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Gaining an edge thanks to data

The data collected by Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motor­sport and ebm-papst contain genuine trea­sures. The Formula One team uses them to get the last hundredths of a second out of the track, while the fan manu­fac­turer helps to run its customers’ prod­ucts more effi­ciently.


Intel­li­gent control and inter­con­nec­tivity of fans, drives and systems is what ebm-papst offers under the Green­In­tel­li­gence label. The aim is to make customers more successful. One way of achieving that is through sensors and powerful elec­tronics which make it possible to collect and process data. ebm-papst has substan­tially adapted its prod­ucts in that direc­tion in recent years – and is contin­uing to work on them. Thomas Sauer, Group Director for Digi­tal­iza­tion and Elec­tronics at ebm-papst, explains: “Our focus has shifted from analog to prod­ucts with elec­tronics on-board. And it is now centered primarily on the data that those intel­li­gent prod­ucts deliver.”

Matt Harris, Head of IT at Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motor­sport (Photo | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motor­sport)

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motor­sport is also looking to make itself fit for the future by compre­hen­sively analyzing data in order to keep ahead of the game. During races, the team uses the data it collects to imme­di­ately detect if some­thing is not going as planned. Matt Harris, Head of IT at Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motor­sport, comments: “The collec­tion of event logging and alerting data for analysis of the under­lying infra­struc­ture is crit­ical at all times but espe­cially so during sessions track­side. Without this we can’t ensure consis­tent service and levels of perfor­mance expected by the team.”

Knowing better

What the race circuit is for the Formula One team is for ebm-papst its appli­ca­tions in customers’ equip­ment. There, too, it’s impor­tant not only that every­thing runs smoothly, but also that the data delivers real added value to the customer. Condi­tion moni­toring can be used, for example, to deter­mine whether a device is running in the optimum range. This is illus­trated by the AxiBlade axial fan. Condi­tion moni­toring bene­fits customers in terms of air quality, system main­te­nance and service based on the data from the fans in their condensers.

Green­In­tel­li­gence helps to provide customers with new func­tion­ality and services that were previ­ously not possible. As Sauer asserts: “Genuine added value is created for customers when digital prod­ucts solve prob­lems that analog prod­ucts can’t.”

Opti­miza­tion between races

Thomas Sauer, Group Director for Digi­tal­iza­tion and Elec­tronics at ebm-papst (Photo: ebm-papst)

The Formula One team also uses the time between races to accu­rately analyze the data it collects, and so avoid poten­tial future prob­lems, away from the constant high tension of the circuit. Matt Harris: “The inter­pre­ta­tion of the logs, events and alerts between sessions and races is vital for us to be as proac­tive as possible, for example with pending failure of compo­nents we can swap out elements of hard­ware to ensure systems are avail­able and performing as expected.” The team also receives direct support from ebm-papst in this. Thanks to its partner, it was able to opti­mize the air flow in the pit server racks, ensuring that all calcu­la­tions can be carried out without problem even under the most diffi­cult climatic condi­tions.

In addi­tion to the cooling solu­tions that ebm-papst offers its racing partner, the company also provides data solu­tions for its other customers—beyond deliv­ering intel­li­gent prod­ucts. With Green­In­tel­li­gence ebm-papst also supports its customers in mean­ing­fully eval­u­ating all collected data and placing it in a wider context. “Collecting data alone is not enough,” says Sauer. “We are pleased to be applying our know-how to help our customers use their data mean­ing­fully, and so support them in their digital trans­for­ma­tion.”

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