company for more than 15 years, we agreed to set up a new company in Bangkok, which marked the establishment of integrationWorks Asia. We applied for Thailand’s Board of Investment (BOI) support from the beginning. We had to submit our business plan and other requirements such as how we would finance the company. However, everything went well.

After the establishment of the company in Thailand, we exclusively suppor ted architecture and software development for companies in Germany, working on projects for e.g. BMW in Munich. Three years ago, we signed a contract with Siam Commercial Bank (SCB). SCB was in progress transforming to an OPEN Application Programming Interface (API) architecture and the use of a lot of multi-channels like mobile phones. A year later we signed our next Microservice project with SCB Life Assurance. Since then, the number of IntegrationWorks Asia’s employees has expanded to 34 with a variety of talented Thai IT specialists and European experts. Our philosophy is to hire top-grade people. In mid 2019, we started developing OCTOBUS with the aim of launching it at the end of August 2020. We are currently in the process launch preparation.

What is OCTOBUS about?

OCTOBUS is an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) platform, running as Software-as-aService (SaaS) in the Cloud or On-Premise. It collects data from Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) and smar t sensors connected to an Edge device, which transforms and sends the data to the Cloud. OCTOBUS ser ves as an information system in several industries like solar farm, aquaculture, food and beverage as well as all other industries where data can be collected from PLCs. It offers different visualisation methods such as dynamic dashboards and isometric views, GEO dashboard for static and mobile assets, an event engine for notifications and process activation, and predictive maintenance. We monitor process execution and trigger actions when something needs a specific attention. With OCTOBUS, companies have all their data visualised and available at all times, anywhere. Through Open APIs we also offer an easy access for Third parties to connect to our system and develop their own applications for integration.

What is your target market for OCTOBUS?

Our target market in the first step is SMEs in Thailand. We believe it is one of our key characteristics and we distinguish from the market, that we are offering this platform in Thai language at an affordable price. OCTOBUS is ready to use in three languages – Thai, English and German. We are also looking for opportunities to launch in Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines, after a successful introduction to the Thai market.

What are your strategies for marketing your product?

We have partnerships with companies such as Siemens, Mitsubishi Factory Automation and ThingsOnNet, and we will connect with more hardware companies. After we launch OCTOBUS we will promote it through social media channels – Facebook, LinkedIn, Line and Twitter as well as through industrial magazines and online advertisement. These media channels allow us to reach bigger audiences than 10 years ago, even businessto-business (B2B) audiences. Webinars, to introduce companies to Industry 4.0 and IIoT are already in place.

Why launch OCTOBUS this year in the middle of the covid-19 outbreak?

We can see that everything is shifting into digital transformation. Everyone is talking about industry 4.0. However, the market in Thailand does not really have a platform to support all types of manufacturing, laid out in Thai language at an affordable subscription price. We are eager to process a wide range of data for every industry sector, so we have developed a system that transforms all kinds of specific data protocol languages like Modbus, OPCUA, Profinet, FINS and more to be pushed it into our cloud, which allows an easy setup for the customer. No matter which position in the company you have, Managing Director, Factory Manager, Engineer, you have your data available at all times, anywhere, also on your tablet and phone.

For me there are three important key factors for a product development. The right people, the right time and the right place. As the launch has been planned for 2020 before the covid-19 outbreak, we currently don’t see any need to push it.

What is your company’s situation in the covid-19 pandemic? As covid-19 pushes Thailand and Thai people to go digital more and more, how will your company benefit from the trend?

Prior to the covid-19 outbreak, our business activities were increasing, as of now we are at a stable point. The market in general is slowing down. Most companies are saving money because they don’t know what will happen next. We are trying to keep all our staff members. We also have had our staff working for 6-8 weeks online from home. Our customers, such as SCB and SCB Life, also temporarily closed their physical offices and worked from home until July. However, there are many possibilities for communications via Line, Skype, WhatsApp etc. We are also using more video conferencing or virtual meeting platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Team and Google Meets, to meet with our customers. This was not possible 10 years ago.

The OCTOBUS IIoT-SaaS platform will serve wider industrial sectors with the benefit of having the information available at all times anywhere to check on your factory and assets and to make decisions on the fly.

What do you think about the readiness of Industry 4.0 in Thailand? Actually, the use of 5G technology has just started in Thailand.

If you look at a sample industry like car manufacturing, the trend of Industry 4.0 has already been on its way for several years, globally. Many sectors, including manufacturing and food processing, already benefit from data collection and analysis. However, there is still room for other industries and smaller companies as well, as it gets more affordable to benefit from. In the past two years, information technology equipment like the Edge devices have become less expensive. Nowadays, companies launch more affordable systems starting as low as US$ 100. Small companies with limited budgets can afford it and profit from their data.

Talking about 5G technology, recently launched and tested in Thailand, the 5G gives you benefits like increased speed, reduced latency, reliable connectivity. It will give our customers the chance to benefit from their data in near time. 5G will reshape the business landscape and create new business models in most industries. The 5G will be a big enabler for all SMART initiatives. We are ready and well prepared for that.

For more information, please visit www.integrationworks.co.th. www.octobus.asia

Interviewed by Chadaphan Maliphan, GTCC Publications and Communications Manager