Samotics arrives in the UK through Water Alliance

With the SAM4 monitoring unit, water companies can detect failures or prospective damage at an early stage. Developer Samotics, based in Leiden, a city south of Amsterdam, won the prestigious WIS Award 2020 with this product. The predictive maintenance system is being rolled out at companies in the Netherlands and far beyond. One such company is Anglian Water, in the UK. Water Alliance linked the Dutch scale-up and the British water company.

‘We know what is going on in the water technology sector in the Netherlands and beyond’

Advanced algorithms. A water pump that is no longer functioning properly or is in danger of failing shows a different pattern than a healthy pump. SAM4 collects current and voltage data and uses it to map numerous patterns. Using these patterns and advanced algorithms, the monitoring unit can detect upcoming faults. Tim van Leeuwen, Head of Sales at Samotics: “SAM4 is constantly looking for anomalies in the data. Each specific form of failure leaves its own ‘fingerprint’ in the patterns. We now have a large and growing library of those fingerprints. This allows us to not only indicate that an anomaly is occurring, but we know exactly what is going on.” SAM4 is installed in the switch box, making it particularly suitable for monitoring pumps installed

underwater or in other difficult-to-reach places, such as wells. The system is also suitable for monitoring other types of machines, such as conveyors, fans, and compressors.

Harro Brons

Harro Brons is international business developer for Water Alliance. He brought Samotics into contact with Anglian Water, a British water and wastewater company in the east of the United Kingdom. He drew Samotics’ attention to a Request for Proposal (RFP) from Las Vegas, USA. The RFP was put out by WaterStart, a networking organization with which both Anglian Water and Water Alliance work. Harro Brons: “The RFP requested specific innovative solutions for preventive maintenance. That’s exactly what Samotics is all about.” SAM4 is now operational at Anglian Water. Harro Brons on Water Alliance’s role: “We know what is going on in the water technology sector in the Netherlands and beyond. We also have a large international network of clusters, water technology hubs and representative networks in many countries in and outside Europe. Using that position, we connect Dutch water technology companies with international parties that have water issues. We focus on issues where Dutch companies can offer innovative added value.”

Opportunities abound

Van Leeuwen is confident about the future. “We are now monitor machines in Europe, the US, and Asia. Our ambition is to be the supplier of choice for critical assets in the water, steel, paper and petrochemical sectors by 2021. Because we offer our monitoring service through an online platform, we can service the entire world from Leiden.” Harro Brons sees plenty of international opportunities for even more connections for Samotics. “We are seeing a growing need to move from visual inspection and reactive maintenance to predictive maintenance. The demand for smart and efficient solutions like Samotics offers is only increasing.”

Samotics’ Tim van Leeuwen demonstrating the SAM4

Editor’s note: Samotics previously operated under the name Semiotic Labs. The company changed its name in March 2021.