About Britvic
Britvic is a leading soft drinks business known for its iconic brands such as Robinsons, Tango and J20. Founded in the 1930s from humble beginnings in Essex, UK, the international organisation now distributes and exports to over 100 countries worldwide. Sustainability is an important part of Britvic’s ethos, as it strives for resilience through the responsible use of natural resources and a reduced impact of its operations on the environment.
Accordingly, Britvic has an active programme ‘Beyond the Bottle’, which seeks to reduce unnecessary packaging. As part of this initiative, Britvic introduced the Aqua Libra Flavour Tap, which provides flavoured water to consumers via a digital dispenser, as an alternative to single-use plastic bottles or cans. The eco-friendly tap, which is tailored for workplaces, hospitality and retail environments, generates usage and other data which Britvic can capture and analyse, thanks to cellular IoT connectivity.
Challenge
Britvic recognised immediately that telemetry data from its installed taps provides valuable insights the company could feed into its marketing and strategic planning, as Scott MacKenzie, Director of Beyond the Bottle Platforms at Britvic, explains: “It allows us to build a really rich database of information that we can leverage to understand consumer trends, forecasting and machine capabilities.”
To get this information, Britvic connected the taps initially through a software-as-a-service model, whilst it tested the concept. However, once it had recognised the product’s market potential, it looked around for the best way to transition to a direct connection approach.
“As we look to expand, scalability and reliable connectivity are crucial,” adds Scott. “We needed a trusted connectivity partner to support our growth.”
The telemetry data Britvic receives gives it insights into the flavours that customers choose, usage data throughout the day and information about the taps themselves. Britvic recognised the potential of the IoT to deliver this detail, thereby helping the company streamline its forecasting and logistics, and be more agile in its planning.
As Britvic considered its IoT connectivity options, security was a top priority. The Aqua Libra Flavour Taps are installed onsite in customer facilities and locations, so it was crucial that the safety of the networks be assured.
Solution
Britvic conducted a robust market review of IoT connectivity providers. When approached, Wireless Logic assessed Britvic’s requirements and responded by recommending its dedicated IoT network Conexa to provide the wide coverage needed, together with the ability to change network profiles remotely in the future and a secure and sophisticated management platform.
Conexa is Wireless Logic’s globally-distributed mobile core network which is dedicated to the IoT. It delivers resilient, secure and globally compliant connectivity. It can scale in line with Britvic’s global expansion plans to remotely provision the most appropriate network in the country where taps are installed. This ability to swap operator profiles remotely using a combination of eSIM and multi-IMSI technology, helps to simplify logistics, scale seamlessly and address the operational, commercial and regulatory pressures that can change over time.
SIMPro is Wireless Logic’s IoT connectivity management platform that is highly customisable. It gives Britvic visibility and control over its devices so it can perform tasks from SIM management to troubleshooting through deep network diagnostics. A comprehensive set of rest APIs and advanced alerts and rules allow Britvic to integrate SIM operations into existing workflows.
Conexa and SIMPro, together with expert onboarding support from Wireless Logic’s technical team, ensured that the taps worked hand-in-hand with the connectivity solution and made Wireless Logic stand out from its competitors. Overall, it was a natural fit for Britvic’s deployment.
Scott says: “With Wireless Logic as our connectivity provider, we have secure, reliable and real-time access to data on flavour preferences and consumption patterns.”
Outcome
By partnering with Wireless Logic for cellular connectivity, Britvic has the visibility it needs into the Aqua Libra Flavour Taps. Insights it receives from the taps’ data equip Britvic to make informed business decisions in support of its strategy and product enhancement.
“This has already revealed unexpected trends, challenging our assumptions and informing our strategic decisions,” adds Scott. “By using these insights to streamline our forecasting and logistics, we’ve enhanced our overall agility and responsiveness, enabling us to adapt production and flavour distribution strategies based on seasonal variations and shifting consumer behaviours.”
Britvic set out to reduce plastic waste and promote sustainable soft drink consumption through its solution designed for environmental good and connected using cellular IoT. As Britvic continues to explore the potential of refreshing and flavourful hydration ‘beyond the bottle’, it can further evolve how it uses data insights to ensure its product offerings are targeted to deliver maximum customer satisfaction. Wireless Logic’s solution can scale in line with Britvic’s plans, to deliver flexible, resilient connectivity when and where it is needed and data insights for continued informed decision-making.
Security was at the forefront of our thinking right from the very start. That was part of what brought us to Wireless Logic - to have a trusted partner that had its own network.