Japanese operator KDDI renewed an IoT connectivity management deal with US platform provider Aeris, a significant backing for the company and its development of the set-up since acquiring it from Ericsson in 2023.

KDDI signed up to what is now the Aeris IoT Accelerator in 2017 and remained a customer after Ericsson’s sale, tapping global connectivity orchestration, management of devices throughout their lifecycles, security and diagnostics, and eSIM orchestration capabilities.

Aeris stated modernisation of the platform involved cloud-readiness along with broader cooperation between international connectivity providers.

The platform is used in 104 million IoT devices and 42 million connected vehicles.

KDDI stands to benefit from “seamless service continuation” as a result of the renewed contract.

The Japanese operator is an important spearhead for Aeris’ ambitions to access what it stated is strong growth in IoT connectivity throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The company expects the global market to grow by 21.7% by 2033 on demand for secure connectivity capable of operating in multiple markets across various industries.

Aeris highlighted automotive and utilities as among the target markets.

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Salesforce struck a deal to acquire AI customer service specialist Fin for around $3.6 billion, a move positioned as bolstering its ability to help companies quickly deploy agents across communications channels.

Fin’s main product is a customer support AI agent which uses its proprietary Apex model. It is marketed as resolving queries across numerous channels including live chat, email, WhatsApp, SMS, Slack and over the phone.

Salesforce plans to use Fin’s offering to compliment its Agentforce platform.

It noted the combination of assets would provide fast “time-to-value options” for businesses, citing SMBs and those which “need to launch quickly, integrate with existing systems and deliver measurable outcomes” as likely customers.

The acquisition also brings Salesforce access to Fin’s experienced team and an “established global customer base of more than 30,000 companies”.

Salesforce chair and CEO Marc Benioff said Fin brings “proven agent technology, a deep commitment to customer success and an incredible AI team that will complement Agentforce with powerful service agent capabilities”.

Fin co-founder and CEO Eoghan McCabe enthused the deal as a “major win for consumers of the world”, adding the combination with Salesforce would enable it to deploy its products “far and wide at a rate far faster than we could have ever achieved on our own.”

The deal is subject to regulatory approval and other closing conditions including potential customary price adjustments. It is expected to close in Salesforce’s Q4 2027 (the three months to end-January 2027).

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Sateliot pressed the benefits of satellite connectivity for agriculture in a test with Brazilian innovation centre CPQD which it stated showcased the advantages of non-terrestrial IoT.

Standard NB-IoT devices were connected in a remote area out-with the reach of land-based mobile networks as part of a Sateliot initiative to boost use of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites in Brazil.

The company explained the “performance and commercial viability” of satellite-enabled IoT was verified, proving the “feasibility of seamless roaming” between land- and space-based networks.

Sateliot and CPQD put the technology to work tracking cattle.

The Spanish company’s Conecte o Brasil LEO NTN push involves device validation and interoperability testing. The initiative is intended to help Sateliot unlock a nation it stated is “one of the largest untapped IoT markets in the world”.

Sateliot highlighted large portions of Brazil are still not in range of mobile networks, potentially hampering the nation’s ability to capitalise on growth in cellular IoT services.

Elitelma Souza, CPQD solution manager for Automation, IoT and Hybrid Computing, said extending the “reach of IoT” services could “enable new operating models for various sectors of the economy”.

Sateliot CCO Gianluca Redolfi highlighted the test was the company’s first “commercial demonstration in Brazil”, making it “a crucial milestone” in its push there and beyond.

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Ericsson highlighted its private 5G service is now available through Verizon Business beyond US borders, giving multinational enterprises the ability to extend connectivity and boost digital transformation opportunities.

The Swedish vendor explained the expansion means global enterprises already running Ericsson technology in Verizon Business Private 5G Networks in the US can now replicate those capabilities across their operations worldwide.

As AI drives greater demand for secure, high-speed and low-latency connectivity, the collaboration is designed to offer enterprises more flexibility as they scale internationally.

Hannes Ekstrom, SVP and Head of Customer Unit Verizon at Ericsson Americas, said the vendor’s multinational customers in the US had already unlocked significant growth through 5G-enabled private networks and are now looking to extend those capabilities globally.

“By simplifying 5G adoption and enhancing reliability, low latency, and security, we are empowering industries to harness next-generation connectivity and drive innovation on a global scale,” he stated.

