ITPort out to simplify IoT, lower the cost of implementation

The Internet of Things (IoT) is growing up. But keeping up with it can be a challenge, especially for small and medium-size enterprises. And that’s what motivated ITPort to develop a complexity-busting app called Weeot.

ITPort first tested Weeot as a theory at the Argentine Treasury department, with machines that print pesos. “After we implemented some electronics and software there, to monitor printing machines from the 1970s, they were able to identify that, during night shifts, the printers were working double the expected speed. The workers duplicated production so they could earn extra time to rest. This deteriorated machines big time. With the recollected data, they were able to avoid corrective maintenance and to get back on track,” said Nicolas Vega, co-founder of ITPort.

Then, in 2017, Vega and co-founder Joel Atia worked with the city of Zarate, to help it analyze the operations of its water plant pumps. “That’s where Weeot was born—where the idea of an interactive,  dynamic dashboard was born,” Vega said.

But affordability was still an issue.

“It was very expensive to develop this solution for one customer—who could afford it because it was a city,” Vega said. “So we developed Weeot—an end-to-end solution with electronics, middleware and software—to help customers at a low cost.” Standard equipment, which accommodates as many as six sensors or activators, costs $25 a month. 

The startup and its eight employees plan to sell Weeot abroad, and its founders have their sights set on the manufacturing market segments that rely on temperature monitoring to succeed.

“Nowadays, it’s very common to talk about the cold-chain control of vaccines,” Vega said. “And we have thought about all the things regarding food—because the supply chain involves conserving the right temperature.”

Early this year, ITPort implemented a demo solution at TN&Platex, a textile factory in Tucumán.

“They have six production units here in Argentina. They want to see all of the production units and machines in one dashboard—to gauge how well they are working—and to be alerted when something stops production,” Vega said.