tapio: Digitalization of the industry as a marathon instead of a sprint

Current status

Four years have already passed since our last participation in Holz-Handwerk in March 2018. At that time, tapio was still in its infancy. While the whole world has been talking about digitalization and IoT, we've stuck with it and done it. Away from the hustle and bustle and also during the corona years, we have remained true to ourselves and have worked together with our partners to advance the digitization of the industry. What began as a sprint is increasingly developing into a marathon with constant growth of the tapio ecosystem

In the meantime, tapio has grown strongly and is now active with customers in more than 35 countries around the globe.

While Europe continues to form the strong basis of tapio, America and Asia are also growing strongly and benefiting from the new reseller system. The variety of applications has also increased significantly (from three to more than 20 applications). As a result, tapio's app landscape today encompasses all use cases along the process chain. tapio customers use an average of four licenses, which gives us reason to believe that the mix is tailored to the needs of our customers. With a very low change rate for licenses (churn rate) of less than 15%, it becomes clear that the tapio partners and tapio are on the right track.

At Holz-Handwerk four years ago, tapio demonstrated for the first time the connection of machines from different manufacturers into a central application and made them accessible to customers. For this purpose, the opc/UA communication standard, which is established today, was already used at that time. Based on this basis, tapio currently processes 1.2 billion transactions per month (40 million within 24 hours) and can proudly say that connectivity is no longer a show-stopper for the realization of ideas in the wood industry. The first version of the industry-specific Companion Specification ("Izy") is a possible addition here. For the success of digitization, however, these technical details are secondary, a comprehensive understanding of the industry, the use cases of the customers and a new mindset in the type of cooperation are the key.

Since LIGNA 2019 at the latest, tapio has focused on the use cases, as connectivity has been mastered. Thanks to our 49 partners, tapio has become much more diverse than it was in 2018 with only three applications. We now offer applications for almost every stage of the process - from ordering to production. Thanks to new interfaces to BORM, iFurn, iX, Swood, SmartWOP and the data integration of strong partners such as LEUCO, AKE, AGEFA, Kanefusa, Aigner, Rehau and Ostermann, our customers now benefit from a real digital consistency. In 2018, we were moved by the thought: "What if the machines and materials and tools knew each other?" Today it is a reality. Instead of laboriously setting correct tool data or edge parameters, a scan is sufficient and the data flows from the manufacturer via tapio to the customer. Everything in no time at all and protected from input errors.

For tapio, therefore, the linking of various partners is increasingly at the center of its activities, so that customers can interact seamlessly between the different worlds. In this context, further new partnerships will also be presented at Holz-Handwerk, which will round off the overall picture.

A major focus in recent years has been on the topic of "Tools and Materials". tapio was able to win six well-known partners (Aigner, AKE, AGEFA, Kanefusa, LEUCO, Ostermann, Rehau) who make it possible for customers to really benefit from digital twins for the first time.

twinio – the digital tool management

With the twinio web app, you can easily and quickly manage your tools digitally and always have an overview of where which tool is located. In addition, you benefit from twinio's connectivity with selected machines. Get the actual tool data directly into the machine control system on your machine or send it to your machine via the twinio app. In addition to the possibility of digitally "marrying" your milling cutters with recordings, users can also analyze individual process parameters such as the cutting length (m) of a saw blade.

Psssst... There is another novelty: The twinio family will soon be added, because twinio Office is in the starting blocks. More about this at Holz-Handwerk 2022.

To ensure that the creation and management of tools works smoothly, the following tool manufacturers have actively integrated themselves into the application. You provide your customers with original tool data in advance, which can digitize your tools with a simple scan and thus always have your tool accompanying card in digital form at hand.

Integrated tapio partners:

• LEUCO
• AKE
• AGEFA
• Kanefusa
• Aigner

ServiceBoard – out of the queue

The CNC is not running again, but just at the thought of endless waiting in the hotline everything in you resists? Then it's worth taking a look at the tapio ServiceBoard. With just a few clicks, you can create a service case for your machine in the app:

• Select service partner and machine
• Describe the problem and add photos
• Submit your ticket

Sounds simple – it is. As soon as your service technician has found a solution, he will provide it to you in the ticket. With the help of the integrated video diagnostics, you can clarify further details if necessary.

Even after completion of a service case, the ticket is available to you in the overview - so you always have an overview of all your open and completed service cases. Would you like even more overview? With the brand new ServiceBoard Office, you will also be able to use our ticket system conveniently on large screens on your PC in the future. In addition, ServiceBoard Office surprises with some exciting new features. If you want to know exactly what this looks like and how you can transfer a service case from the HOMAG serviceAssist application to the tapio ServiceBoard with just one click, then visit us at Holz-Handwerk! We will be happy to show you what's new at tapio.

New partners bring new functionalities

The seamless interaction is crucial for everyday production in order to be able to work efficiently. With tapio's vision to build the ecosystem for the industry, we are all the more pleased that well-known companies have decided to join us.

• BormBusiness (BORM): As one of the leading ERP providers in the wood industry, BORM also offers the possibility to send created orders via tapio directly to production for cutting optimization. For this purpose, the corresponding HOMAG intelliDivide interface was implemented.
• iX (imos): You design and construct your products with imos iX? Now it is possible to simply send your design to the cutting optimization HOMAG intelliDivide or to the digital order book HOMAG productionManager. Thanks to the imos integration of the tapio interface, this is done at the push of a button.
• SWOOD (Eficad): As one of the leading CAD/CAM providers in the wood industry, SWOOD now offers the possibility to send created orders via tapio directly to the digital order book HOMAG productionManager.
• SmartWOP (Tibek): As a very popular CAD/CAM provider, SmartWOP now supports the possibility to send your design directly from the new SmartWOP version 5 to the CUTTING optimization HOMAG intelliDivide or to the digital order book HOMAG productionManager with just a few clicks. This creates a seamless flow of information from design to production.
• iFurn: Known as a provider of high-quality digital data for construction, iFurn offers iFurn services for designers on the tapio marketplace from Holz-Handwerk and enables customers to configure furniture with the appropriate fitting components. The corresponding license can be purchased in the tapio Store and customers can simply log in to iFurn with their tapio user.