security label

Jan. 23, 2012—Lipa Betoni, a Finnish producer of precast concrete structures, is using a Bluetooth-based real-time location system (RTLS) to manage the manufacturing of its concrete pieces. The company creates 30 to 50 elements—such as columns, retaining walls and balconies—for the construction of buildings and roadways, on a daily basis. Many of the structures it creates are unique, requiring a more flexible manufacturing process. The firm wanted to determine the exact production time for each step taken to produce a precast element, but prior to installing 9Solutions’ Indoor Positioning and Communication Solution (IPCS), it could only estimate such times.

The IPCS RTLS employs Bluetooth battery-powered RFID tags and reader nodes that plug into power outlets, as well as a cloud-based hosted server running 9Solutions software. The IPCS is less expensive than most other RTLS solutions, says Jari Kylmänen, 9Solutions’ cofounder and R&D manager, as well as easier to install. The system is used by businesses throughout Europe (primarily in the Nordic region of Scandinavia), such as hospitals and mines, in order to track assets and personnel.

The company offers several types of tags, some designed as ID badges, for applications involving the tracking of personnel, as well as for others designed to monitor equipment or other assets. All of 9Soutions’ tags are battery-powered, and include a Bluetooth radio transceiver powered by a cell battery. The ID badge tags have a button that, when pressed, can be used, for example, to indicate a need for assistance. The nodes are powered by either a transformer that plugs into a power outlet or, in the event that power fails, a rechargeable 48-hour back-up battery. The nodes receive the tags’ Bluetooth transmissions and forward them to a gateway device—known as a Cell Controller Unit (CCU)—that then transmits the data to the server via a Wi-Fi or wired network connection. The nodes, which act as a self-organizing Bluetooth mesh network, not only receive and send information, but also act as locators, since they transmit their own ID number, along with that of the tags, to the CCU. If a user required room-level accuracy, for example, a node would be plugged into an outlet within each room. The CCU can also store data in the event of a loss of Internet access, until such a time that a connection is restored. The system can accomplish a read range of 10 to 30 meters (33 to 98 feet) for tag-to-node, node-to-node or node-to-CCU transmissions within an enclosed environment, says River Boche, 9Solutions’ sales and marketing manager, or up to 160 meters (525 feet) within an open environment.
To manufacture a precast element, Lipa Betoni must complete about 10 different steps, such as building the mold. A specific work crew is involved for each step—and in some cases, one working group may take part in several steps of an element’s manufacture. As a result, the company simply had to estimate work times for each step. Knowing every step’s work time, however, can be critical, since the firm can utilize that information to estimate the cost and time related to future projects incorporating some of those same steps.

Italy has confirmed it will force Eni to spin off its stake in Snam Rete Gas, the gas network, as part of a package of liberalisation measures, potentially providing the Italian energy group with greater fire power to invest in exploration projects.

Corrado Passera, minister for infrastructure and economic development in Italy’s technocratic government, clarified over the weekend that the decree approved by the cabinet late on Friday refers to the spinoff of the whole of Snam and not just its transmission unit.

The spinoff will be approved in the next six months and follows moves by successive Italian governments to seek some means of boosting competition in the country’s energy sector which is dominated by state-controlled companies Enel and Eni, which owns 50 per cent of Snam.

The extent to which Eni would be forced by the state to relinquish its stake remained unclear, as did the transaction price of the deal.

However, Paolo Scaroni, Eni chief executive, said the spinoff would allow the energy group to make new investments. In an interview with La Repubblica, he estimated Eni’s debt would fall to about €7bn after the sale, giving it room to make investments in exploration, extraction and commercialisation of gas and oil.

Mr Scaroni’s comments chime with the expectations of analysts. They argue that the deal would give the energy company room to increase more profitable investments in existing exploration sites in Mozambique and the Barents Sea.

Another advantage is that it could provide a boost to Eni shares as they have tended to trade at lower multiples to pure energy companies due to the group’s exposure to Snam. In a similar spinoff, shares in Finmeccanica, the Italian state controlled defence company, rose after it disposed of its stake in STMicro.

Analysts say a spinoff will also allow Snam to make investments in Europe.

Mediobanca analysts believe Eni will be forced to sell 30 per cent of Snam to Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, the state financing agency, and retain a 20 per cent stake. CDP already holds some shares in Snam and under this scenario its holding would rise to 35.3 per cent.

“As such we do not exclude a transfer for Eni shares from CDP to the Italian Treasury and/ or a placement of SRG shares on the market or in friendly hands,” Mediobanca analysts said in a note to clients.

They estimate the deal will allow Eni to raise about €3.5bn in cash, and result in a deconsolidation of Snam’s net debt, which is estimated to stand at €12.2bn in 2012.

Shares in Eni closed up more than half a per cent yesterday, broadly in line with the Milan blue-chip index. Snam shares closed down about 1 per cent.