Digitalising machine loans in the coffee industry: a strategic investment
16/07/2026
In the coffee industry, competition is no longer based solely on brand and blend quality. For established coffee roasters, the real differentiating factor today is the ability to manage coffee machines on loan, turning a set of assets from a cost centre into a strategic lever for managing customers, the sales network and margins.
In a market where operating costs and raw material prices are rising and margins are shrinking, many coffee roasters are facing increasingly complex challenges in sales, logistics, technical service and process control. This is why customers such as Segafredo, Caffè Vergnano, Hausbrandt, Dersut, Caffè Diemme and other industry leaders have chosen Aton to improve their commercial processes and increase sales force productivity.
Among the different application modules in .one, the one attracting particular market interest is the application that provides a single, up-to-date and reliable view of the entire lifecycle of coffee machines on loan: installation, usage, maintenance, return, reallocation or replacement.
Designed over decades of close collaboration with leading Italian coffee roasters, the solution makes it possible to:
For Sales Management, this means finally being able to treat machines on loan as an integral part of the customer development strategy: understanding which machines truly support volume growth and which, instead, absorb resources without generating a return.
The real turning point is not simply digitalising service reports, but building a profit and loss account for each individual customer. This allows the company to understand the real profitability of every point of sale, taking into account consumption, maintenance costs, technical interventions and installed equipment. Without this level of detail, companies are left with aggregated averages by area or region, which are not effective enough to support targeted operational and commercial decisions.
How can coffee roasters benefit from incentives dedicated to digital transformation?
We asked Francesca Rossetto, Innovation & Development Manager and Smart Factory Manager at Fòrema:
“The .one platform makes it possible to centralise and digitalise the company’s commercial, logistics and information processes within a single integrated ecosystem, ensuring native interconnection with ERP and other business systems, monitoring of the supply chain and operational performance, as well as the use of advanced data analysis and artificial intelligence capabilities. This makes it an enabling platform for the digital transformation of processes according to Industry 4.0 principles.
In this scenario, investing in advanced software represents a concrete opportunity to strengthen competitiveness and maximise economic return, with a tax benefit that can reach up to 43% of the cost of the solution. It is a path that allows companies to combine growth, efficiency and sustainability, while also making the most of the extraordinary financial instruments provided by the current regulatory framework for solutions such as .one, available to customers under a perpetual licence.”
In a context where operational efficiency, sustainability and cost control are critical factors for competitiveness, adopting .one means making a strategic choice: digitalising in order to sell more and sell better, while also taking advantage of the opportunities offered by subsidised finance.
Aton supports coffee roasters not only by providing technology and strategic commercial consultancy, but also by helping them choose a specialist partner for access to hyper-depreciation, thanks to its consolidated experience in similar projects.
Managing machines provided on loan requires an up-to-date view of each asset’s entire lifecycle. With .one, companies can track installation, usage, maintenance, return, reallocation and replacement, linking technical and operational information to each individual customer.
True customer profitability requires sales and consumption data to be assessed alongside customer-related costs. By integrating data on installed equipment, maintenance and technical interventions, companies can build a P&L for each customer and identify which equipment generates value and which absorbs resources.
Digitalising machine fleet management helps overcome fragmented asset management. A single platform enables Sales, Logistics and Technical Support to share up-to-date data, improving equipment traceability and supporting commercial decisions based on reliable information.
.one centralises commercial, logistics and information processes and integrates with ERP and other business systems. This creates a connected ecosystem where customer data, sales activities, technical support and equipment provided on loan contribute to a shared view of business processes.
According to Fòrema, advanced software such as .one can support a digital transformation programme aligned with Industry 4.0 principles. Under the framework described, the tax benefit can reach up to 43% of the solution cost, subject to verification of the eligibility requirements for the specific investment.
