Minol ZENNER Connect goes europe-wide– ZENNER IoT gateways and plug & Play solutions are now available in many EU countries

The Internet of Things (IoT for short) is an important driver of digitalisation for municipal utilities, energy providers, municipalities, industry and SMEs. ZENNER is one of the leading technology providers in this field. After many successful projects, the company is expanding to make its IoT Plug & Play solutions available in many European countries in future.

As of now, the smart ZENNER IoT Plug & Play solutions for use in Minol ZENNER Connect GmbH’s LoRaWAN® network are available not just in Germany but also Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Croatia and Slovenia. Other countries will follow later this year.

LoRaWAN® allows customers to transmit their sensor data securely and reliably via the Internet of Things. The Minol-ZENNER Group offers its own network for this purpose. “We are now one of Europe’s largest LoRaWAN® network operators, providing our customers with reliable network operation, monitoring the network for outages, coverage gaps and capacity, and also ensuring that each country’s respective regulatory requirements are met,” reports Marcus Kirchdörfer, Managing Director of Minol ZENNER Connect GmbH, the group’s LoRaWAN® network operator. Today, ZC’s network already comprises more than 46,000 LoRaWAN® gateways and around 4 million LoRaWAN® terminals.

The fact that digital IoT solutions can be used professionally, not just for large-scale projects, but also on a smaller scale, is demonstrated by the ZENNER IoT PLUG&PLAY solution portfolio, which was specially developed for SMEs and smaller commercial enterprises. “We have observed for some time that many SMEs and commercial enterprises are very interested in using digital solutions selectively or combining them with each other. This includes, for example, for detecting leakages or monitoring roller doors, filling levels, storage and cold rooms.

During the coronavirus pandemic, there was also a surge in demand for solutions to monitor indoor air quality in offices, schools and public buildings, including measuring carbon dioxide concentration,” reports Boris Stöckermann, Head of New Business Europe at the Minol-ZENNER Group.

ZENNER IoT Plug & Play focuses on processes that are as straightforward and user-friendly as possible. The ZENNER IoT-GatewayPLUS Smart is simply plugged into a socket and automatically connects to the Minol-ZENNER Group’s LoRaWAN® network via the customer’s WLAN. New sensors purchased via the online ZENNER shop can be optionally delivered pre-configured, connect automatically to the network during commissioning, and be mapped in the B.One Gallery visualisation platform. Individual applications can be freely combined with each other. True to the motto “Gateway Sensor, set, go!”

“The idea of being able to implement digitalisation yourself even without extensive IT knowledge is well received in the market,” explains Stöckermann. “Our goal is to keep customer effort as low as possible. Putting devices into operation with ZENNER IoT Plug & Play is no more complicated than integrating electrical devices into your home WiFi. However, if any questions arise, the B.One Community provides users with a platform where laypersons and experts can constructively exchange experiences. For more extensive projects that require individual project management, interested parties can contact the ZENNER IoT project team via the shop.”

“Besides our own products, our portfolio currently includes over 200 smart IoT sensors and gateways from the most popular manufacturers, which can be used to achieve countless smart applications – on both small and large scales. The spectrum of solutions ranges from the intelligent digitalisation of individual tasks to the creation of complex digital ecosystems,” explains Stöckermann.

The installed sensors send the status data to the corresponding gateways via the Internet of Things. From there, the data is forwarded to an IoT platform where it is available for many applications. All data is encrypted before transmission. Corresponding solutions, e.g. for visualising devices and data, are available on the IoT platform.

ZENNER has been one of the pioneers for years and offers end-to-end complete IoT solutions from a single source, from measuring technology and sensors to telecommunications infrastructure and data services, right through to the finished application. Whether you’re after a classic smart city solutions such as demand-based street lighting control (smart lighting), intelligent parking solutions (smart parking) and demand-oriented waste disposal (smart waste) or solutions for intelligent buildings (smart buildings) – digitalisation offers countless opportunities to optimise processes, save costs or sustainably improve a carbon footprint. The company relies primarily on LoRaWAN® technology. “With the global radio standard LoRaWAN®, data from thousands of devices and sensors can be transmitted over long distances quickly, securely and with minimal energy consumption,” says Stöckermann.

You can experience the smart IoT solutions live at the LoRaWAN® World Expo, the world’s largest LoRaWAN® exhibition, in Paris on 6 and 7 July. There, ZENNER and Minol ZENNER Connect will be exhibiting together with partners Brunata, SmartMakers and asvin, as well as presenting the ZENNERShop for IoT sensors and solutions.

About ZENNER

ZENNER International GmbH & Co. KG has its headquarters in Saarbrücken, Germany, and develops, produces and distributes measuring technology for global markets. ZENNER operates production facilities in Europe, Asia and the USA and has 60 locations around the world. Established in 1903, the company has been part of the family-owned group of Minol-ZENNER since 2005. Minol and ZENNER employ more than 4,200 people worldwide. The portfolio includes residential, domestic and bulk water meters, heat meters, gas meters and modern system technology. ZENNER customers are energy suppliers and municipal utilities but also industrial companies, wholesalers and meter-reading companies. Since 2016, as part of its digitalisation strategy, ZENNER has focused on innovative system solutions based on Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, ranging from project development to measurement data acquisition and processing to end user application and IoT network operation. ZENNER IoT Solutions GmbH, based in Hamburg, and ZENNER Hessware GmbH in Mannheim joined the Group in 2017. Both specialise in the development of customer-specific IoT applications.

About Minol ZENNER Connect

Minol ZENNER Connect GmbH is one of the largest LoRaWAN® network operators for IoT applications in Germany. Minol ZENNER Connect currently operates one of the largest private LoRaWAN® networks in Germany with more than 46,000 LoRaWAN® gateways installed in 11 states. Today around 4 million measuring instruments and sensors are already integrated in the Minol ZENNER Connect network. The LoRaWAN® network can be used to achieve countless smart applications in the smart city, smart industry or smart energy sectors.