The Ericsson Private 5G platform operates as a dual mode 4G and 5G network with global spectrum support, built to connect in challenging indoor and outdoor environments.

It is designed to deliver ultra-low latency and high reliability for real-time applications including automated manufacturing, industrial IoT and AI-driven analytics, while keeping sensitive data within the enterprise’s private network to support compliance requirements.

Industries including manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, energy and higher education are among those expected to benefit from the international rollout, with use cases spanning smart factories, warehouse automation, remote diagnostics and AI-powered research infrastructure.

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NTT Docomo Business, the group’s global connectivity unit Transatel and cybersecurity player Zscaler moved to grasp an opportunity in IoT protection by providing a centralised SIM-based set-up the Japanese giant believes overcomes many weaknesses in device defence.

The Cellular SASE for IoT service uses the multi-SIM capabilities of Transatel’s network, the zero-trust security nous of Zscaler and NTT Docomo Businesses’ managed services products to secure the link between IoT devices, cloud and internal IT settings.

NTT Docomo Business stated the service tackles current inherent weaknesses in IoT device security including the “limited processing power and capacity” units have to run systems offering protection from “malicious communications” and unauthorised access.

It noted some devices are “vulnerable to cyberattacks”.

The operator unit explained centralising security using the SIM removes the diversity of device makers and specifications from the protection equation, asserting the approach is simpler and safer than deploying VPNs or embedding “software on each device”.

NTT Docomo Business highlighted “multi-carrier route redundancy” as another selling point, a nod to the multiple markets an IoT device might cross and the hassle of arranging connectivity in each one.

It emphasised secure cloud communications also reduce “the attack surface”.

Nathan Howe, VP of emerging technologies at Zscaler, said the system would enable “customers to deploy on a large scale, based on consistent policies”.

The operator stated the trio would continue to collaborate to improve the defences offered.

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A regional Spanish government tasked Telefonica with a major overhaul of water metering systems, employing the operator’s NB-IoT network to connect 175,000 smart gauges to uncork a host of operational and management upgrades.

The operator is also tasked with installing the smart meters in the Castile and Leon region in northwest Spain. The upgrade covers real-time data collection along with remote management and monitoring of consumption in domestic and industrial settings.

Telefonica branded the scheme a “step towards data-driven prediction models”.

The project is being handled by the region’s Public Infrastructure and Environment company and involves Telefonica providing a platform to analyse meter data, a move expected to boost service accuracy across gauges from multiple manufacturers.

Telefonica Tech director of IoT Dario Cesena said it is providing “more and better services to customers” by combining its NB-IoT network with managed services.

The company explained the smart meters gather data hourly, boosting detection of abnormal consumption, operational efficiency and service planning.

Security is a high priority in the communications network and management platform: Telefonica highlighted compliance with “the standards required for critical government services”.

It added the smart meter programme contributes to the digital development of the Castille and Leon region.

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BT Group embarked on a mission to improve critical communications, launching a portfolio of services to boost resilience by providing prioritised access to 4G and 5G networks through its EE unit.

Mission Boost spearheads a namesake range combining BT’s mobile and cloud infrastructure, and security capabilities with services from a host of partners. The system puts essential communications first during periods of network congestion or high demand.

Partnerships position the set-up for use by organisations involved in key national infrastructure, emergency response and transport.

BT plans to evolve its range to include contact management capabilities and PTT. It positioned the move as part of a $40 billion investment in digital infrastructure spanning the decade to 2030.

Faisal Mahomed, MD of Critical Communications, said the Mission portfolio is BT’s response to the “increasingly complex environments” organisations find themselves operating in.

Electricity provider UK Power Networks is among the first companies adopting BT’s system: its director of Asset Management Kieran Coughlan said reliable connectivity is now essential to the running of its network, highlighting capabilities including the capacity to remain connected to staff in the field and tools to help turn the lights back on during power outages.

Operators are increasingly looking to reposition themselves as trusted central players in digital sectors by combining their infrastructure with third-party services.

Orange Business and Telefonica are among those to recently make comparable moves.

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IT provider Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) teamed with Anthropic to accelerate enterprise AI adoption, with a focus on highly regulated sectors where accuracy, auditability and governance requirements have historically slowed deployments.

