Shoplogix: Connecting data to dollars with Ontario talent

Oakville, Ontario, based Shoplogix was founded in 2002 on the premise that better information could lead to improved outcomes in the manufacturing sector. 18 years later, Shoplogix is one of Ontario’s leading Industry 4.0 companies, helping global Fortune 1000 manufacturing companies to visualize, integrate and act upon production performance in real-time to uncover hidden potential on the shop floor.

With international offices across Latin America and Europe and with customers across 32 countries, Shoplogix is a global player. Their customers are major players in the automotive, food & beverage, consumer packaged goods, industrial packaging and steel services industrial sectors.

The ROI of Industry 4.0

Shoplogix transforms the way manufacturers see data by connecting machine data with people, processes and assets, allowing manufacturers to find opportunities to reduce operating costs and increase profitability. And along the way, they’ve also learned that by putting ‘real-time’ productivity displays on shop floors for operators to see and track their performance makes a significant impact on productivity.

“When we first put Shoplogix on the floor, one of the things we noticed right away was that the employees took great interest,” says Dan Vinson, Operations Manager at IAC and customer of Shoplogix. “We actually saw an immediate impact even before a single insight was shared through the platform. Downtimes dropped and breaks shortened. It gave our people on the floor some skin in the game.”

By connecting Shoplogix to IAC’s machines, they were able to monitor and track machine downtime details in order to pinpoint areas of improvement, helping them achieve an 11% increase in ‘uptime’ and thereby realizing a savings of $30,000 within the first month of using Shoplogix. Other customers report similar increases in productivity: Fareva SA, a contract manufacturing company, attributes Shoplogix to a 13% decrease in setup time and a 14% decline in downtime. The savings add up to better ROI.

Leveraging Ontario’s talent to fuel future growth

Shoplogix’s Magnus Sandberg, President and CEO, cites their location within Ontario’s tech corridor as a big part of their success. “Ontario’s technology sector is leading the way when it comes to IIoT development... [and] there are many advantages of operating in North America’s fastest-growing tech market. One of them is that [Ontario is] a hub for highly skilled IIoT developers and innovators. We have had great luck hiring local talent. It really is the people that continue to propel our product forward.”

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is expected to grow substantially in the next few years: Global spending on IIoT platforms for manufacturing is set to grow to $12.44B in 2024, with manufacturing accounting for the largest market for IIoT platforms with an expected value of $438 million by 2021.

Shoplogix will be ready, with plans to leverage AI to tackle new challenges as they emerge. They recently acquired Ontario-based ERP software company, IndustriOS, to significantly benefit their customers across operations by providing a one-stop-shop for all smart manufacturing software applications. “Being strategically located close to the talent pool that drives our business’ success, we’re well-equipped to help companies make their smart factories even smarter.”