Lowist developed a cloud-based solution that allows its customers to control retractable bollards and barriers for vehicle access from a distance. All the Lowist installations can be monitored and managed from a single platform. As a result the operational management of vehicle access systems is much more efficient and any issue in an installation can be remedied in a centralised and fast way.
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Lowist Toegangsbeheer installs and maintains automatic bollards and barriers for vehicle access. The company has been a partner in access management for cities and municipalities for over 15 years now. One of the systems produced by Lowist is a rising bollard for vehicles that is controlled using a control panel.
Why this product
In 2010 Lowist developed its own PLC-based solution to display error information and to adjust specific settings in the control panel. Later on the company captured a growing interest among its customers to manage their systems from a web application and a central platform that could communicate with the PLC of the control panel. Innovative mobility solutions are becoming more and more “standard”. Lowist could not find off-the-shelf solutions on the market for the specific concept they had in mind and chose to go for its own custom development.
Value for the customer
The solution that Lowist developed allows one to control all retractable bollards and barriers from wherever they are. For an automatic retractable bollard, for example, one can determine remotely whether or not it should be retracted and according to which time schedule. All Lowist installations can be monitored and managed from a single platform. As a result, the operational management of vehicle access systems is much more efficient and any issue in an installation can be remedied in a centralised and fast way.
Technology behind this smart vehicle access system
The control panels of the retractable bollards are connected to the cloud-based management platform via an industrial gateway and a cellular connection. Lowist collaborated with several external partners to develop the different solution components, ranging from the PLC and gateway software to the cloud-based software for managing the data and the web application.
Capturing revenue
The cloud-based solution is offered to customers via a monthly licence fee. Only customers that have a Lowist vehicle access system installed can benefit from the management software.
Next Steps
Currently, the focus of Lowist goes to reaching more customers with the current offering.
Smart Product Scenarios
To enhance your chances of success and guide your smart product innovation, Sirris offers you practical tools and guidelines. Our Smart Product Inspirator provides you with a framework for identifying valuable smart product ideas based on the 5 most common scenarios and 15 smart product examples illustrating these scenarios. With these carefully analysed scenarios we help you uncover the potential for success. The key scenarios for Lowist's cloud-based solution are: 'Digital user interface' and ‘Smart maintenance'.
