IoT Transformation: Connectivity Pilot in Argentina

In an ever-evolving landscape characterized by rapid technological advancements and IoT technology, businesses across various sectors are on a constant quest for innovative solutions to optimize their operations and maintain a competitive edge. In this case study AoFrio works with one of the world leading beverage companies in Argentina on a trial to improve data accuracy within the business and focus on better business outcomes.

A prominent beverage company in Argentina sought to address crucial challenges in its operations. Their objectives were to reduce equipment loss, enhance preventive maintenance practices, and gain valuable business insights throughout their network. To achieve these goals, they embarked on a year-long controlled experience of AoFrio’s comprehensive ecosystem, which includes AoFrio® SCS Controller, AoFrio® Monitor, and the AoFrio® iQ™ platform. Following the successful project, the company experienced a 10% decrease in lost equipment and a 25% reduction in customer service calls, resulting in quicker response times for equipment repairs and a more efficient delivery of cold beverages to consumers.

Being a leader in the beverage market, the customer sought out a solution to enable them to have a connected cooler fleet environment, enabling improved preventive maintenance and the intelligence in business decisions.

AoFrio’s market leading IoT ecosystem supports an integrated control over refrigeration fleets. Our system provides accurate data and meaningful information, boosting refrigeration units efficiency in the field. The beverage bottler and AoFrio undertook a multi-trial program to test and prove the value of several AoFrio iQ platform value pillars.

Aiming consistent conclusions, AoFrio and the customer chose specific sales routes to keep close control over continuous visits to point of sales (as coolers data are collected by proximity between a brand mobile device – such a smartphone or a handheld – and the cooler in field). The full territory comprehended by these sales routes were prepared with AoFrio connected hardware: a combination of coolers already connected (equipped with SCS controllers), completed with coolers enabled with connectivity via easy retrofit hardware options monitor. The retrofit work was a collaborative effort between both teams with external consultants providing operational expertise during the trial. 

The result of this one-year multi-trial delivered strong outcomes across it’s selected fleet ecosystem.

• Customer Master Data Accuracy: There was a 25% decrease in inconsistently installed refrigeration equipment during the initial 10 weeks of the trial using data from our device. This was a significant improvement in master address data accuracy for the customer.
• Equipment placement management: The beverage bottler was interested in measuring the correct management of the cooler location. This brand in Argentina estimated a loss of 2% of its total fleet every year. At the end of the trial period a 10% improvement was achieved compared to the same period in the previous year. This was attributed to the constant passive surveillance of the equipment through AoFrio IoT technology and rapid identification. Extrapolating this percentage to the total fleet, we could highlight a reduction in market loss of approximately USD 200K. Notably, this improvement did not account for the widespread implementation of AoFrio’s application across the entire sales force and technical roles, which, if implemented, could further enhance equipment monitoring and immediate detection of equipment relocation, potentially resulting in a 40% to 50% overall improvement.
• Preventive Maintenance: The beverage bottler’s technical team confirmed that the high-priority alarms generated by AoFrio devices assisted in temperature control and troubleshooting resulting in reducing the repair time of assets by 1 day. Additionally, there was a 25% decrease in calls to the customer center for repair of equipment. This pilot also demonstrated the potential to anticipate a service call thus avoiding equipment failures with high cost.
• Commercial activities: Using business data between our devices and customer’s commercial information we were able to verify coolers with purity issues (point of sale selling products from competitors) and non-productive coolers (hot drink sales) with 95% accuracy.

In conclusion, the partnership between this beverage bottler in Argentina and AoFrio has proven to be a strategic move toward achieving the company’s goals. The year-long multi-trial of AoFrio’s comprehensive ecosystem yielded impressive results, improving the accuracy of customer master data, enhancing equipment location management, streamlining preventive maintenance, and optimizing commercial activities. This successful collaboration has also translated into real cost savings for this beverage bottler in Argentina.

AoFrio is the leader in IoT for refrigeration and delivering valuable insights to its customers using sustainable and transformative technology. By harnessing the power of IoT, the bottler brand was able to turn data into actionable insights, leading to improved cold equipment fleet management and improved preventive maintenance.