FP Group

The FP Group is an expert in secure mailing business and secure digital communication processes. It offers digital solutions in the areas of software and mail services such as the consolidation of business mail and the efficient processing of mail in companies and public authorities. With the 1NCE Lifetime Fee, the FP Group can expand its services with connectivity and offer connected solutions for its customers throughout Europe without additional roaming charges. Thus, the seamless bearer support and the flexible roaming footprint of 1NCE enable predictive maintenance capability for the new FP Group oil monitoring service.

Background

The listed and globally operating FP Group, which has its headquarters in Berlin, Germany, is an expert in the secure mailing business and secure digital communication processes. As the market leader in Germany and Austria, the FP Group offers digital solutions in the areas of software, mail services and franking and folding and inserting. It also offers products and services for the consolidation of business mail and the efficient processing of mail in companies and public authorities. The Group reported revenues of more than €200 million in 2017. Francotyp-Postalia (FP) Group has subsidiaries in ten different countries and is represented by its own distributor network in an additional 40 countries. With a company history spanning 95 years, FP possesses unique company DNA in the areas of actuating elements, sensor systems, cryptography and connectivity. FP’s global market share for franking systems is more than 11%.

Challenge

One of FP Group’s focal points is to provide condition monitoring and preventative maintenance  services to remotely monitor contamination in oil systems. This can cause major damage to expensive hydraulic machines, causing downtime and additional maintenance. In addition, such negative impacts can be prevented by enabling predictive maintenance which can identify when to stop machines and repair them early, before oil is contaminated or greater damage is done. This solution is used by the global leader in oil maintenance, which designs and manufactures oil filtration solutions for removal of particles, water, acidity and oil degradation products from hydraulic oils, lube oils, gear oils, diesel fuels and others. Although at an early stage of service roll-out, FP Group already has customers for the service in Denmark, Germany, Austria and Italy and needed high quality, cost effective connectivity across the European Union to support the wider deployment of the service. Currently several hundred SIM cards are in use.

1NCE Solution

Using 1NCE FlexSIM cards in 2FF and 3FF form factors to provide both 2G/3G /4G and narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) connectivity, FP Group was able to gain roaming coverage, low energy consumption, high in-building connectivity penetration and a long SIM card lifetime. The company was further attracted by the ability to add new services during the lifecycle of the deployment and the competitive costs of the 1NCE Lifetime Fee offering of 500MB of data plus 250 SMS for €10 for ten years with no monthly recurring charges.