Project description
IoT device for reliable animal feed monitoring
Animal feed suppliers currently produce feed for each farmer and distribute it in bulk, which is then stored in silos at different animal farms. However, the lack of reliable and cost effective solutions to remotely monitor the feed stock levels in the silos leads to manual estimations by farmers, resulting in financial losses. To address this issue, the EU-funded INSYLO project proposes an IoT device that combines hardware and software to remotely monitor silo feedstock levels, forecast demand, and enable feed suppliers to optimise their supply chain. The device can be installed in just 5 min and is connected to a cloud-based smart platform that collects data from hundreds of thousands of silos.
Objective
Animal feed is produced by feed suppliers in feed mills, and distributed in bulk to different animal farms, where it is stored in silos. Feed has to be produced ad-hoc for each farmer, and delivered in 24-48h.
Each feed supplier is the provider for several silos from several farms (the top 50 EU feed suppliers manage on average 7,500 silos each). They receive daily hundreds of refilling orders whose logistics have to be optimized in a short time. However, the lack of reliable and cost-effective solutions to remotely monitor the silo’s feed stock hinders the optimization: most farmers assess it manually, provoking (i) inaccurate measures (trucks over or under loaded) and (ii) uncertainty on the demand (feed suppliers cannot organize production cycles or the raw materials purchase based on a cost-effectiveness criteria). As a result, there is yearly losses of 500€ per silo (equivalent to 400M€ in the EU28).
INSYLO turns the situation around and provides the sector with an accurate and cost-effective solution to monitor remotely the silos’ feed stock levels, forecast the feed demand and allow feed suppliers to optimize inventories, production batches, delivery routes and raw materials purchases.
INSYLO is a smart service that combines hardware and software. Through our unique smart volumetric sensor, we obtain an accurate measure of the silos' feedstock levels at a very low cost (6.5 cheaper than competitors). Our IoT device can be installed in only 5 minutes and it is fully independent of the farm’s resources (off-grid, solar energy, own Internet connectivity). Furthermore, it is connected to our smart platform on the cloud, which leverages the power of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence to collect data from hundreds of thousands of silos and decide the right moment and quantity to restock each silo, optimising the whole feed supply chain. We will sell in the first five years more than 100,000 devices, capturing a market share of 2.13% of the 5M silos worldwide.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energysolar energy
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesinternetinternet of things
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensorsoptical sensors
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringinformation engineeringtelecommunicationsradio technologyradar
- agricultural sciencesanimal and dairy sciencedomestic animalsanimal husbandryanimal feed
Programme(s)
- H2020-EU.3.2. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy Main Programme
- H2020-EU.3.2.4. - Sustainable and competitive bio-based industries and supporting the development of a European bioeconomy
- H2020-EU.3.2.1. - Sustainable agriculture and forestry
- H2020-EU.2.3.1. - Mainstreaming SME support, especially through a dedicated instrument
- H2020-EU.3.2.2. - Sustainable and competitive agri-food sector for a safe and healthy diet
Funding Scheme
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2Coordinator
17003 GIRONA
Spain
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.