.onMeter: the LPG software platform that collects data from 400,000 users
08/11/2024
In autumn and winter, ensuring domestic heating becomes essential, particularly for households that still rely on LPG and diesel as energy sources for heating businesses, homes, and residential buildings.
Aton is a true leader of this sector, providing digital solutions to companies in gas and water distribution.
Our tool? .onMeter, an IoT software platform specifically developed for these needs. Unique on a global scale, it has enabled us to establish partnerships with major industry players and expand our operations in Italy, in the UK, Poland, France, Germany, Denmark and United States.
Currently, approximately 400,000 users benefit from our telemetry service, with 150,000 in Italy and 250,000 abroad. In Italy, around 1,300 municipalities—representing 15% of the total—are not yet connected to the natural gas network, home for 4 million people (ANCI data). Among our strategic partners that have chosen .onMeter to implement smart technologies that optimize gas usage is SHV Energy, a Dutch company serving 26 million customers worldwide with a team of 13,000 employees across 25 countries. SHV Energy’s brands include Calor (UK), Gaspol (Poland), Primagaz (France), Primagas (Germany), Supergasbras (Brazil), and Liquigas (Italy).
From November 18-22th 2024, we will participate at LPG Week in Cape Town, South Africa—the global summit for the LPG industry. This event will be an opportunity to present the latest updates in the .onMeter ecosystem, particularly the integration of AI for the collection and interpreting consumption data, diagnosing customer tanks, managing bulk and cylinder distribution, and tracking cylinders and tanks to ensure their exact locations are always known.
We are among the first companies globally to develop an AI-powered IoT platform with .onMeter that seamlessly integrates with smart devices for data collection from any manufacturer, offering a true end-to-end alert system that triggers automatic fuel reorders, preventing unexpected shortages (such as the loss of heating or cooking gas).
AI plays a crucial role by enabling:
We recognize the need of a transition away from fossil fuels. For this reason, we are already leading the shift, minimizing the environmental impact of these energy sources through artificial intelligence. With our solutions for telemetry, distribution, and maintenance, we help clients optimize and streamline their operations.
We achieve this by mapping product consumption across both piped networks and individual user tanks, allowing companies to optimize purchasing, consumption, and deliveries, thereby reducing their environmental impact.
The LPG market, in fact, requires the ability to:
With .onMeter, we achieve all of these goals: a unique global software solution, continuously updated with substantial R&D investment. This 100% cloud-based platform collects and standardizes consumption data from smart meters and tank telemetry units worldwide.
This enables smoother processes for storage, distribution, and billing, supported by mobile applications used by delivery fleets to supply bulk or cylinder gas to customer sites. Assets like LPG cylinders, technical gases, and tanks are tracked with RFID technology, allowing mass recognition of all distributed assets across various regions and accurate valuation of these assets throughout their life cycle in the company’s balance sheet.
.onMeter is a hardware- and technology-independent software platform, supporting multiple types of telemetry devices (e.g., level indicators, smart meters) from various brands and transmission technologies (e.g., SMS, GPRS, SigFox, LTE, NB-IoT, 5G, micro-satellites, LoRaWAN).
This enables LPG distributors to monitor the status of their entire installed base through a single portal, eliminating the need to switch between different portals depending on the device manufacturer. The aggregated data is standardized for easy extraction and consultation.
The information collected allows:
Integrating data from meters, valves, tanks, and firefighting equipment with the ERP system provides customers with centralized control. .onMeter features a configurable alert system that notifies users when minimum stock levels are reached or when diagnostic interventions are needed, enabling quick maintenance or refueling actions in line with contractual terms.
The platform is fully cloud-based, and installers have access to a mobile application for verifying and managing installations directly in the field without the need to contact headquarters. This also applies for the installation of telemetry devices at a site, with the linkage between the remote monitoring device, tank, and user managed directly via the app.
Additionally, a module that allows LPG delivery vehicles to be geolocated enables customers to optimize delivery routes and record the exact GPS location of each significant event.
