News IoT can cut workplace accidents in half

Nico Janssens is CTO at Rombit, an IoT scale-up that improves safety, efficiency and sustainability for industrial and logistics companies through data and coaching. From its headquarters in Antwerp, Rombit coordinates offices in Argentina, the United States and the United Arab Emirates. The company works with clients such as Van Moer Logistics, STG and Greenyard.

Rombit has built its solutions around two pillars: wearables for personal safety in heavy industries and a smart solution for rolling equipment, the Digital Driver Coach. “With the Digital Driver Coach, we aim to reduce safety incidents to an absolute minimum,” says Nico Janssens. “At the same time, we improve safety, increase productivity and lower costs.”

Data-driven coaching

The Digital Driver Coach brings together hardware, data analysis and coaching. Nico Janssens explains how it works: “We install our IoT device on rolling equipment such as forklifts. With that device, we collect extensive data on driving behaviour: acceleration, braking, rotational forces in turns and more. We analyse this data thoroughly and make it available in a cloud environment, in the form of concrete insights and advice. This allows our customers and coaches to act on it immediately.”

Our end-to-end solution is unique and works independently of manufacturers. 

A unique end-to-end solution

According to Nico Janssens, the strength of the Digital Driver Coach lies in the combination of all these elements and its powerful data model. “Our end-to-end solution, including the data model, is unique and fully independent of vehicle manufacturers,” he says. 

“Customers using forklifts from different manufacturers therefore need only one solution for a fully integrated view. In addition to driving behaviour, they gain insights into fleet efficiency and when vehicles are not used, known as idle times (downtime).”

Numbers that matter

The results of the Digital Driver Coach speak for themselves. “We have customers where our solution has led to a year-on-year cost reduction of 70%,” Nico Janssens explains. “We also often record up to 50% fewer damage incidents per hour driven. One customer recently organised a fries party because there were no workplace accidents for three months. That is what we aim for.”

Rombit goes beyond digital advice and also deploys coaches at customer sites. Nico Janssens: “They review the results with the driver and develop a personal plan. Data doesn’t tell the whole story. The driver’s experience and on-site conditions remain important.”

With our IoT device, we collect extensive data on driving behaviour. 

Orange Business: the ideal IoT partner

For the connectivity behind all these IoT devices, Rombit has been working with Orange Business for years. “Orange Business has been an interesting partner from the very start, precisely because of their focus on IoT,” Nico Janssens says. 

“We are technically an IoT company. Orange Business was the first in Belgium to offer LTE Cat M1. It was also one of the few where energy-saving features such as eDRX and PSM were activated by default. This resulted in lower battery usage and reduced energy consumption in our devices.”

Efficient customisation

The collaboration is about more than just the network. “Orange Business also offers options to improve indoor coverage in logistics environments. They propose solutions that fit the problem, not necessarily the most complex or expensive ones. This approach increases our efficiency and significantly lowers our total cost of ownership, which our customers value.”

Nico Janssens also highlights the constructive collaboration with Orange Business IoT R&D engineers. “In case of incidents, I don’t have to go through call centres, I receive immediate support and logs from the right contact person. And when we develop new devices, we immediately know where the operator can offer us a competitive advantage.”