From hours to minutes: How EAPOL achieved 90% fewer site visits and guaranteed uptime

In the competitive industrial automation market, speed of service is often the deciding factor between a one-time sale and a lifelong partnership. For EAPOL, a dynamic Polish startup, providing high-precision drying systems meant they couldn't rely on slow, traditional on-site service models.

EAPOL Sp. z o.o. is a Polish manufacturer specializing in high-precision industrial process machines, including dryers, climate chambers and heat treatment systems. The company delivers complete automation projects for various industries, with a strong focus on the food, metallurgic and biotech sectors, where precise environmental control is critical. 

Łukasz Polski, Co-Founder and Automation Engineer, is responsible for control systems and the integration of industrial automation. EAPOL works closely with NM-D, IXON’s official Value Added Distributor in Poland, leveraging their local expertise to deliver world-class remote service solutions.

"Remote access and data are the future of industrial automation. By integrating IXON, we achieve better service and respond instantly to critical events. It gives our customers real peace of mind. This allows me to dedicate more time to R&D and innovation."

— Łukasz Polski, Co-Founder and Automation Engineer, EAPOL 

Challenge: preventing catastrophic loss in critical processes

EAPOL's primary challenge was establishing a service infrastructure that could guarantee high uptime for their customers. Particularly those in the food and biotech sectors, where processes are delicate and failure is extremely costly. Traditional on-site service was too slow and expensive to prevent material spoilage, especially when issues occurred unsupervised overnight. 

The lack of remote visibility meant engineers could not diagnose a fault before arriving, leading to major financial risk for customers. Consequently, EAPOL realized that to succeed as a dynamic machine manufacturer, they needed to stand out with superior service and speed. This required a technology solution that ensured high reliability, real-time visibility, and rapid reaction time. By adopting this approach, they moved away from the operational uncertainty caused by a large number of complex system configurations.

Solution: instant remote diagnostics and data-driven service

EAPOL is currently standardizing its machines with the IXrouter3 for robust connectivity and the SecureEdge Pro for advanced edge capabilities. With the professional support and technical expertise of NM-D, IXON’s value added distributor, EAPOL was able to quickly implement these complex edge capabilities and ensure a stable, secure connection for every machine.

This enables a shift from a reactive service model to a proactive, data-driven approach. The solution provides immediate, stable and secure VPN access, allowing EAPOL engineers to perform instant remote diagnostics, push PLC program updates and tune machine performance without traveling. Furthermore, by utilizing IXON’s Machine Insights Cloud Live, EAPOL ensures both its engineers and the customer operators receive instant notifications about any process deviations or alarms. 

"We’re making SecureEdge Pro our standard for new machines to unify remote access and data monitoring on a single platform."

- Łukasz Polski, Co-Founder and Automation Engineer, EAPOL

The SecureEdge Pro’s advanced features, including its built-in containerization technology (Docker), allow EAPOL to run additional applications directly on the edge. EAPOL leverages this capability to integrate with tools like Grafana dashboards, providing process engineers with detailed, real-time monitoring of critical parameters like temperature and humidity trends. 

This setup supports full process traceability and historical data logging, which is essential for compliance and optimization as customers focus on energy efficiency. IXON’s plug-and-play nature simplifies deployment and avoids complex configuration issues. Their servers in the European Union, provide assurance regarding security and compliance.
Grafana dashboard of KLC Seed

"IXON has transformed how we monitor production; our teams now use live data visualization to correct process fluctuations before they become problems. This extends to the laboratory, where researchers use our data to maintain quality standards."

- Łukasz Polski, Co-Founder and Automation Engineer, EAPOL

Application example: KLC Seed

The necessity of this solution was clearly demonstrated with KLC Seed, a customer processing high-quality corn seed. For KLC, precise temperature control is vital, as overheating destroys seed vitality. Each drying chamber holds tens of tons of corn, meaning a few hours of downtime could result in losses worth hundreds of thousands of euros. By implementing IXON, EAPOL ensured that process stability and reaction time were reduced from hours to minutes, securing their customer’s operations and building deep trust.

"By monitoring drying in real-time, we can correct fluctuations immediately to prevent waste and guarantee process stability."

- Krzysztof Kowalski, Growth Manager at KLC Seed

^{Drying chambers for corn.}

Result: guaranteed process stability and customer trust

The implementation of IXON Cloud has transformed how EAPOL handles service and machine reliability. Today, the team can manage almost every service request from adjusting control settings to fixing software issues entirely online. This "digital-first" approach means engineers no longer need to be physically present at the machine to solve problems. As a result, EAPOL has successfully eliminated the need for travel in 90% of all service cases.

Conclusion and future plans

EAPOL's focus on fast, reliable and modern service built on the IXON Cloud platform has proven to be a critical competitive advantage, leading to higher customer retention and significant growth potential.

EAPOL plans to make IXON's SecureEdge Pro a standard feature in all new machines. They also intend to further expand their data analytics capabilities using Grafana and InfluxDB to support their customers’ increasing focus on energy efficiency and detailed process control. The ability to spend less time traveling and troubleshooting and more time on R&D is cementing EAPOL’s future in industrial innovation.