TanaConnect® enables data-driven decision making for Tana’s stakeholders

As one of the world’s leading manufacturer of machines and equipment for mechanical processing of solid waste, Tana thrives to be at the forefront of digitalization. In order to hold the forerunner position, the company wanted to make a new leap in digitalization, simultaneously revolutionizing information flow with their customers and stakeholders.

To achieve these goals, Tana required a modern digital service portal with a unified user-experience and ease of use for itself, its distributors and customers. The solution would need to provide users with real-time data on the usage and status of Tana’s machines working around the globe, and enable data driven decision making, and deliver added value derived from digitalization for its stakeholders.

As a premium brand, Tana sought after a premium partner to provide expertise in this project. Etteplan was chosen as the main supplier due to our horizontal knowhow of IoT devices, control systems and system integrations. In essence, everything Tana needed could be supplied from under the same roof.

A central system, TanaConnect®, was developed in close cooperation between Tana and Etteplan. TanaConnect® has a portal which shows Tana, its distributors, and in the future its customers, a tailored view with insights to their machines and devices. The system delivers location, status, usage and individual machine data in a very detailed manner, accompanied with visuals and reports to guide decision making.

“In the first development stage TanaConnect® serves primarily our distributors worldwide. It is a single sign on portal to all the digital systems and tools we provide our distributors with, for instance ticketing, eSpares, eLearning and general information and material sharing. As such it makes the daily cooperation smoother and more streamlined,” explains Teemu Lintula VP of Services & Digital Solutions at Tana.

Etteplan handled the majority of the project including building the user interface, the chain from IoT edge to the portal and the integration of other suppliers’ systems into TanaConnect®.

“For customers TanaConnect® provides in the first stage a remote connection to the machine and access to any data about the machine’s functions. Notifications about the next scheduled maintenance and critical alarms for instance help in keeping the machine uptime high when maintenances can be planned and machine break downs can in the best case be prevented. Reports of e.g. operation, machine usage and load help machine owners in optimizing their operations. Surely it also gives machine owners additional feeling of safety when knowing that service and even factory support is as close as the wifi or mobile network,” continues Teemu Lintula.

During the project, Etteplan has proactively recommended features to be implemented into the system. One of these being an unified vocabulary database which allows for harmonization of technical terms. This is a testament for the deep cooperation and understanding between the companies.

The system offers a rich feature set in a user friendly manner, and allows continuous improvements for future needs.  It increases the level of self-service for Tana’s distributors and customers, and improves communication between Tana and their distributor ecosystem. As a result, customer service is improved overall. The solution’s value for Tana’s brand is immeasurable and will support the company’s digital leap for years to come.