Living in the twenty-first century means being surrounded by the latest and most efficient technology. Human beings are now witnessing new kinds of innovation and have almost forgotten the old traditional ways of working. Like that, Hariharan Ganesh, a digital evangelist and IoT enthusiast, came up with the idea of a technology startup, Factana.
So, a company was established. Factana is basically a technology hub that focuses on industrial IoT-based automation solutions for manufacturers. With more than 25 years of experience in engineering, architecture, strategy, integration, and information, Ganesh is providing solutions for enterprise customers. Sasirekha V. is the co-founder of the following company:
Although she is an operations and HR specialist, she has proven herself with her rich experience in competency development, efficiency improvement, engagement management, workforce planning, and employee payroll. She has become very efficient in handling the entire administrative operation of the company.
According to her, Factana began as an idea towards innovation and solutions in 2017 with the intention of supporting small and medium businesses to adopt advanced technologies at lower investment costs has been growing and overcoming challenges with a will to achieve and expand the company’s potential.
The company’s journey started in December 2017 when it was first registered as a corporation. It was a great initiative taken by the company’s founding members with experience of almost two decades. In addition, the company founder, Hariharan Ganesh, who resided in the US, brought his experience and understanding of various businesses and technology markets before the official establishment of Factana.
With their sole aim of helping small and medium businesses, the company started employing talent and skills. Factana was under incubation in its first year, focusing on identifying the market segment, product segment, and technology solution. In January 2019, the company’s official operation started in Bangalore, India.
All the teams began their part work; the technical teams started building the products, the first of many being the Fogwing Industrial IoT Platform. Fogwing offers services for IoT solution development.
Hariharan and Sasirekha have made Factana a giant technology hub with engineering and innovation capabilities. On its way ahead, the company has built many products using Industrial IoT and AI technologies to address the manufacturers’ challenges in Industry 4.0 transformation, functionally.
With time, leadership understood that offering an industrial IoT platform is not sufficient for manufacturers, providing functional solutions to address the industry challenges rapidly was recognized as a necessity. For that matter, the company worked with a new strategy in place.
The team started building applications as IoT solutions to address various use cases for manufacturing companies, such as machine monitoring, manufacturing operations management, and air quality/pollution monitoring. Their capabilities are asset health monitoring and manufacturing operations system powered by AI along with workers’ safety solutions with consistent enhancement.
The initiative was to make Factana a technological hub, but it was also part of its plan to provide a learning opportunity. For that matter, Factana’s academy has introduced multiple courses.
By giving free online training for software Professionals, Device developers, IoT Engineers, and Manufacturing Professionals to gain digital technology experience, Factana is doing a remarkable job. The team specializes in conducting industrial IoT and Artificial intelligence training programs for professionals looking to grow their businesses and careers.
In India and worldwide, Factana’s initiative, Fogwing, launched in 2019, was offered as an open solution to the entire community. It has continued to grow as a natural solution to companies.
Fogwing IIoT Platform is recognized to digitally connect industries and achieve Industry 4.0. It is a No-Code platform that helps attain Industrial automation with advanced features put to use. Fogwing IIoT Platform enables close Smart monitoring of factory floor with IoT technology designed to suit Industrial needs.
The working of Fogwing Industrial IIoT Platform is simple yet distinguished. It provides comprehensive capabilities that help to connect any IoT devices securely, collect data, validate by applying rules, store in the cloud, trigger data analytics, and alerts, downlink commands, and integrate with any OT applications. It is hailed as an all-in-one platform that is available as (SAAS) software as a service.
Today, the Fogwing IoT platform is being used worldwide by more than 800 users for IoT projects and is building IoT solutions for them. SFactrix and Asset+ solutions were similarly introduced by the company for manufactories and adopted by various automotive manufacturers for machine monitoring and manufacturing operations management. Most of the company’s customers are automotive manufacturers, food manufacturers, and chemical industries.
Apart from having a distinction in being instrumental in engineering customized IoT solutions for waste management and water quality, the company has also expanded its products in capabilities over time.
Most of the upgrading and expansion is based on feedback that also helps it invest more in introducing the new features and functions purely on customer opinion and real-time industry needs. Each customer feedback, inquiry, and requirement is captured and converted as a product of condition, executed by engineering, and delivered back to the customer within a brief timeframe.
Since Factana focuses on Industry 4.0 and Industrial Automation, manufacturers and other IoT solution providers must have a broader and more profound sense of understanding and knowledge of comprehensive technologies available at their reach.
Most importantly, stakeholders and the public need to understand that Industrial transformation is a journey, not a project. Therefore, every Industrial transformation journey starts with a slow and steady strategy, adapts to required technologies, and grows throughout the digital transformation.
Furthermore, the company has always asked for customer support, as transformation often requires changes. So, it is crucial to understand that manufacturers and manufacturing associates always think wisely before perceiving the transformation needs and dependencies.
As the company focuses on industry 4.0 and industrial automation, it is helping companies strategize industrial 4.0 transformation and equip them to transform their internal operation from traditional to digital to improve efficiency and scalability.
As the pandemic is ongoing, adopting digital technologies like IoT and automation management is the need of the hour. Also, the company is seeking 2 million dollars USD as an investment from the most reliable partner, which means the company is open to getting investment from a company that is ready to partner. It is not solely looking for funding but a partner willing to advise and contribute to its growth.
MESSAGE TO THE CUSTOMERS
We would recommend that every customer/manufacturer should focus on digital transformation. They are to start small, prove the technology, and prove the process ahead of expecting an overnight boom in manufacturing operations.
Factana has built IoT solutions and products that can be implemented on a small scale; once it is proven successful, the rapid expansion of the solution can be accommodated. We highly recommend customers be optimistic regarding digital transformation, be ready for change, start small, and eventually win the market.