As a Global Premier Partner in the Claude Partner Network, TCS will establish a dedicated business unit focused on delivering industry services and AI expertise built on Anthropic’s Claude family of models, with early access to new releases.

It will also provide Anthropic’s Claude AI assistant to more than 50,000 employees across engineering, finance, legal, marketing, and sales.

The two companies will jointly go to market with AI capabilities across financial services, public services, life sciences, healthcare, aviation, telecom, and medtech.

The partnership also spans several TCS businesses and platforms. Diligenta, TCS’s UK-based life and pensions business with over 22 million customers, will use Claude to improve customer experience through agentic process transformation.

TCS iON, which conducts more than 75 million annual assessments across 1,500 cities in India, will deliver learning and certification programmes on Claude models to help build an AI-certified workforce.

K Krithivasan, CEO and managing director of TCS, stated enterprise AI value comes from understanding business context, orchestrating complex systems and applying deep AI engineering talent.

“By combining Claude with our industry expertise, engineering rigour and large-scale transformation capabilities, we will help customers move faster to production, especially in industries where trust, resilience and regulatory discipline are critical,” he said.

The partnership comes as Anthropic, now valued at $965 billion, looks to extend the momentum which has pushed its valuation above rival OpenAI, with both startups moving towards public listings.

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Global logistics player LX Pantos made a major move around robotics, tasking LG’s consulting unit with helping to research the potential around using humanoid and shuttle variants.

LG CNS is to work with LX Pantos on an automation system to incorporate the two types of robots into the specialist’s Megawise Cheongna Logistics Centre, a fulfilment facility in South Korea spanning 142,852 square metres

The facility is one of 380 logistics hubs LX Pantos operates globally. Shuttle robots are to be used to retrieve items which humanoid versions would then sort and dispatch.

Robots are to be trained using LX Pantos’ field data through a proprietary learning platform. The machines themselves are being sourced from US specialist Dexmate, a company which LG CNS previously invested in.

Park Sang-kyun, EVP and head of Telecommunications, Distribution and Service Business division at LG CNS, said the companies would look to “verify the applicability of various robots”, learning and “operation platforms to logistics sites”.

The company explained the Dexmate mobile shuttle robot has a velocity of 1.5 metres per second and can handle goods weighing up to 1,500kg.

LG CNS and LX Pantos intend to establish a demonstration zone to showcase the potential of their robotics collaboration later this year, pitching possible benefits including a reduction in repetitive tasks at the logistics facility.

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AI platform disruptions rose sharply in early 2026 as growing enterprise adoption and heavier workloads exposed reliability issues across the full infrastructure stack, according to research from Ookla.

Analysing 471 days of US Downdetector data from 1 January 2025 to 16 April 2026 across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, AWS and Microsoft Azure, Ookla recorded 3.7 million user-reported problems.

High-signal disruption days, defined as when a service recorded more than 10 times its own median daily report volume, rose from six across four major AI apps in Q1 2025 to 51 in Q1 2026, according to the report by Ookla analyst Luke Kehoe.

Anthropic’s Claude model accounted for 39 of those 51 disruption days, making it the clearest example of scale-up volatility in the period. Gemini accounted for seven, Copilot three and ChatGPT two.

Claude recorded near-zero Downdetector reports in early 2025 before moving into a sustained report baseline from mid-July as adoption grew.

In Q1 2026, Claude generated 314,996 reports, while March volume alone was nearly three times February’s level. Ookla noted the pattern cannot be attributed to a single outage, with disruption clustered around demand surges, model-release windows and platform instability as Claude Code and Cowork usage scaled rapidly.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT produced the largest individual disruption signals in absolute terms, including roughly 68,000 reports on 2 December 2025, but its underlying reliability trend has improved.

Its monthly median daily report volume fell from a peak of 2,157 in April 2025 to 1,166 in April 2026, even as OpenAI reported more than 900 million weekly active users and rapid growth in Codex usage.

Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s Copilot showed smaller but distinct patterns. Gemini’s high-signal disruption days rose from zero in Q1 2025 to seven in Q1 2026, consistent with rapid user growth.

Copilot’s outage pattern reflected its position inside Microsoft’s broader enterprise range, with far fewer reports on weekends, reflecting enterprise-aligned use.

