German pump-control specialist ANDO Technik reports service-cost reductions of up to 80% and pump energy savings of up to 50% after integrating Unitronics UniStream Cloud-inside PLCs and the UniCloud IIoT platform into its systems.
ANDO Technik develops pump-control and irrigation systems for open fields, greenhouses and polytunnels, plus drainage systems for large construction sites. Its FluMaster eco C controllers tackle two recurring costs: electricity and keeping equipment running.
The Challenge: Flying Blind—Troubleshooting Pumps
Managing Director Jonas Buuck faced a recurring logistical nightmare: “blind” troubleshooting. When a remote irrigation system failed, a vague customer description left technicians playing detective - sometimes driving hours to identify a parameter error or dry-running pump.
With travel and labor costing customers as much as €800 per visit, ANDO Technik needed "Digital Twin" visibility, the ability to see what customers were seeing without leaving Hamburg.
The Solution: UniCloud as the Operational Command Center
Instead of building a custom cloud infrastructure from scratch, ANDO Technik leveraged UniCloud. No-code UniCloud allowed the Ando-technik team to build professional, data-rich dashboards and secure remote access portals themselves, without outside help.
The platform provides a comprehensive suite of tools that redefined their service workflow:
- Remote Access via Secure UniCloud: Using VNC, technicians can see the exact HMI screen the customer is seeing in real-time on any device—mobile or desktop.
- VPN Tunneling: This allows highly secure, "over-the-air" (OTA) application updates. Technicians can directly access the PLC to edit data tags and optimize logic without a site visit.
- Enhanced Security Layer: Unitronics UCR routers provide an additional, robust layer of security for the entire communication chain.
- Advanced Analytics & Monitoring: UniCloud enables the use of "Incoherent Flow" logic. By overlaying Current, Flow, and Pressure parameters, ANDO Technik can detect if a pump is cavitating or if a pipe has burst.
System Architecture: Cloud, PLC, and Field Devices
The architecture connects field devices, local control and cloud monitoring, giving engineers access to individual machines and the wider pump fleet.
UniCloud: From PLC Data to Operational Intelligence
1. Customized FluMaster Cloud Interface: A dashboard specifically tailored for the FluMaster series, integrating real-time pressure, flow, and pump status using German technical terminology for their primary market.
2. Geographic Fleet Overview: The UniCloud Map widget displays remote well sites with color-coded markers, including red for major bursts, for quick status checks.
3. IIoT Visualization and Logic Through UniCloud, ANDO Technik created a multi-tenant environment that enables them to see their entire organization and drill down to each customer’s specific fleet of pumps.
- Alarming: SMS and email notifications are triggered if a pump runs dry or if a sudden drop in pressure suggests a pipe burst.
- The "Eco" Factor: Overlaying energy and flow data allows the system to calculate the pump’s efficiency curve in real time.
- Water Treatment & Flow Analytics: This dashboard monitors conductivity, pH and flow rates, supports water-quality oversight and detection of “creep leaks.”
- Device Control and Communication: UniStream controls VFDs via Modbus. Pressure and other sensors use standard analog/digital interfaces that customers can wire onsite without ANDO Technik technicians.
UniStream PLCs: Integrated Control and Telemetry
UniStream Cloud-inside Controllers are the control backbone that run PID loops, control VFDs and handle sensor communications while publishing telemetry directly to UniCloud. Local pump control and remote visibility share one platform. The controller manages the physical process while cloud dashboards make operating conditions visible to the service team, connecting control, monitoring and maintenance.
Benefits / Results
By making UniCloud the center of their strategy, ANDO Technik easily embedded IIoT into their systems and gained:
- Up to 80% reduction in service costs. Real-time monitoring, remote diagnostics and 12 months of historical tag data help engineers investigate faults and resolve many problems without travel. ANDO Technik also commissions customer sites remotely.
- Up to 50% cut in energy consumption. UniStream PLC’s dynamic VFD-based pump control reduces energy consumption by matching pump output to system demand.
- Proactive Alarms: UniCloud Events trigger SMS and email notifications, helping customers intervene before minor faults become system failures.
- Simplified IIoT architecture. UniStream Cloud-inside controllers communicate directly with UniCloud—eliminating external gateways and software add-ons.
- Rapid Dashboard creation. UniCloud’s no-code tools allow engineers to create their own monitoring dashboards via drag & drop—no external custom development needed.
- Faster engineering and deployment. UniLogic combines PLC and HMI development in one environment, supporting Ladder Logic, C and Structured Text (ST).
- Advanced Connectivity: For specialized clients, UniStream communicates via MQTT to communicate machine data directly to the client's internal alarm management systems.
- Future-Ready Features: UniStream’s Native REST API support enables live weather forecast data to reach the PLC, allowing irrigation cycles to respond to predicted rainfall.
Combining industrial control with built-in cloud connectivity gives ANDO Technik visibility across distributed pump systems. Commissioning, troubleshooting and lifecycle support depend less on site visits and guesswork. The same access helps the team support customers throughout operation, from initial setup to later adjustments.
“For us the controller is the heart of the system. With UniStream Cloud-inside PLCs and UniCloud we have a complete platform—from control and monitoring to remote service. It allows us to support our customers much more efficiently.” — Jonas Buuck, Managing Director, ANDO Technik
