Uptake!

Uptake, a Chicago-based data analytic firm was founded in 2014 by Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkofsky to develop locomotive-related predictive diagnostics. Its predictive analytics Software-as-a-Service platform aims to assist enterprises improve productivity, reliability and safety through the suite of solutions including predictive diagnostics and fleet management applications.

Every time a piece of equipment goes idle due to equipment failure or poor planning there are two costs: a) the cost of the repair in parts, labor, etc. and, b) the opportunity cost of lost revenue. There are also substantial costs involved with keeping contractors nearby while waiting for the machines to return to service. Downtime, scheduled or unscheduled, is essentially time that the site and the equipment is not earning back its investment costs.

Uptake platform uses machine learning combined with knowledge from industrial partners to deliver industry-specific platforms and applications to solve complex and relevant industrial problems like predicting equipment failure to result in enormous savings. It combines data science with massive data generated by plethora of sensors in these machines to understand signals and patterns that can develop predictive diagnostics. In addition, to shifting from a reactive ‘repair after failure’ mode to a proactive ‘repair before failure’ stance, Uptake also helps customers track fuel efficiency, idle time, location and other machine data.

Uptake has a very strong value proposition and commercial relevance. The company claims that its solution covers industry segments including rail, mining, agriculture, construction, energy, aerospace and retail. Its marquee client is Caterpillar which has also invested in the firm. Instead of building its own integrated services, Caterpillar shared all the know-how of its equipment and works with Uptake, which has more than 300 engineers, data scientists, and designers. Uptake has also, recently publicly announced its foray in the wind energy space by adding added two subsidiaries of Berkshire Hathaway Energy to its client roster: MidAmerican Energy Company and BHE Renewables Uptake’s current annual revenue run-rate exceeds $100 million and because of its unique algorithm and industry focus its valued at $2Bn.

While, Uptake generates immense value for construction equipment predictive diagnostics, it can further improve the prediction by also incorporating the environmental conditions like soil structure, site geometry, operating weather conditions, precipitation in air, etc. Through the use of sensors, these factors can be predicted even before the equipment is put to use and can thus, help in better estimating the wear and tear costs and time delays associated with a given project implementation. Using this “perceptive” data collected through sensors, the equipment firms can also manage their replacement inventory, thus further reducing the operational costs.

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