Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Schneeberger (IoT PTO Generators for Emergency Power Supply)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2019-10-01 do 2020-02-29
EU agriculture and forestry account for 2.2% or 35.8 million tons of oil, the equivalent (BOE) of the energy consumed in Europe . Even though the average power outage tends to be short, they impact all of Europe (as shown to the right ). When there is a power outage, farms can suffer badly. Many can lose livestock and produce, experience damaged equipment, and their staff may be unable to work. The costs to bring the farm back to normal operation (pumps needing to be primed, problems with failure of electric fences, loss of water from pump failure) are exorbitant. Ensuring the security of supply in agriculture and the food sector in the EU is one of the fundamental objectives of the EU’s CAP.
Power outages are becoming more and more frequent. Large-scale, superregional blackouts are increasingly a realistic scenario. Even small outages can have disastrous effects on unprepared businesses. PTO generators provide an easy to use and cheap solution for power emergency situations in farming and other critical infrastructure.
Another challenge that European companies are facing are the new emission standards for engines used in non-road mobile machinery.
The regulation establishing a network code on emergency and restoration was enforced on 18 December 2017. The Emergency and Restoration network code has set down rules relating to the management of the electricity transmission system in the emergency, blackout and restoration states. The main objective of the relevant rules is to bring the system back to the normal state. PTO generators will help users comply with these rules.
Power outages are becoming more and more frequent. Large-scale, superregional blackouts are increasingly a realistic scenario. Even small outages can have disastrous effects on unprepared businesses. PTO generators provide an easy to use and cheap solution for power emergency situations in farming and other critical infrastructure.
Another challenge that European companies are facing are the new emission standards for engines used in non-road mobile machinery.
The regulation establishing a network code on emergency and restoration was enforced on 18 December 2017. The Emergency and Restoration network code has set down rules relating to the management of the electricity transmission system in the emergency, blackout and restoration states. The main objective of the relevant rules is to bring the system back to the normal state. PTO generators will help users comply with these rules.
In our domestic market it is direct sales, and abroad, it is through B2B resellers:
1. Direct Sales: In Austria, we have direct sales, and these mostly meet our clients at events or by word of mouth.
2. B2B Partners: Outside of Austria, we work with resale partners – mainly retailers and distributors - including Maschinenring Germany, Maschinenring Switzerland, Maschinenring Austria, Pallenberg GmbH, GeräteBau BIRK GmbH, etc. When entering a new market, we first look for partnerships with resellers.
New markets: We were able to define new verticals and new strategies to make power from PTO generators accessible for people without tractors
Specialized events and media is really important to reach our target market:
Agricultural Fairs: We have a stand at all the major fairs such asAgritechnica Hannover, Eurotier Hannover, Austro Agrar Tulln an der Donau and Rottalschau.
Agricultural Trade Journals: We have ads and information in relevant journals that farmers read such as the Maschinenring Zeitung, Blickinsland, Profi- Magazin für Agrartechnik.
Doing our feasibility study made one thing clear. We are going to commercialize our IoT PTO and we are going to do it internationally. The market for emergency power systems is rising and there are new possibilities for PTOs. First of all, we are going to invest in new staff members, following by investing in marketing and machinery. We want to become market leaders not only in knowledge but in selling as well. Therefore, we have to tap into new markets and new fields. Applying for the EIC Accelerator Pilot will be one of our next steps. Getting the EU fund would make our life easier, but even without funding our project will continue. We are going to evaluate different ways of funding, from the common way via bank to renegotiations with one of our suppliers aka competitors to find a new partnership using both of our resources. By using the funded training days for a business coach we’ve seen that we need help in restructuring our SME processes to industrial ones. We will seek this help to become more cost efficient.
We’ve never thought about design changes but we know now that we need cheaper and lighter housing. To do this redesign with the Institute of Industrial Design guarantees not only the required do-overs but a new modern look as well. Getting the possibility to do this study was a great opportunity for us. The basis for great things in the future is done.