Cloud infrastructure also featured prominently in the reliability picture. AWS’s 20 October 2025 DynamoDB DNS event generated more than 315,000 US reports, while Microsoft’s Azure Front Door incident on 29 October produced nearly 96,000, illustrating how failures in cloud control planes can cascade into AI platform disruptions.

Ookla concluded AI reliability has moved well beyond model serving, with failure points now spanning feature gates, GPU fleets, developer APIs, login systems and demand-management policies, all of which can appear to the end user as a single outage.

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Telefonica Tech targeted a bump to its IoT business in the US by providing the connectivity for a range of protective equipment produced by industrial health and safety product maker Halotech Digital Services.

An arrangement was made involving Telefonica Tech’s managed IoT connectivity with a Halotech Software-as-a-Service platform which uses AI to provide real-time information relating to worker safety in industrial settings.

Telefonica Tech country manager for the US Luis Lepe Marquez said the combination would help customers “transform workers’ day-to-day activities”, providing clear “actionable intelligence to improve safety”.

The operator unit explained Halotech AI integrates with various namesake protective helmets developed for “complex industrial settings” including mines and oil rigs.

Telefonica Tech is providing the connectivity to collect, transmit and process information from the safety wear to produce insights to improve staff procedures and help predict potential dangers. It listed automatic fall detection, emergency alerts, provision of location information and environmental monitoring among the capabilities on offer.

Real-time decision-making capabilities can reduce “workplace incidents by up to 60%”, Telefonica Tech stated.

Halotech CEO Manuel Marin said companies are changing their approach to safety by seeking systems which can help predict incidents instead of reacting to them.

The companies have history, having developed post-quantum encryption for various industries in 2024.

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The GSMA and a group of aviation, security and connectivity companies called for industry alignment on drone identification, tracking and connection in a bid to build safer airspaces.

In a Joint Requirements Statement developed through the GSMA’s Fusion initiative, contributors including Ericsson, Nokia, Viasat, NextNav and the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre set out the role of mobile networks in supporting drone operations. The organisations urged operators, regulators, aviation stakeholders and governments to integrate telecom capabilities in future drone and airspace policy.

The group stated mobile networks could support drone identity, authentication, geolocation, real-time telemetry assurance, prioritised connectivity and cross-border interoperability. It also pointed to non-terrestrial networks as a key resilience tool for drone operations, especially in areas beyond traditional coverage for remote, maritime, disaster recovery and national security related missions.

Programmable network capabilities and APIs, including GSMA Open Gateway and CAMARA-aligned frameworks, were also tipped as tools to support aviation safety, security and efficiency requirements.

The group emphasised the importance of electronic conspicuity, the identification and visibility of drones and aircraft to airspace users and authorities through real-time data sharing. It highlighted the growing importance of drone tracking as governments and regulators step up the deployment of flights beyond the visual line of sight, drone first responder programmes and autonomous aircraft.

A lack of early coordination could leave the sector with fragmented national approaches before global drone frameworks are established, the group warned.

Barney Stinton, GSMA Fusion market development lead for aviation, said the drone market is “scaling far faster than many of today’s airspace and identification frameworks were originally designed for”, adding the statement is “an important signal from industry that mobile networks have a major role to play in supporting safe, trusted and interoperable drone operations at scale”.

He explained the goal is “not to replace existing aviation systems but to bring together aviation, government and telecom industries early enough to avoid fragmentation”.

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Axon Networks acquired Greenwave Systems, combining two companies with shared roots to create a more unified, AI-powered network orchestration platform.

The US-based company stated the deal strengthens its cloud-agnostic Axon Maestro platform, purpose-built for telecom operators, institutions and enterprise service providers.

Greenwave’s software-defined mobile network services, including its network-as-a-service orchestration portfolio, will be added to Axon Maestro.

Greenwave’s technology will be folded into the Maestro platform as dedicated modules, with its engineering team shifting focus to OSS/BSS product development with expanded support for mobile connectivity.

Financial terms are not available.

At the heart of the integration is Axon’s real-time digital twin technology, which the company said will serve as the foundation for next-generation network inventory management.

Axon CEO Martin Manniche, who co-founded Greenwave in 2008 alongside other current Axon executives, stated operators are too often constrained by legacy operational support systems which require heavy customisation and slow down innovation.

“This limits their agility and effectiveness, delaying innovation and time-to-market for new services,” he said.

