IoT platform for SMEs: the case of Offcar

Can an IoT platform serve SMEs? Absolutely yes! This is what we can draw from the case of Offcar, an innovation-oriented company that has successfully implemented IoT technology in its products, overcoming the cliché that the Internet of Things is reserved only for large companies.

Superfry 4.0 the intelligent fryer by Offcar srl

A company that welcomes change

Offcar is an Italian company specializing in the design and production of professional kitchens and catering equipment, such as hobs, deep fryers and pasta cookers.
The history of Offcar has now reached its third generation: without forgetting its past, the company has started a path defined as Young Innovation Mentality (YIM) , which involves a change of approach and the adoption of new technologies in order to automate production with a view to efficiency, sustainability and optimization .

The ultimate goal is to bring value to the customer and create a relationship with the customer that is not limited to the supply of material but that opens the way to an improvement in shared processes.

An IoT platform to support the company philosophy

The company philosophy therefore aims to provide a service as well, not just a product. With this in mind, Offcar was looking for a solution to IoT integration . In particular, the adoption of IoT technologies concerned the new SuperFry4.0 product line: the most technologically advanced high efficiency and automated fryer on the market designed to manage large workloads on a daily basis .

The Superfry4.0 fryers, thanks to the intelligent adaptive cooking system “cooking core”, are able to adapt their operation according to the needs and the desired cooking result. Using the "express filtration system" function, it is possible to filter the oil and return to frying in less than 4 minutes, ensuring perfect quality of the oil itself with significant cost savings.

At the base of everything, there was the need to develop the electronics and that this was then manageable remotely. To give substance to this new vision, Offcar therefore needed adequate technological support .

Our work with Offcar

We have implemented the Nosco I/O technology in the new line, a modular electronic system consisting of modular modular boards created in collaboration with Velex company specialized in the design of electronic controls in the industrial field. The electronic boards are connected with the Nosco IoT platform . Each fryer sold is connected by default and allows the customer to have access to the Offcar portal and to monitor the operating status of their machine, upload recipes directly to the machine, update the firmware, download operating data .

Results obtained and prospects for the future

The implementation of an electronic component with a native connection and integrated to an IoT platform allows Offcar's automatic fryers to be constantly monitored, collecting data necessary to continuously optimize performance, also with a view to environmental sustainability.

The company's investment resulted in a good response in terms of sales, on the Italian and international markets .

Given the results obtained, the R&D manager of Offcar (Filippo Carraro) decided to extend the adoption of Nosco to other product lines , to encourage an increasingly innovative approach to professional kitchens by making them integrated and automated.