New paths

The summer of 2021 was catastrophic in Europe. Continuous heavy rains led to flash floods and deluges that claimed more than 200 lives and caused damage costing billions of euros. “In weather conditions like these, smaller and mid-sized watercourses quickly transform from trickles to raging torrents,” explains Florian Falger, Business Model and Market Manager at Endress+Hauser. With personnel sparse on the ground, these waters are rarely monitored – or not at all. But now there is an alert watchdog for this task: an early warning system that operates with little effort in the background and predicts danger.

That doesn’t sound like a traditional product development activity at Endress+Hauser – because it isn’t. The system was conceived in the innovation lab at the center of competence for level and pressure measurement technology, where a small team tinkers with products and solutions for realizing smart city concepts and bringing laboratory-type measurements into the field. “We’re an incubator of sorts for new approaches and business models,” explains Falger. But rather than being technology-centric, the focus is on the user. “We ask ourselves, where does concrete demand exist in market segments that are new for us?” Development activities are founded on Endress+Hauser’s extensive knowledge and broad portfolio.

Cross-functional collaboration along with customer- centric, agile innovation approaches such as scrum, design thinking and lean start-up methods make for a fast-moving team. A successful one, too: they have already brought to market a multi-sensor system that allows breweries to track their beer fermentation process in real time. The QWX43 fermentation monitor is making a splash in the industry and has already garnered a prestigious innovation award.

Many communities have expressed interest in the flood early warning system, which analyzes the local situation, saves precious time in the event of an emergency and requires little installation effort. The system combines level measurement technology with a cloud platform, artificial intelligence (AI) and ground moisture sensors. While Endress+Hauser developed the AI technology in collaboration with hydrology start-up Okeanos, the moisture sensors came from IMKO, a subsidiary of Endress+Hauser. “Water levels alone are insufficient predictors of flooding,” says Florian Falger. “The state of the soil is important as well. If it’s already saturated, or completely dried out, heavy rains will just run off and cause waters to rise rapidly.”