Munich / Heidenheim, June 13, 2022: With the conception, development and testing of Hydro Pocket, Ray Sono, together with Voith, is launching an all-in-one solution that digitizes the performance of small hydropower plants to make them more scalable and efficient. The international launch of this digital service product now enables operators to monitor all plant processes and optimize them at the touch of a button via PC, tablet, or smartphone – regardless of their own location. In addition, owners receive error messages about problems like water shortages or overheating and can react in real time. Not only did Ray Sono develop the service, the company also worked with Voith to design the necessary hardware that communicates with users from within the systems.
The development process represents a vivid example of how Ray Sono evaluates digital potential together with customers and successfully operationalizes solutions in a very short time. Within one year, all processes that ensure the operation of small hydropower plants were examined for digital sustainability, numerous possible solutions were discussed, and a prototype of Hydro Pocket was designed through analysis and testing. This solution has already gone live at several locations worldwide. The path to digitalization of the plant is short: from equipment, installation, configuration to activation takes a maximum of 4 weeks.
In industry, maintenance and modernization are among the most challenging and important topics – especially in view of the costs of downtime. With Hydro Pocket, Voith and Ray Sono are consistently focusing on value creation throughout the entire product life cycle and offering customers a digital service product that creates sustainable added value.
With an interdisciplinary team of 20 experts from a wide range of disciplines, including customer research and business development to software development and design, Ray Sono developed and validated a marketable product with a viable business case. The agile approach used will continue to enable successive expansion of the product features and design. All in the spirit of Inspect & Adapt.
This project really highlights Ray Sono's greatest strengths: the interplay of market research, digital consulting, customer experience, technical implementation, and operational management.
Sebastian Krüger, Member of the Executive Board, Ray Sono
As a member of the Executive Board Sebastian Krüger is responsible for digital transformation and the development of digital services and products for new and existing customers at the C level. Ray Sono assumes the lead role for strategic solutions in the digital area of the Voith industrial group and supports its management to identify the most economically viable initiatives and projects.
Tobias Keitel, COO Voith Hydro, is very pleased with the cooperation: "With Hydro Pocket, we are giving digitalization in small hydropower a boost that will contribute to efficiency increases for power plant operators. Having a partner like Ray Sono at our side in this digital transformation process is both an enrichment and an incentive for us."
Ray Sono has supported Voith since 2017 in projects and initiatives for digital transformation and Industry 4.0. These projects are as diverse as the industry itself and range from the identification of growth potential along the value chain to the design and implementation of digital products and Industrial Internet of Things Services (IIoT). Ray Sono, whose headquarters are in Munich, took on the UX conception of IIoT platform services for processing sensor data, for example, and developed industry-specific data-based business models for the Heidenheim-based technology group.
To develop digital products of tomorrow, Ray Sono relies on user-centered innovation methods for Voith as well as an agile approach with rapid prototypes that are validated for acceptance and potential at an early stage. In addition to design thinking methods, design sprints or lean startup approaches, the company already considers the implementation of digital solutions. Ray Sono sees itself as a pioneer and companion in digitalization.
More information about Hydro Pocket by Voith Hydro is available here.
About the Voith Group
The Voith Group is a global technology company. With its broad portfolio of systems, products, services and digital applications, Voith sets standards in the markets of energy, paper, raw materials and transport & automotive. Founded in 1867, the company today has around 20,000 employees, sales of € 4.3 billion and locations in over 60 countries worldwide and is thus one of the larger family-owned companies in Europe.
The Group Division Voith Hydro is part of the Voith Group and a leading full-line supplier as well as trusted partner for equipping hydropower plants. Voith develops customized, long-term solutions and services for large and small hydro plants all over the world. Its portfolio of products and services covers the entire life cycle and all major components for large and small hydro plants, from generators, turbines, pumps and automation systems, right through to spare parts, maintenance and training services, and digital solutions for intelligent hydropower.
About Ray Sono
Ray Sono, founded in 1992, shapes the digital world of businesses and organisations of all sizes and industries. Locally, nationally, and globally. In the interplay of strategy, concept, design and technology, the digital expert transforms ambitious ideas into tangible digital content, products, and services. Ray Sono continuously develops this in the digital ecosystem of its customers and ensures smooth operation. Ray Sono counts leading brands such as Audi, Austrian Airlines, Bayern Tourismus, BMW, BSH Hausgeräte, BVG, Deutsche Bahn, E.ON, MAN, McDonald’s, Paul Hartmann, Telefónica, Voith, WMF, Zeppelin among its customers.
In addition to the Munich office, Ray Sono maintains a Product & Service Design Lab in Berlin and other offices in Frankfurt am Main and Cologne.
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