voith

A special app for a more efficient management of small hydropower plants

With Gofore as its development partner, Voith – a leading, full-line supplier for hydropower plants – launched a mobile application to enable the optimised plant management from anywhere. The solution is called Hydro Pocket.

THE CHALLENGE

How to extract and present real-time, actionable data with one single solution serving different types of hydropower plants

The principle “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” also applies to digitalisation. In the current day and age there is an app for almost anything, just not for small hydropower plants. Unlike with large hydropower installations, there are no customised solutions for smaller ones to monitor, analyse and optimise processes. Small plants are often fully automated and operated without the assistance of extra personnel.

Developing a one single solution that serves different types of hydropower plants turned out to be quite challenging since every such plant is constructed differently. For example, the number of valves, pumps sensors and other units is always different.

Thus, Voith needed a smart, adaptive solution that could be implemented by their customers with little barriers to investment.

Globally, hydropower supplies far more electricity than any other regenerative energy source. Smaller plants, in particular, guarantee grid stability and can play an important role in supplying remote communities with cost-effective, continuous energy. Thus, a good reason to help these installations achieve greater efficiency, no?

our approach

Cooperative research and development around customer needs

From the very beginning, the development of Hydro Pocket was largely determined by customer needs from around the world. Led by one of Voith’s internal product managers, the team sought to find similarities between different types of hydropower plants. The turbine, the gear, and the generator are just a few of those many elements that the various facilities have in common.

All of this could only be done thanks to multifaceted interviews conducted with pilot customers by Voith’s UX designers. In doing so, existing Voith tools were tested to pinpoint shortcomings in data-visualisation. The results were then handed over to Gofore’s developers who, together with the entire team, evaluated all requirements and built the app based on the research learnings.

The entire time, the UX design ran parallel to the app development. That way no one was left in the dark about what was meant to happen next. To stay up to date, the platform is being actively refined. A new feature is released every month or two.

Gofore developers are always a few steps ahead: They don’t only think about what needs to be delivered today, but how the product can still meet the requirements in two years’ time.

GUSTAVO ARANTES, GLOBAL PRODUCT MANAGER, VOITH

the result

Real-time dashboards with improved KPIs for optimal workflows

Hydro Pocket goes well with any type of small hydropower plant and is supported by all devices – from smartphones to desktops. It groups and filters data in conjunction with existing Voith tools, thereby creating transparency around all that is happening within premises.

Even operators of small hydropower plants can now easily understand connections between plant status and different events in real-time. They can better handle maintenance work and investigate the causes of operational disruptions or unexpected downtimes more efficiently. It is also possible to follow revenue streams by tracking financial KPIs.

Essentially, Hydro Pocket brings together everything in one place: figures on water consumption, CO2 emission savings and more. At the same time, content can be personalised, all without the need to bring in IT specialists.

16 plants across five countries have already been connected to Hydro Pocket since the beginning of the development phase in August 2021.

Case in numbers

12 project team size
7 different capabilities
16 months in development
2 awards won
16 connected plants

case highlights

A new service for the digital transformation of small hydropower plants

Voith and Gofore created the visually and functionally outstanding Hydro Pocket app through a user-centric and agile development process. In helping smaller hydropower plants access real-time, actionable data, the solution plays a crucial role in their digital transformation success. At the same time, it adds a new layer of digital services to Voith Hydro’s core business of heavy-duty machinery, turbines, and other hydropower plant equipment, thereby optimising value streams.

The cooperation between Voith and Gofore dates back to 2017.

expertise

The skills & competences utilised in the project

UI Design
Cloud
System integration
Software testing & quality assurance
Scrum & Shape Up
Cross-border teamwork
Digital transformation advisory

Get in touch!

Ari Hirvonen

Intelligent Industry

ari.hirvonen@gofore.com

+358 40 5662133

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