It’s been a year now since Toyota Material Handling (TMH) and IPercept Technology AB (IPercept) first met through the help of Ignite Sweden – a non profit initiative co-ordinated by SISP – Swedish Incubators & Science Parks. The two companies quickly came to realize that what IPercept had to offer could fit very well with the needs and ambitions of Toyota Production System (TPS).

After the summer of 2021 a Proof of Concept (POC) was started at TMH’s Mjölby factory targeting two large robots. The objective was to explore how IPercept’s solution could minimize the risk for costly, unforeseen breakdowns on these mission critical machines. This spring the POC came to its conclusion and it was time to review the results.

– IPercept’s novel technology has shown that it is capable of tracking mechanical degradation on a level that we have not been able to see before, says Mattias Dahlgren, Maintenance Manager at TMH. We can now follow exactly how each critical component trends over time. This not only allows us to achieve smart maintenance but also reduces downtime and energy consumption in alignment with our ISO 50001 certification.

The solutions deployed by IPercept can best be described as a fitness tracker for industrial machines. It features a new type of sensor technology with market leading sensitivity, self-tuned digital twin simulations, and advanced data analytics based on long years of research.

– It is a privilege to work with a company like Toyota. A company that has really invented modern industrial manufacturing, says Károly Szipka, CEO of IPercept. We thoroughly enjoy the creative atmosphere ofworking and evolving together.

The POC has now been converted into a commercial service contract and the companies are jointly exploring further opportunities together to build up long-term strategic partnership. For TMH this constitutes one more step in its continuous work towards smart maintenance and Industry 4.0.

About Toyota Material Handling Manufacturing Sweden AB
With Toyota Industries Corporation, founded in 1926, Toyota Material Handling has a long history with a Japanese heritage and they are world leader in materials handling. Today, approximately 4,000 employees in Sweden work with material handling from development concepts to produced vehicles,
sales and service. Toyota Material Handlings product range covers from manual hand trucks to autonomous self-driving 1.5 tonne vehicles and innovative energy solutions.

About IPercept Technology AB
IPercept Technology AB is a Swedish deep tech spin-off from KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Its solutions empower the users and builders of industrial machines to become more efficient and revolutionize how they use, maintain and understand their machines. Its software and services help to achieve fast ROI, while mitigating technical and business risks and achieving higher resource efficiency for a range of industrial machines.

About Ignite Sweden
Ignite Sweden is a non-profit initiative that aims to initiate collaborations between startups and established companies. Since 2017, Ignite has tailored and facilitated more than 5000 matchmaking meetings between 1000+ startups and 255 corporates and 40 public organizations, resulting in over 349 commercial collaborations. Ignite Sweden is coordinated by SISP- Swedish Incubators and Science Parks and co-funded by Vinnova and Energimyndigheten.