The deal also positions Axon to capitalise on growing operator interest in fixed wireless access and low earth orbit satellite connectivity.

As those technologies gain traction in access networks, the company argues end-to-end orchestration from the mobile core to in-home devices will become increasingly critical for delivering a consistent subscriber experience.

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Spark New Zealand added heat to rural IoT connectivity competition, working with natural resource protection company Dryad Networks and a local authority to provide advanced warning of wildfires in a major forest.

The set-up in the Waitangi Endowment Forest uses Dryad Networks sensors equipped with AI to detect fires at an early stage and inform the Far North District Council (FNDC) and woodland authorities.

Spark stated the sensors are capable of detecting smouldering, meaning alerts can be generated even when there are no visible signs of smoke or flames to provide early warning and give fire fighters more time to respond, along with enabling swifter evacuation of the forest.

The system is being configured and connected to the internet by Spark company Adroit, with FNDC installing the sensors. The authority is also to match funding for the project provided in a recent round of investment by New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

A total of 250 sensors are to be deployed, providing full coverage of Waitangi Endowment Forest. The system is to be in place for 15 years.

FNDC group manager for Corporate Services Charlie Billington said the project is an opportunity to train AI for the setting, localising the technology and making it more accurate.

Further fine-tuning is scheduled for February 2027, when forest managers and owners, iwi and business representatives are set to trek the ground to explain the system and tweak it for specific smoke signatures.

Spark stated there is a broader goal to integrate the set-up with systems used by Fire and Emergency New Zealand.

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Samsung Group unveiled plans for a sweeping transformation of its businesses, introducing AI extensively across its companies covering functions from marketing to manufacturing.

The conglomerate believes widespread adoption across its affiliates, which includes Samsung Electronics, will fundamentally change working style and culture across the organisations.

Samsung highlighted it had pioneered the use of AI in consumer devices and wanted to “strongly apply” it to eight major business processes: development, purchasing, manufacturing, logistics, marketing, sales, service and management support.

“To enhance business competitiveness amid rapidly changing business environments, Samsung plans to officially introduce external generative AI services such as Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude across all affiliates in June,” the company added.

Specific aims include enhancing productivity in software and marketing, and upping “operational innovation” in manufacturing.

The company asserted AI was not “just a new technology or a simple tool for improving operations, but rather an innovative technique that triggers fundamental changes in management, actively utilising it as a starting point for discovering new growth momentum”.

To help push the initiative all executives from its companies are set to go through a training camp by the end of 2026, with all 50 CEOs to take the course this month.

It plans to extend the training to eventually cover all employees. Dedicated AI teams are also to be placed across the organisation’s businesses.

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Siemens and Infineon Technologies teamed to tackle a little reported but quite important element of digital transformations, namely protecting electrical supplies in data centres, production facilities and battery storage systems.

The pair are working to provide semiconductor breaker technology, which Siemens describes as providing protection for electronic devices, circuits and components in the event of a short-circuit or power surge.

Infineon is to provide silicon carbide power modules which Siemens intends to install in its semiconductor circuit breakers. The German-headquartered company stated the move would “enhance the efficiency, power density and reliability” of the products.

Siemens explained the lack of mechanical elements in semiconductor circuit breakers can cut the reaction time from milliseconds in traditional set-ups to microseconds.

It argued the speed boost is “essential for direct current grids” and would deliver a much-needed improvement in protection for systems used in manufacturing and AI data centres.

Andreas Weisl, EVP and chief sales officer for Industrial and Infrastructure at Infineon (pictured, right), said the importance of swift protection is growing due to the increased electrification of data centres and factories.

Siemens Smart Infrastructure CEO for Electrical Products Markus Grabmeier explained many industrial facilities are keen to tap the lower energy consumption of direct current power supplies and further boost environmental protection goals by using batteries to cut peak power use.

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Finnish enterprise and public sector users were promised better telecoms connectivity after local network operator Voimatel tapped Eutelsat for low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite coverage.

The French headquartered satellite service provider stated its LEO connectivity would be integrated with Voimatel’s terrestrial network to improve coverage in Arctic and high-latitude areas of Finland, boosting the resiliency and redundancy of critical communications.

Voimatel describes itself as the builder and operator of fixed and mobile networks: Eutelsat expanded, stating the company provides services to operators, utilities and public sector groups.

