ESAB, a global supplier of welding consumables and equipment, has started offering WeldCloud, a connected welding solution. This innovative solution allows enterprises and welding services companies to better monitor and optimise the performance of their welding equipment, increase quality and develop new customer services. ESAB chose Tele2 because of its end-to-end understanding of ESAB’s strategic goals and proactive partner go-to-market programme. With WeldCloud, ESAB anticipates lowering operating costs and increasing revenue with new services offerings.
ESAB is a supplier of exceptional welding equipment, ancillary support services, and consumables – the raw materials used during the welding process. ESAB supplies an extensive range of products for some of the world’s largest enterprises. With 8,700 employees worldwide and annual revenue of US$2.3 billion in 2014, this 110-year-old company remains a global leader in its sector.
The welding business is competitive and manufacturers like ESAB are always innovating to improve product quality and performance while bringing new welding-related services to customers.
To innovate, ESAB decided to create WeldCloud, a connected welding solution, to help its customers better use their welding equipment, more easily track welding operations and streamline the welding process. With a connected solution, ESAB would better understand usage characteristics of its equipment and provide customers with hands-on support in optimising equipment performance and consumables usage. But ESAB needed reliable, secure, global connectivity for its equipment so it could utilise the data it would be collecting.
Tele2 IoT provides conceptualisation, testing, deployment and ongoing management
So ESAB turned to Tele2 IoT for a managed IoT connectivity solution. This solution affords ESAB an easy way to build connectivity into its welding product line wherever the products are deployed worldwide.
In addition, Tele2 IoT offers ESAB partners go-to-market services in the conceptualisation, testing, deployment and ongoing management of IoT solutions. “Tele2 IoT brings a tangible vision to the project and helps execute the solution by bringing in the right partners,” an ESAB spokesperson says.
ESAB had several choices of IoT partners, but chose Tele2 IoT because of its proactive partner go-to-market programme, attention to customer details and its end-to-end understanding of ESAB’s strategic goals. Tele2 IoT was selected because of its very clear horizontal position in the market, which makes sure there isn’t conflict with other partners and because it could ensure ESAB always gets the best-of-breed solutions.
ESAB’s Weld Cloud increases customer lifetime value
ESAB’s board of directors has highlighted the WeldCloud initiative as highly strategic, offering ESAB the opportunity to create long-term competitive differentiation for its business. ESAB anticipates being able to lower operating and development costs while increasing revenue through its unique services offerings.
Thinking further into the future ESAB expects that autonomous systems, connectivity and powerful data analytics could revolutionise welding. Working with partners like Tele2 IoT, ESAB is focusing on these types of innovations to lead the welding equipment and services market with its customers and partners.
