Beckhoff, IAConnects and Arkessa taking IoT to facilities management

Beckhoff Automation has partnered with IAConnects and Arkessa to integrate internet of things technologies to facilities management. 

Global mass urbanisation seems to be an unstoppable trend which brings with it significant challenges for municipal authorities, insurance companies and facilities management.

Beckhoff says its partnership with Arkessa and IAConnects will help address these challenges. 

IA integrates building automation solutions into manufacturing, office, commercial and domestic properties, putting control into the hands of facilities management teams.

The company says technology from Arkessa and Beckhoff Automation coupled with MobiusFlow from IA, makes the solution “easy to adopt, integrate and scale”.

High-speed measurement and control technology from leading automation specialists Beckhoff is fully integrated and enables control and connectivity with all the key fieldbus technologies in the building and manufacturing environments.

Stephen Hayes, managing director of Beckhoff UK, says: “There are currently around 40 megacities with a population of more than 10 million on the planet and the research shows that some cities will grow to have populations similar Spain or the UK.

“When you consider that around 40 per cent of the world’s energy is consumed by buildings, then it becomes clear that we have a real problem on our hands.

“From a technology perspective, ease of use and scalability have been key factors in our design and by using Arkessa’s secure managed connectivity we can deploy the solution quickly and do it independently of local IT or OT constraints.”

Arkessa’s connectivity management platform, Emport, is fully integrated and 3G or 4G data connectivity is included in the service offer.

This provides remote management and secure communications to Enterprise and Cloud Service Providers from anywhere on the planet and enables a true “as a service business model”.

Andrew Orrock, CEO at Arkessa, says: “As our cities continue to expand and we consider the significant energy and facilities management requirements of a vast building stock, both old and new, it is not difficult to see why this solution is being so rapidly adopted.

“Many buildings are not optimised in a performance sense and the Arkessa partnership with Beckhoff and IA can really make a difference by enabling secure global deployment and retro-fit.

“The flexibility of the combined solution has made deployment into manufacturing, offices, airports and hospitals easier than ever.”