Var Group Helps Technowrapp Build Online Support Platform Using AWS

AWS Partner Var Group built an online platform using serverless and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to allow Technowrapp to support and manage its wrapping machines. The company’s new system gives it online control of its machines and helps improve the support it offers to customers. Var Group used AWS IoT Core, Amazon DynamoDB, and AWS Lambda to build the serverless, scalable, and cost-effective platform that helps customers reduce plastic usage while improving the availability and reliability of their wrapping machines.

Technowrapp designs and manufactures machines for wrapping products on pallets with stretch film. Established in 2002, the Italy-based company prides itself on providing customer-first service to help it stand out from the competition.

Previously, its machines had limited connectivity and remote control. Technowrapp wanted to modernize its customer support offering by creating an online platform to monitor and configure the wrapping machines. It also wanted to collect data from the machines to provide long-term insights, trends, and to preempt servicing needs.

In 2017, the company started designing a new version of its wrapping machine that contained built-in Internet of Things (IoT) sensors that would securely send data to the cloud to be stored and analyzed. It also planned an online interface that would allow its customers to monitor and configure their own machines from any location.

Technowrapp chose to use Amazon Web Services (AWS) very early in the decision-making process. “We wanted to use AWS because its services were secure, government certified, and it had an excellent reputation for reliability,” says Paolo Pellizzari, software engineering manager at Technowrapp.

The company was running its business applications from an on-premises data center and didn’t have any cloud expertise, so it approached AWS Partner Var Group to help with the project. The companies worked together and developed a three-phase plan. In mid-2020 they created a proof of concept by adding sensors to one of the wrapping machines and collected data to determine if the project was feasible. A few months later they started designing a user interface that could monitor and control the machines. By the end of 2021 they had started building the new platform—which was called Twiko—and in May 2022 the two companies brought the platform online.

Technowrapp wanted Twiko to be designed from scratch so it would be intuitive, flexible, and powerful for its customers. “We customize our wrapping machines for each customers’ requirements and we wanted Twiko to also be specifically designed for the needs of our users—Var Group did exactly that,” says Pellizzari.

To collect data from the machine sensors, Var Group used AWS IoT Core, which let it easily and securely connect devices to the cloud and route millions of messages to AWS, without having to manage infrastructure. To store the data, it used Amazon DynamoDB, a fast, flexible NoSQL database service for single-digit millisecond performance at any scale. Var Group also used AWS Lambda, a serverless, event-driven compute service that lets you run code without provisioning or managing servers.

Pellizzari was keen for Technowrapp to use serverless technologies because he wanted a scalable and cost-effective solution. “Serverless was the best approach for this because there are no fixed costs,” he says. “We were testing on a few machines and there weren’t any fixed server or VM costs. We can scale forever and only need to pay when Twiko is in use.”

Technowrapp wanted to give its customers the ability to configure their machines to use less plastic in the wrapping process. “It’s important for the environment that we limit plastic film consumption,” said Pellizzari. “With Twiko, users are able to customize their wrapping options themselves.”

With the machines accessible via an online interface, Technowrapp wanted to control and monitor who could access and use them. “As they would be online all the time, it was important for us to have a security layer to protect the machines and their data,” said Pellizzari.

Technowrapp also had to ensure the Twiko platform and its connected infrastructure would comply with international security management standard ISO 27001. Var Group configured the machines so that when they are first connected by the customer, Twiko creates a unique certificate for the machine, ensuring all its activities are controlled and logged. Pellizzari says using AWS means he doesn’t need to worry about compliance and security. “AWS has all the security certifications we need, including ISO 27001,” he says. “We developed Twiko with security in mind using AWS.”

The new line of machines will produce a constant stream of secure data that provides its customers with information on how their machines are functioning, and helps Technowrapp engineers gather insights into long-term usage trends.

Var Group designed Twiko to be maintained using continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) methodology, where the platform is continuously updated with small, iterative changes and improvements. Moving forward, Technowrapp will continue to rely on Var Group’s expertise for developing new features, while it helps the internal development team to gradually take more responsibility. “Var Group has provided training and we can now handle small modifications ourselves, but we will continue to use them for new features,” says Pellizzari.

The company offers all of its Twiko-ready machines as standard. This makes it easier to integrate the machines into the platform with simple plug and play. “We are now using a DevOps strategy to constantly improve and develop Twiko to better serve our customers,” says Pellizzari.

Looking to the future, Technowrapp wants to use the collected data to build artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) models and generate valuable insights. “Eventually, we want to use AI and ML to help our engineers to preempt problems and provide the best possible service to our customers,” says Pellizzari. “We will continue to work with Var Group because there are lots more AWS services that we want to implement. We need their AWS expertise so we can focus on our core business.”