CIC, Ionics EMS ink deal to develop IoT products
CIC-Ionics signing of MoU to develop next generation products
LEADING consumer and industrial solutions manufacturer Concepcion Industrial Corp. (CIC) and electronics manufacturing house Ionics EMS Inc. have teamed up to develop a new generation of smart appliances and products using the Internet of things (IoT) technology.
“IOT is the future and it’s strategic that CIC takes the lead in offering solutions to its consumers,” CIC chief executive officer Raul Joseph Concepcion said during the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ionics on Tuesday.
The MOU with Ionics is in line with CIC’s vision to build better lives by using smart solutions in products which will provide comfort and convenience to consumers, Concepcion said.
With IoT technology whereby netizens are globally connected over the social network, any and all objects such as buildings, equipment, vehicles, home appliances, wearables and other devices will be connected over a spectrum of networks to communicate, control, manage, detect problems and derive insightful information.
“To be able to realize this vision, we are forming a strategic alliance with Ionics to help us develop and apply the technology to our locally manufactured appliances,” Concepcion said.
For example, he said an IoT-enabled air-conditioning system will be able to adjust its thermostat in response to the human body heat. Concepcion said this would allow the household or commercial enterprise to unlock savings from the use of energy, as consumption could go down by 40-60 percent. For instance, he said the air-conditioning system would automatically shut down when nobody is in the room.
The air-conditioning units will have the ability to be controlled by mobile phones to provide real-time energy usage and to automatically react to changing environmental conditions in real-time.
“This is a foundation for us to provide better products,” Concepcion said, adding that Ionics would provide the hardware needed to develop such smart solutions.
Concepcion acknowledged that Internet speed remained a challenge, especially for consumers, but noted that in an industrial setting, such smart products would be easier to roll out.
Ionics chair Larry Qua said IoT would be a game-changer. “This collaboration brings together two reputable local companies that are both established in their respective industries, having deep understanding of the local market coupled with unparalleled global experience and expertise,” Qua said.
The same logic goes for smart refrigerators or washing machines. IoT could allow users to better recycle water or save on the use of detergent.
“Developing smart applications for commercial equipment and home appliances for CIC is exciting. It’s akin to assisting them in future-proofing for the 21st century. Ionics provides hardware expertise on the best sensors, edge computing processors and communication protocol while IBM offers its edge in IoT infrastructure and bolt on data analysis,” Qua said.
CIC expects to come up with the next-generation products for industrial users in about a year and solutions for consumers in about a year and a half.
“IoT is an emerging trend that will offer CIC new insights into how our products are used, as well as opportunities to build a foundation for new services that will have a direct impact to the lives of our consumers, and to our environment,” said CIC information and communication technology information officer Sean Byrne said.
Ionics will supply the hardware and likewise handle the maintenance contract and supply of middle-ware products. However, the actual revenue-sharing model is still in the works.
Overall, the next generation products are seen to help contribute to efforts towards environmental protection.
The joint CIC-Ionics partnership is the outcome of the Ionics EMS/IBM co-development partnership that started in 2015.
