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Launch HN: GreaseBoss (YC W21) – Real-time system to manage industrial greasing

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Re: Launch HN: GreaseBoss (YC W21) – Real-time system to manage industrial greasing

#41

Post by solarkraft »

woah wrote: post #38
solarkraft wrote: post #36

> We are building a HaaS (Hardware as a Service - is that a thing?) business model: we charge customers upfront for the hardware and then a software subscription fee. Oh god. The rest sounds great, but this sounds like the worst of renting and owning combined. How do your customers react to this model? Can the devices be used without the subscription?

I mean, they have to sell them the hardware. Then software needs to be run and continuously updated. I would probably prefer a subscription to a large up front charge for ongoing software maintenance, or having to gamble that a “free” cloud service stays online

Good point. I'd just worry about my device being bricked should they hypothetically go out of business (see other IoT stories). Great, I wouldn't be paying for the software updates anymore, but the device I own would be entirely useless. There's nothing wrong with offering a self-hosting version either, arguably it would be preferable.

I'm applying my personal values here, of course. In practice there will probably be contractual agreements to provide the service for some number of years.

Re: Launch HN: GreaseBoss (YC W21) – Real-time system to manage industrial greasing

#42

Post by toomuchtodo »

SteveGreaseBoss wrote: post #16
jasonpeacock wrote: post #5

What kind of customer lock-in do you have? Is the API/data format open or closed? Can I easily export my data? As a customer, I'd be concerned about longevity and data loss if/when you go away or pivot. Knowing that I could export my data, and re-implement my own backend using your open data standard if needed, would go a long way to easing my concerns. Most customers won't go through the effort to build their own so…

Thanks for the feedback, I think you are raising a valid point We have built the platform with APIs in anticipaction of integrations with SAP, Pronto, etc. We have also built in functionality to export data out to CSV files. Our market is a mix of big corporates who want the integration with SAP and never want to see out platform and small guys who run their maintenance from checklists and like the platform. In regar…

Anything unique about the head unit you could patent?

Re: Launch HN: GreaseBoss (YC W21) – Real-time system to manage industrial greasing

#43

Post by SteveGreaseBoss »

jeffrallen wrote: post #31

So here's a question: if a company was suffering below average equipment downtime from lube problems, because they had somehow managed to have above average compliance to manufacturer's specs, would your sales pitch still work? Because as they said on Prairie Home Companion, "all our children are above average". No one thinks they have incompetent maintenance teams. There are industries where safety risks make lube h…

great question and good logic.

Many sites are reducing headcount in maintenance due to high labour costs, greasing is one of those things that can be neglected. Our pitch is to do more maintenance with less head count, with GreaseBoss anyone can pick up the grease gun and be directed what to do, with no prior trianing.

Further down the track, we want GreaseBoss to power robotic greasing. But to get to this nirvana, you need to start with manual

Re: Launch HN: GreaseBoss (YC W21) – Real-time system to manage industrial greasing

#44

Post by __sy__ »

arjunvpaul wrote: post #37

Awesome! HaaS is a thing. You just made it one. Regarding the business model: You ever thought of a Franchise model? Perhaps train a few folks (perhaps folks who were incorrectly greasing before) who can then take contracts for the large job sites? I have seen this practice with diamond coring machines of companies like Hilti in markets like Dubai (building contractors don't need the machine , they just need the hole…

Second that. HaaS is totally a thing in enterprise hardware, and I'd argue it's the one business model in hardware that sort of keeps everyone aligned!

For example, the recurring revenue gives the OEM incentives to continue supporting the platform. Meanwhile, the lower upfront cost for the hardware lowers switching cost for the customer in case there's a better solution out there.

OK, obviously there's a big gap between this theory and reality, but just thought that I'd point it out :)

Congrats on launching!

Re: Launch HN: GreaseBoss (YC W21) – Real-time system to manage industrial greasing

#45

Post by koski_pindora »

Hi, we (pindora.fi) have been doing HaaS now for some months and in my short and narrow experience at least it is not easy to have hardware upfront cost and then software subscription fee for _something new_ people have net learned to pay yet.

