Periodic Reporting for period 2 - CALIPRI Smart (CALIPRI Smart - the easy to use and failsafe handheld optical gauge for 2D-profiles.)
Reporting period: 2017-05-01 to 2018-04-30
One of the main applications of CALIPRI Smart products are safety and quality checks and maintenance of railway vehicles. Thereby, the versions CALIPRI C42 single-app (SA), also called CALIPRI Prime, and CALIPRI C42 multi-app (MA) play an important role in safety of transportation of goods and people. Furthermore, the simple usage of our products make the everyday work of people in railway workshops, car manufacturing plants and rolling mills much easier and faster.
The main objectives of this project are: to enlarge the market share in already established markets due to the launch of new products, to reinforce the market presence, to achieve closer customer proximity by setting up foreign subsidiaries in the markets where market potential is high, to discover new applications of the CALIPRI Smart technology, to search for potential new customers in order to penetrate new industries and new markets, to grow the company and increase the number of employees.
In the second year of the project we continued with the development of the CALIPRI Hot device, the unique portable solution for the measurement of still hot steel profiles as well as with the development of CALIPRI C42 SA and MA versions until the products reach the serial production stage. We also continued with marketing and sales activities and the promotion of the productions on fairs and conferences. Furthermore, in the second year we have started with the development of the add-on device, the so called Calipri Prime Smart Control, for the CALIPRI C42 which purpose is to enable the operator to add additional information on the measurement object (IDs) and to check the measurement result on a section profile level. Another development carried out in the second year is the SPC app - the central database tool for the behavioral analysis and the prediction of maintenance activities.
During the second year we also developed a new product for the automotive industry - CALIPRI C14 - the wireless version of the CALIPRI Smart solution for the measurement of gaps and flush and have strongly focused on the business development of the new industry (aerospace) and the research of the potential measuremnt applications for CALIPRI devices.
What is more, during the period covered by the second report NEXTSENSE hired 17 new employees, thus the current number of employees amounts to 84. We also launched the new webpage which comes in three languages - German, English and Chinese and is adapted to better meet the needs and requirements of our customers as well as to better cover and promote our worldwide presence and the activities of our foreign subsidiaries.
CALIPRI Smart offers more than economic and technological advantages to the customers. The device is easy and comfortable to use because of optimized design and usability. It eases the work of the users and relieves them from frustrating data management and error correction. In the steel and the railway industry, the use of CALIPRI Smart also abandons dangerous measuring processes and decreases the number of accidents. It is also very difficult to manipulate data; hence dangerous slouchiness would leave traces to the responsible person and can be discovered easily. The high reliability of the measured data results in better public safety especially in the railway industry, where dangerous damages to wheels, breaks and rails can be certainly found.
Shortly after the project end, NEXTSENSE GmbH was acquired by HEXAGON, a leading global provider of information technology solutions. On one side, the merger with a strong partner with a global presence will enable NEXTSENSE to accelerate product innovation and company growth while providing even better support and services to existing customers. On the other side, the acquisition will extend Hexagon´s breadth of capabilities in automotive fit and finish - the analysis of how well the parts of a car fit together, which impacts perceived quality at the point of purchase - as well as in industries such as rail and steel where the company has comperatively small footprint today. Together, the combination of sensors, software and advanced analytics from both portfolios will bring added value to all customers while expanding the global reach of NEXTSENSE solutions to new markets and regions.