Another factor is responsibility: it’s often unclear who should drive digitalization—the automation engineers, who know the devices, machinery, and processes best, or the IT specialists, who are skilled in IoT and artificial intelligence but have less insight into specific machinery and production processes. These uncertainties lead to delays and hesitation in implementing digital transformation.

You launched your Coligo product in mid-year. What is your approach to solving these challenges?

We focused on supporting automation engineers as the central figures in implementing digitalization and technologies like artificial intelligence. They are deeply familiar with the systems and processes in their companies and can identify optimization opportunities, but they usually lack a background in data science or AI.

In response, we developed Coligo—an edge-based AIoT solution that’s easy to use and offers plug-and-play functionality. The edge device typically connects via OPC UA and is configured through a user-friendly app. I emphasize ‘configured’ because that’s all the user needs to do: gather data, create a custom dashboard, and run the integrated no-code AI models. In hybrid systems, Coligo also functions as a gateway, forwarding data via MQTT to EMS, ERP, or cloud systems.

No-code AI means that users can either utilize pre-trained models for object detection and recognition in video streams and noise detection in audio streams, or employ streaming-learning technologies for anomaly detection and prediction. The user selects relevant data, and Coligo handles the analysis. To further improve ease of use, we bundle the software with cost-effective edge devices.

You’ve been seeking an investor to boost the impact of your solution. How is that going?

Coligo is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BE.services. Over the past three years, we’ve developed the product with our own resources. Now, however, it’s crucial to accelerate market entry and international distribution. We also have concrete ideas for further product development, which will require additional personnel. So we’re seeking a strategic investor who shares our vision and is prepared to invest in an innovative, high-growth solution. Despite the current challenges in securing capital in Germany, even for tech startups, we believe that our company, with this product, has significant potential. A partner who invests in Coligo gains not only an innovative product but access to a rapidly expanding market. Next year, we’ll also intensify our search for potential partners internationally.

What are you showcasing at the trade fair, and what are your next steps?

At the trade fair, we are presenting various EdgeBoxes and showcasing real-world use cases for edge computing. We’re demonstrating how simple it is to launch, train, and use our AI models. For example, we’re running a pick-and-place machine as a digital twin, demonstrating anomaly detection, energy consumption forecasting, tool lifetime estimation, and object recognition in video streams. All these models run in parallel on affordable NXP hardware, using both the CPU and NPU.

Visitors to our booth can experience the Coligo app firsthand and see how easy it is to use. We have ambitious plans for next year: we aim to aggressively advance business development and provide strong support to SMEs on their digitalization journey. Our goal is to build a robust distribution network in Europe and actively seek clients in Asia and North America.

Coligo at the SPS 2024: Hall 6, Booth 458