The LEO coverage opens remote and rural areas where terrestrial installations are trickier, though Eutelsat noted the arrangement would also benefit urban parts of Finland.

Voimatel CEO Mikko Heinonen said the low-latency and Arctic coverage provided by Eutelsat’s LEO birds were important elements in its decision to work with the French company.

The coverage will “complement our existing infrastructure capabilities and support the evolving connectivity requirements of our customers”, he said.

Eva Bisgaard, president of Eutelsat’s Connectivity business unit, said the deal is another example of “the growing role of LEO connectivity in supporting critical telecom infrastructure”.

It also adds to a recent run of agreements involving Eutelsat’s geosynchronous satellites struck in April and May.

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Ericsson dug deeper into a mining automation deal with Swedish equipment maker Epiroc, adding LTE and 5G equipment distribution to a near decade-long research arrangement.

The companies anticipate ever-growing demand for complete operational technology systems spanning mining equipment and connectivity. Ericsson cited ease of access to digitalisation techniques as among the benefits the expanded deal offers.

Epiroc Digital Solutions division president Paul Bergstrom said there is a rising need for connectivity systems from mining companies as they “advance automation and digitalisation throughout their operations”.

The equipment manufacturer plans to add Ericsson private 5G systems to its own telematics, remote control and position sensing products.

Last month, Epiroc advanced a deep automation product range with systems for drilling and material handling, expanding a portfolio offered since 2023 which it stated helped mines “unlock millions of tonnes of ore” they would not otherwise have been able to safely recover.

Ericsson Enterprise Wireless Solutions head of product and engineering Pankaj Malhotra said the updated deal with Epiroc ties into the operational goals involving safety, productivity and efficiency.

The pair is “helping mining companies modernise operations at scale”, he said.

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Orange Business secured a deal to supply French public hospital group GHT Rouen Coeur de Seine with a generative AI (genAI) platform, equipping 15,000 health professionals across its network with secure sovereign AI tools.

The French operator’s enterprise unit will deploy Live Intelligence, its enterprise genAI platform, across the hospital group to provide a controlled alternative to unverified public AI tools. It stated the long-term partnership spans infrastructure, strategy and operational support.

Rouen University Hospital, the group’s support entity, selected the platform to govern AI usage and ensure secure deployment across its workforce. Orange Business said the platform intends to support and upskill staff across clinical, administrative and technical roles, creating a common framework for genAI training and responsible use.

The platform is hosted in France and can be connected to the hospital group’s information systems, with early use cases already in play. Research teams at Rouen University Hospital are using genAI to speed up grant applications, cutting the process timeframe from three weeks to two days. The operator added sourcing requests involving specifications and evaluation criteria could be reduced from two weeks to one day.

As part of the deal, the partners also plan to develop a long-term innovation programme with other university hospitals to build AI use cases relevant to the wider healthcare sector.

Claire Scotton, VP of healthcare and life sciences at Orange Business, said some hospital staff feel they have become “‘data managers’ as much as healthcare professionals”, adding the platform aims to help them “reclaim time to focus on what truly matters: patient care, meaningful work, and collaboration”.

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Wirtgen Group is actively developing automated road construction vehicles as stepping stones for full autonomy using some of the same technology stack as parent company John Deere.

During a recent demonstration of its roadbuilding machinery at the company’s North American headquarters in the US state of Tennessee, company executives outlined the benefits of its specialised heavy machinery for road building.

Demand for roads and infrastructure keeps rising while contractors juggle labour shortages, climbing material costs, tighter project timelines and shorter paving seasons.

In the US alone, the construction industry is expected to need nearly 700,000 additional workers by 2031 just to keep pace with demand.

About 40% of the four million miles of roadways across the US are currently rated in poor or mediocre condition.

“As we talked with our customers, we learned a few things about some of their business challenges, which is simply to do more with less,” said Craig Lamarque, VP and head of digital products at Wirtgen America. “Every day our customers are responsible to ensure the safety of every person on absolutely every job site”.

“And they have to do that with increasingly less skilled and less experienced personnel.”

Lamarque explained customers must complete a greater number of projects on tighter timelines to stay profitable while coping with issues with materials, sustainability pressures, labour shortages, and the need to stay on budget and on schedule.

Wirtgen Group responded by introducing digital tools to help address those challenges.