What if you would try to have "setup fee" and then "subscription fee"? Could that work?

Same thing, named differently :-)

Re: Launch HN: GreaseBoss (YC W21) – Real-time system to manage industrial greasing

#46

Post by SteveGreaseBoss »

jeffrallen wrote: post #34
jbob2000 wrote: post #32

I pursued something similar. The challenge you may face is that the act of regular inspections, maintaining the RFID tags, and paying for the service may cost more than doing a poor job of grease maintenance. The alternative is just simply doing regular rounds with a grease bucket.

Or running machines to destruction and taking the downtime costs (which the dysfunctional organisation has already built into their business model, since they cannot get their employees to grade then right). I agree that there's a danger that this is easier to justify on Powerpoint than down in the dust and mud of real life industrial financials. (Pretty sure that gold mines do not stay open when the price of gold is…

I like your comment about this being easier to justify on a PPT than in the dirt - we are on the road every day experiencing this reality. We are making progress, customers are buying it for more than just the greasing - they have transient workforces who take care of the equipment differently and want consistantly . Some of them use greasing as an indicator "if they can't do the greasing, what else arn't they doing?" another guy got rid of 4 guys over 12 months for not completing the greasing, so he is saving on recruitment costs, there are many others..

Re: Launch HN: GreaseBoss (YC W21) – Real-time system to manage industrial greasing

#47

Post by SteveGreaseBoss »

koski_pindora wrote: post #45

Hi, we (pindora.fi) have been doing HaaS now for some months and in my short and narrow experience at least it is not easy to have hardware upfront cost and then software subscription fee for _something new_ people have net learned to pay yet. What if you would try to have "setup fee" and then "subscription fee"? Could that work? Same thing, named differently :-)

great idea, we are experiencing the same type of friction from our customers. We think we need to get it to something similar to cell phone contract from the 90's - $0 upfront, $X per month for 2 years

Re: Launch HN: GreaseBoss (YC W21) – Real-time system to manage industrial greasing

#48

Post by SteveGreaseBoss »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #42
SteveGreaseBoss wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the feedback, I think you are raising a valid point We have built the platform with APIs in anticipaction of integrations with SAP, Pronto, etc. We have also built in functionality to export data out to CSV files. Our market is a mix of big corporates who want the integration with SAP and never want to see out platform and small guys who run their maintenance from checklists and like the platform. In regar…

Anything unique about the head unit you could patent?

We have patents on the head unit and the whole system

Re: Launch HN: GreaseBoss (YC W21) – Real-time system to manage industrial greasing

#49

Post by SteveGreaseBoss »

solarkraft wrote: post #36

> We are building a HaaS (Hardware as a Service - is that a thing?) business model: we charge customers upfront for the hardware and then a software subscription fee. Oh god. The rest sounds great, but this sounds like the worst of renting and owning combined. How do your customers react to this model? Can the devices be used without the subscription?

this is a good point, I mentioned that we are exploring the business model now.

One benefit of the current model is that we expect lots of improvements in the hardware over coming months. We are rolling these out to our early adopter customers as they become available at no cost.

There is room for more creativity when it comes to the model

Re: Launch HN: GreaseBoss (YC W21) – Real-time system to manage industrial greasing

#50

Post by SteveGreaseBoss »

solarkraft wrote: post #41
woah wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, they have to sell them the hardware. Then software needs to be run and continuously updated. I would probably prefer a subscription to a large up front charge for ongoing software maintenance, or having to gamble that a “free” cloud service stays online

Good point. I'd just worry about my device being bricked should they hypothetically go out of business (see other IoT stories). Great, I wouldn't be paying for the software updates anymore, but the device I own would be entirely useless. There's nothing wrong with offering a self-hosting version either, arguably it would be preferable. I'm applying my personal values here, of course. In practice there will probably b…

We have a self hosted version of the system available, we have found that attitudes to data security and location are changing. Customers want to have it in house to the extent possible.
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