Aleading talent-as-a-service provider (TaaS) for software solutions and digital transformations, Mobica is shaping a bold new world for manufacturers and industrial leaders. It is a recipient of the Top 10 Industrial IoT Solutions Provider Europe 2023 Award. Gary Butters, chief revenue officer, and Robert Fletcher, connected sector director, discuss what sets the company apart in this domain and how they act as a catalyst for next-generation industrial connectivity.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) encompasses a range of technological domains, from edge devices and sensors to edge computing and cloud applications. Innovation is being accelerated by a wealth of trends and drivers, including private 5G connectivity, machine learning, new human-machine interfaces, digital twins, predictive maintenance, over-the-air updates, and DevSecOps methodologies. In a competitive and complex landscape, what’s the secret to Mobica’s success?

“Mobica continues to stand apart from its competitors because of its cross-domain experience,” says Butters. “This places the company right at the heart of all these developments, leading to expertise and insights that cannot easily be replicated.”

One example Fletcher provides is 5G connectivity, particularly private networks when it comes to the industry. “Private 5G networks are perfectly primed to power next generation manufacturing and industrial operations,” he says.

“These networks allow smart factories driven by AI, analytics, and advanced robotics to run at optimal efficiency, adapting processes in real time. And these advanced operations are happening now. By 2030, it’s predicted that GDP impact on manufacturing could reach $650 billion. From cloud control of machines to high-speed decision making, accelerating how data is collected, processed, and stored, the possibilities are endless.”

Deploying a private 5G network at an industrial site provides robustness and flexibility and can be easily configured. Facilities can choose whether to prioritise low latency and high bitrate or high reliability, depending on their needs, as well as select the best connectivity mode for a specific IIoT device or application. Combined with increasingly smaller devices and the falling price of hardware, private 5G networks are in a perfect position to provide local networking services to industrial sites, with many advantages over competing wireless technologies such as WiFi6.

“But it’s Mobica’s experience across domains, however, that really sets us apart,” says Fletcher. “Whether collaborating with one of the largest technology companies in the world to develop and optimise software components for 5G radio access networks or creating IIoT devices themselves— from the smallest microcontroller-based sensors to platforms like Azure Sphere and fully-blown Linux-based embedded edge PCs—this breadth and wealth of knowledge can only be gained over time.”

Augmenting Innovation

At the start of 2023, Mobica was acquired by Cognizant, one of the world’s largest professional services companies. The business is committed to helping clients modernise technology, reimagine processes, and transform experiences so they can stay one step ahead in an ever-evolving world.

Mobica is an embedded specialist at its core, with expertise spanning the full software development lifecycle. “From concept to completion, we can handle every aspect of embedded engineering,” says Butters. “We even have a globally recognised Embedded Competence Centre, acting as a centre of excellence in this area.”

“Our extensive experience in IoT can be seen in our strategic partnerships, such as the relationship we have with technology leader Arm. For instance, we were heavily involved with developing Arm’s Mbed platform, a free, open-source IoT operating system that includes all the features to create advanced IoT solutions,” he adds.

Mobica augments Cognizant’s IoT embedded software capabilities with a ‘sweet spot’ in connected systems development, while Cognizant pursues innovation in cloud and networking. This includes private 5G connectivity, as well as designing, deploying, and operating these networks.

Mobica continues to stand apart from its competitors because of its cross-domain experience. This places the company right at the heart of all these developments, leading to expertise and insights that cannot easily be replicated

Ultimately, when working with Mobica, companies gain access to a whole community of Cognizant domain and technology experts. As a member of the Cognizant family, it can take digital transformation ambitions to the next level. The IIoT is one sphere where Mobica and Cognizant are passionate about pushing the boundaries of what’s possible—envisioning, designing, and delivering next generation software services, from chip to cloud.

A Three-Tier Approach to Transformation

Mobica offers a three-level structure to help industrial businesses grow—enrich, scale, and delegate.

Enrich allows companies to extend the capabilities of their existing teams by topping up with Mobica’s tech talent. Decision-makers identify what tech expertise they need, when and where they need them, and Mobica will do the rest. This leaves them in complete control of the project and deliverables, boosted by Mobica’s software specialists, to achieve their objectives.

Next is scale. Designed to integrate seamlessly with operations, by opting for this, enterprises can leverage the skills and capabilities of Mobica’s teams, so you have the right tools and resources to test and scale your ideas.

There’s also the option to delegate. To free themselves up to focus on other critical business goals, Mobica works with many organisations that choose to delegate projects entirely to their teams. Once the project specifications and vision are defined, Mobica takes full responsibility for a specific feature or work package or completely implementing a project.

“Our people are our value,” says Fletcher. “Through hard work, world-class engineering skills, and a commitment to always going the extra mile, I truly believe we’re unrivalled in the TaaS sphere.”

Industrial Concerns and Challenges

Mobica is currently speaking to industrial leaders about a whole range of software challenges, from adapting solutions against hardware limitations and characteristics to improving performance, extending capabilities with new features, meeting the latest compliance standards, and integrating systems with third-party platforms.

“Many businesses feel like they’re up against a series of barriers to embrace IIoT,” explains Fletcher. “This includes a lack of understanding around IIoT protocols, technologies, and best practices; how to integrate data, so it’s shared seamlessly across sensors, devices, and platforms; security risks, covering cyber threats, authentication and privacy concerns; planning for scalability, so data, device, and processing capabilities can keep pace with business growth; and developing a robust business case, ensuring return-on investment will be achieved. We can help overcome all these challenges and concerns.”

The impact can be clearly seen in Mobica’s success stories. For one leading safety barrier manufacturer, its quotation process was highly time-consuming. This involved numerous manual inputs, which caused significant revenue loss. For instance, email scans containing iterative paper drawings would be exchanged between the company and prospect many times before progress was made. To address this challenge, the client wanted to adopt a digital approach.

Mobica established a completely cross-functional team to make this happen. Across the entire software development life cycle, it made an impact—from transforming the client’s software vision into a reality to setting up 500 automated tests to check efficiency and accuracy. The complex integration project required full compatibility with the existing enterprise resource planning system, as well as load balancing to manage a high volume of simultaneous users.

The outcome? A high-quality web application that incorporated a 2D drawing tool, reducing the quotation process from a staggering four weeks to just three days. This system recommends products based on environmental data collated from a database of approximately 2,000 products. Mobica’s solution was also rolled out internationally, with quotation documents localised and branded for client subsidiaries.

“To enable the next wave of growth, industrial companies need to redouble their efforts on enhancing agility, sustainability, transparency, and digital innovation,” concludes Butters. “Only then will they maintain the edge. Our success is inextricably linked to helping these businesses secure this competitive advantage.”