Case Study: Caidio - Software Innovation in Concrete Industry
Concrete is a vital material in modern urban construction, widely used for various purposes. However, its extensive use presents significant environmental challenges, accounting for approximately 10% of the world’s industrial water consumption and 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions. In response to this, Caidio, a Finnish startup, approached us for help in implementing their environmentally-conscious technology. This case study outlines how we successfully navigated within Caidio’s strict budget to achieve their technical and business goals, demonstrating the possibility of making significant improvements with limited financial resources.
Table of contents
The Client
Caidio, a Finnish startup in climate technology, specializes in creating data-driven solutions aimed at enhancing the quality and efficiency of concrete construction globally. Caidio’s innovative technology promotes sustainability within the industry and offers cost savings and quality optimization in concrete production. The challenging environments of cement factories, characterized by high humidity and dusty conditions, necessitated an advanced solution to maintain quality standards.
The Product
Caidio’s product is a sophisticated combination of cameras and sensors, tailored for concrete plants. This system closely monitors concrete quality during production, adeptly handling production challenges like the water content of aggregates and the workability of the concrete. It employs AI and ML technology to analyze the concrete mix through cameras, providing immediate feedback to operators on any quality deviations. Additionally, various sensors track key parameters such as moisture levels to ensure the concrete maintains the ideal water content. This comprehensive system is designed to uphold consistent concrete quality, even in the demanding conditions of a concrete factory.
The primary clients for this product are Chinese concrete producers using Caidio’s solution to test the quality of concrete mix in factories. The existing software, initially a successful Minimum Viable Product (MVP), was inadequate for scaling to a larger number of factories, presenting risks of frequent breakdowns and inaccurate readings. The company enlisted our help to rebuild their platform to improve its efficiency in detecting concrete’s quality, scalability, and reliability.
Why Boldare?
Boldare was selected for its agile and responsive team during a test sprint offered to Caidio. This sprint enabled our partners to evaluate our cultural and communication compatibility. During this phase, our team familiarized themselves with Caidio’s software and hardware systems and conducted a thorough audit of the existing code.
According to Caidio’s feedback, the team demonstrated professional skills, agility, and responsiveness to client requests. We presented three possible solutions with a recommended option based on client needs, arguments, and timelines. We adapted to the client’s budget and showcased startup mentality, agility, and flexibility. Boldare’s experience in delivering quality custom software solutions and the possibility of long-term collaboration were key selection criteria.
Our collaboration began in July 2023. The client doesn’t have an in-house development team.
The Challenge
Caidio faced both product and business challenges. The project’s primary challenges centered around the existing backend, which was unreliable. This unreliability hindered operational efficiency and required an installer’s physical presence in the factory for any deployments or updates. This constraint was a significant obstacle to scalability and swift product expansion. The collaboration’s main goal with Boldare was to improve the backend system’s reliability and enhance user-friendliness, thus streamlining the process for faster market expansion.
The main product goal formulated with the Client was to build “software that is reliable and can be installed easily without personnel on-site.”
The defined business goal was to “build a reliable and easy-to-scale product”.
Our Solution
The major challenges included staying within the budget while meeting the scope and ensuring seamless hardware integration. We decided to improve the platform by improving its stability and scalability while keeping development economical and fast.
Technical challenges involved clarifying hardware interaction. The product progressed successfully with our Tech Lead and Python developer as key contributors. We also navigated the need for collaboration across diverse time zones between Poland, Finland, and China, requiring coordinated and effective communication.
The delivery met the deadline. The entire process took six one-week-long scrum sprints. By Q4 of 2023, our product was in use on production sites in China.
Technology and Development Phases
The project included a test sprint and six weeks of development, focusing on Python, DevOps (AWS and Huawei Cloud), and hardware deployment. The project aimed to create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). The client was very satisfied with our processes and actively participated in the team’s work.
Our team dedicated to building the solutions consisted of:
- Tech Lead
- Python Developer
- DevOps Engineer
- Quality Assurance Engineer
- Scrum Master
Conclusion:
Boldare’s collaboration with Caidio demonstrates its capability in addressing both technical and business challenges. The success lies in its agile approach, adaptability to client needs, and delivery of a reliable solution within budget constraints.
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