He said Wirtgen’s digital strategy centres on three pillars: connected support to maximize uptime, job site intelligence to expose inefficiencies and improve decision-making, and smart automation to boost machine performance.

Those capabilities are embedded across its road construction equipment lineup and are supported by hardware and software in collaboration with John Deere.

A legacy built on family names

The Wirtgen Group was a privately held German company before it was acquired by John Deere in 2017.

Earlier in its history, the Wirtgen Group bought asphalt paving company Vogele (in 1996) ahead of purchasing soil and asphalt compaction company Hamm three years later. Vogele was established in 1836, one year prior to John Deere.

Kleemann was acquired in 2006, which expanded Wirtgen’s reach into mineral processing with mobile crushing and screening plants.

The Wirtgen Group bought a 70% stake in Benninghoven in 2014, adding asphalt mixing plants to the ecosystem and enabling Wirtgen to offer the entire cycle of road construction equipment from mixing and paving to milling and recycling.

Wirtgen America was established in 1984 and now includes 300 employees across the Tennessee campus.

“Every one of those names of the brands is a family name, much the same as Deere,” said Wirtgen America president and CEO Jim McEvoy. “From that standpoint, we have a long legacy of being early in these markets, being leaders in these markets and being very innovative in these product spaces.”

Here’s a look at three of the roadbuilding machines and technologies showcased in Tennessee across asphalt milling, paving and compaction.

Wirtgen milling machine
The milling machine removes old asphalt or concrete surfaces while using automation and digital guidance technologies to improve precision, efficiency and performance tracking. It is designed for high-output work on freeways, highways, airports and other major infrastructure projects.

The W210XF is equipped with a 2.5 metre-wide cutter drum which removes asphalt and concrete prior to loading the material into a truck. It uses automation and digital guidance technologies across eight cameras to improve precision, efficiency and machine performance tracking.

“Simple diagnostics, intuitive instructions on the display and backup components built into the machine make it easy to keep going,” Lamarque said.

WPT Milling documents job and machine data for billing and emissions tracking. Smart Level Pro is a fully integrated differential milling system which scans the surface about to be milled.

The process begins with a high-speed survey scan of the existing road surface, either by the customer or a third-party surveyor, without closing the road. The resulting digital model is then georeferenced and logged using GNSS.

After scanning, the road profile is refined to meet specifications, then uploaded to the John Deere Operations Centre and Work Planner, where cutting depths can be checked in advance which saves time compared with milling first and verifying later.

Utilising two John Deere StarFire receivers connected by cellular service, Lamarque said the mill goes to work, “precisely milling the design depth and slope, leaving the best possible surface”.

StarFire GNSS Guidance is Deere’s satellite technology which helps machines maintain highly accurate positioning, alignment and paving guidance throughout the roadbuilding process.

Mill Assist is an automated system on the milling machine that uses real-time machine data to optimise performance, improve efficiency, and reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

Vogele asphalt paver
The asphalt pavers are packed with highly specialised automation, levelling and material handling technologies.

Smart Pave is an advanced digital control and automation system developed by Vogele for its asphalt road pavers. AutoTrac technology helps the paver hold its direction of travel and paving width with precision.  

RoadScan is Vogele’s proprietary, non-contact thermal imaging and temperature measurement system mounted directly to the asphalt paver.

Hamm asphalt roller
The double-drum asphalt roller machine compacts fresh asphalt to the target density required for long term durability, using real-time density monitoring and intelligent compaction technology to hit the mark.

It focuses on preventing over-compaction, maximising operator efficiency and providing proof of compaction quality to contractors, state and federal authorities.

The roller uses a combination of vibration and oscillation to compact material to the desired density. Smart Compact Pro and Track Assist help road crews compact more efficiently, cost-effectively and safely while also meeting intelligent compaction specifications.

Intelligent compaction is data collection of the roller using GPS compact mapping, temperature sensors which map and report asphalt surface temperature and an accelerometer sensor that reports stiffness.

From automation to autonomy
Jason Ambroson, VP and managing director of Wirtgen International, explained running the same technologies, connectivity and data sensors across the various roadbuilding machines enables customers to be more productive using fewer employees and fewer resources.

“We are moving from automation to autonomy,” he said.

That trajectory of connecting machines, data and operators into a single intelligent system was what the Tennessee demonstration was ultimately built to show.

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