1. Direct Sales: In Austria, we have direct sales, and these mostly meet our clients at events or by word of mouth.
2. B2B Partners: Outside of Austria, we work with resale partners – mainly retailers and distributors - including Maschinenring Germany, Maschinenring Switzerland, Maschinenring Austria, Pallenberg GmbH, GeräteBau BIRK GmbH, etc. When entering a new market, we first look for partnerships with resellers.
New markets: We were able to define new verticals and new strategies to make power from PTO generators accessible for people without tractors
Specialized events and media is really important to reach our target market:
Agricultural Fairs: We have a stand at all the major fairs such asAgritechnica Hannover, Eurotier Hannover, Austro Agrar Tulln an der Donau and Rottalschau.
Agricultural Trade Journals: We have ads and information in relevant journals that farmers read such as the Maschinenring Zeitung, Blickinsland, Profi- Magazin für Agrartechnik.
Doing our feasibility study made one thing clear. We are going to commercialize our IoT PTO and we are going to do it internationally. The market for emergency power systems is rising and there are new possibilities for PTOs. First of all, we are going to invest in new staff members, following by investing in marketing and machinery. We want to become market leaders not only in knowledge but in selling as well. Therefore, we have to tap into new markets and new fields. Applying for the EIC Accelerator Pilot will be one of our next steps. Getting the EU fund would make our life easier, but even without funding our project will continue. We are going to evaluate different ways of funding, from the common way via bank to renegotiations with one of our suppliers aka competitors to find a new partnership using both of our resources. By using the funded training days for a business coach we’ve seen that we need help in restructuring our SME processes to industrial ones. We will seek this help to become more cost efficient.
We’ve never thought about design changes but we know now that we need cheaper and lighter housing. To do this redesign with the Institute of Industrial Design guarantees not only the required do-overs but a new modern look as well. Getting the possibility to do this study was a great opportunity for us. The basis for great things in the future is done.
Power packs are only good for power outages that last a day or less and can only be used in domestic areas. Plus, the users need to ensure that the batteries are charged when needed. Internal combustion engines are so loud that they can be heard for miles. Internal combustion generators need a lot of maintenance in the form of oil changes, and they need upkeep that is unique to internal combustion engines. Also, the battery of the internal combustion engine needs to be charged, and it needs to be switched on every 2 months to work properly. In contrast, PTO generators have the lowest maintenance cost and lowest purchase price of any emergency generator. Despite numerous competitors, none of them offer control boards, and they use conventional protection. We are the only company that specializes in the engineering of PTO generators and are the leading experts in this field. For our competitors, PTO generators are only a small part of their business. We are the only company that offers circuit boards and with our Schneeberger IoT generators, we will be the first ones to make PTO generators smart.
Safety has always been the driving force for all our innovations from the outset. Our Schneeberger IoT PTO generators will be safe to use in any environment and help overcome power outages. The evolution of the European power sector until 2020 is predefined by the commitment of the EU to the 20-20-20 sustainability targets. This commitment consists of a reduction in EU greenhouse gas emissions to at least 20% below 1990 levels, a share of 20% of EU energy consumption to come from renewable sources, and a 20% reduction in primary energy use compared with projected levels by improving energy efficiency. Of all forms of power generators, the PTO generator has the least impact on the environment and is the most sustainable.
Safety has always been the driving force for all our innovations from the outset. Our Schneeberger IoT PTO generators will be safe to use in any environment and help overcome power outages. The evolution of the European power sector until 2020 is predefined by the commitment of the EU to the 20-20-20 sustainability targets. This commitment consists of a reduction in EU greenhouse gas emissions to at least 20% below 1990 levels, a share of 20% of EU energy consumption to come from renewable sources, and a 20% reduction in primary energy use compared with projected levels by improving energy efficiency. Of all forms of power generators, the PTO generator has the least impact on the environment and is the most sustainable.