Ecube Labs Helps Global Cities and Enterprises Automate and Optimize Waste Management with AWS

Ecube Labs is a South Korean technology company and an AWS Partner with Smart City Competency. The company specializes in developing and manufacturing smart waste management solutions, and it relies on AWS to support large and complex IoT projects, implement new language capabilities in one month instead of six, and solve its customers’ messaging requirements. Ecube Labs runs its CCN and CCNx software solutions on AWS, utilizing services such as Amazon EC2, Amazon CloudFront, and Amazon SNS.

Ecube Labs Co., Ltd. is a South Korea–based manufacturer of smart and connected waste bins and solar-powered portable waste compactors. As an AWS Partner with Smart City Competency, Ecube Labs specializes in Amazon Web Services (AWS)-based Internet of Things (IoT) hardware and software solutions, such as garbage containers equipped with sensors that monitor fill level and bin status. The core application of Ecube Labs is CleanCityNetworks (CCN), which provides asset management and real-time tracking of bin levels. Meanwhile, CCNx, its sister application, tracks collection vehicles to automate and optimize routes. “We offer solutions to help cities and large companies increase efficiency, save money, and be more environmentally friendly using AWS,” says James Noh, director of Ecube Labs.

As a small company operating in the rapidly expanding smart city IoT industry, Ecube Labs increasingly finds itself implementing large-scale projects for global enterprises and cities in Europe, Australia, North America, South America, and the Middle East. For example, Vigatec, a Chilean office supply company, needed help deploying a collection vehicle asset tracking solution as quickly as possible. Another company, Italian solar-powered refuse bin provider MKM Cube, wanted to boost the performance of its CCN software solution. Ecube Labs was also tasked with helping the city of Melbourne, Australia boost its waste collection efficiency by providing data to aid in reducing collection frequency, fixing overflows faster, and optimizing operations by identifying peak waste periods, seasons, and areas. Noh says, “We’re a small company, and we’re continually being asked to implement complex IoT projects for customers, including cities and enterprises. To meet these demands, we need to adopt new AWS services and scale our platform quickly and easily.”

Since its inception, Ecube Labs has leveraged AWS to run CCN and CCNx. Both applications offer a comprehensive suite of features, including monitoring, analytics, a smart dashboard, and a control center—all of which are powered by AWS services such as Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instances and Amazon Aurora relational database service. In 2020, Ecube Labs developed an updated version of CCNx utilizing Amazon OpenSearch Service, a managed open-source Elasticsearch solution. One company that benefited from the update was Vigatec, which had recently deployed an asset tracking solution that required built-in translation. With the updated version of CCNx, Vigatec could index and translate the solution’s entire documentation library, enabling seamless translation functionality within the application.

To enhance the performance of CCN and CCNx for MKM Cube across Europe, Ecube Labs utilized Amazon CloudFront, a content delivery network for content distribution. The implementation led to a significant improvement in page loading performance for MKM Cube, reducing the loading time from over 15 seconds to less than 2 seconds.

Ecube Labs is equipped to handle large IoT projects for cities and large enterprises around the world. “Despite being a relatively small company, being an AWS Partner with Smart City Competency grants Ecube Labs access to the necessary tools to offer enterprise-level products and solutions to major cities and companies worldwide. This allows us to compete with multi-billion dollar global organizations for new business,” says Noh. Leveraging AWS has made it possible for Ecube Labs to easily scale its application platform—which has been a crucial factor in its recent success.

By working closely with AWS, Ecube Labs has greatly accelerated time-to-market for customers deploying CCN and CCNx. When Ecube Labs first engaged with Vigatec to integrate language translation, it seemed like a challenging task. However, with access to tools like Amazon OpenSearch Service, the business was able to complete the consulting job in just 30 days, rather than the estimated six months. “Not only was the job completed efficiently, but it was also cost-effective,” Noh adds. “If we had partnered with strategic solution companies for the deployment, it would have taken longer and cost more.”

Ecube Labs continues to rely on AWS to help its customers overcome their biggest challenges. The company helped the city of Melbourne, Australia deploy solar-powered waste compactors that increased waste collection efficiency by up to 70 percent. As part of this project, Ecube Labs also utilized Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS) to automate the delivery of text messages to employees in different locations, all from within CCN. “When we began working with the City of Melbourne, it was one of our largest deals, and we didn't have an automated text messaging solution in place. However, when we discovered Amazon SNS, it was the ideal service for the city’s needs,” says Noh.

As Ecube Labs further expands its business and deploys CCN and CCNx for new customers worldwide, the business is committed to leveraging new AWS services. According to Noh, “We assist our customers in enhancing efficiency and reducing costs by running our solutions on AWS. AWS has a solution for any specific business requirement that a customer may have.”