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Connected products: added value for businesses and customers

Lavazza launches “A Modo Mio Voicy”, a new line of connected coffee machines, thanks to the IoT platform created in collaboration with Cluster Reply

IoT in support of the new Lavazza coffee machine

An intelligent coffee machine, capable of communicating and interacting with the user, learning their tastes and schedules and facilitating the direct interaction between user and machine to offer the first hands-free experience on the market. On this basis, Lavazza made the strategic decision to invest in connected products, with the recent market launch of “A Modo Mio Voicy”, the new coffee machine which uses the IoT platform created in collaboration with Cluster Reply.

The Reply Group company, specialised in consulting and system integration services based on Microsoft technologies, has collaborated in the design of the platform that has enabled Lavazza to develop numerous functions. The user can interact with the machine using a physical button or a mobile application. Voicy can also count on Alexa, Amazon’s popular voice assistant, which is pre-installed on the new coffee machines and for which Cluster Reply has developed end-to-end communication in collaboration with other partners. Alexa’s presence provides an innovative user experience, with the ability to control the dispensing of a cup of coffee with a simple voice command from the user, as well as the ability to memorise the tastes and the times of day when the machine is used.

«The project was originally launched in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, but, thanks to the effective organisation of the work, the high adoption of remote processes, the active involvement of the entire company and the partnership with Cluster Reply, we were able to continue to avoid interruptions and to maintain the pre-established roadmap and timelines. This has allowed us to launch Voicy on the market less than a year after the initial concept was conceived».

Fabrizio Andrisani
IT Digital Senior Manager
Lavazza Group

Value-added services: over-the-air update and predictive maintenance

Value-added services for the user are, however, just one of Voicy’s key innovations. The IoT platform also makes it possible to carry out specific operations on individual machines, including consumption monitoring, remote configuration and over-the-air firmware update management, as well as the ability to conduct predictive maintenance activities.
An important factor in the consumer sector – where this was not contemplated previously – lies in the ability to exploit the potential of connectivity to ensure a quick and timely response in the event of interventions and failures, thus enriching the potential relationship with the user.

The IoT platform created in collaboration with Cluster Reply also provides services to facilitate integration with third parties, bringing with it major industrial benefits. This is thanks to the ability to strengthen customer loyalty, monitor and improve the use of the product, as well as to apply predictive and proactive maintenance.

Security and Scalability of the Solution

Moreover, the solution designed and developed in collaboration with Cluster Reply and running on the Azure cloud was conceived based on a Secured by Design (SBD) approach, analysing the possible vulnerabilities and introducing communication layers to ensure not only maximum security between the platform and third-party systems, but also between the device and the cloud.

The solution, implemented based on this approach, makes it possible to potentially connect an ever-increasing number of devices and users, while at the same time scaling up the architecture based on Lavazza’s needs. «The adoption of an IoT platform allows us to think ahead and anticipate the enormous potential of connectivity applied to our products, and to design new, innovative solutions capable of communicating seamlessly with the entire ecosystem. This capability is combined with the value of a scalable platform, designed to adapt to all the possible functional, technological and product-related evolutions that Lavazza will introduce in the future», concludes Fabrizio Andrisani.
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    Cluster Reply specializes in delivering Cloud Solutions using the Microsoft Azure platform. Cluster Reply is a global award-winning Microsoft Gold certified partner with over 20 years’ experience delivering application development, integration and cloud infrastructure solutions using Microsoft technology. Delivering a complete cloud Managed Services solution; on-premises, hybrid and cloud enable companies to digitally transform their business with the Microsoft Azure Cloud. Cluster Reply is helping clients achieve success by offering experience, expertise and best practice guidance on optimizing current IT investments.