mark could become the most loyal friend of many workers in industrial companies in the future. Why? Because mark The first intelligent glove for Industry 4.0 has just been launched. Reason enough to talk to the minds behind mark, the founders of ProGlove, for a discussion.
Exciting times for ProGlove: The new offices at Ostbahnhof were recently moved into, the team is constantly expanding and becoming even more international and – last but certainly least – the company’s first product, the intelligent glove, has just been launched mark, officially launched. However, the pre-series had already been used and tested under real-world conditions by customers such as BMW and Skoda for some time.
What can mark?
mark Scans a barcode with the press of a button triggered by the thumb and provides direct visual, acoustic, and haptic feedback to the glove wearer. This immediately lets them know whether the work step was performed correctly. This eliminates the need for a screen and the need for an external scanner.
The ProGloves glove system consists of a central computer unit and a work glove with integrated electronics. According to the ProGlove, integration into existing systems is very minimal.
“The goal had to be to make the glove intelligent”
But let's start from the beginning. How did the founders of ProGlove, Thomas Kirchner, Paul Günther, Jonas Girardet, and Alexander Grots, come up with the idea of developing wearables for industry?
The decisive factors were two factors that together provided the impetus for an intelligent glove: Firstly, the ideas competition “Intel Make it Wearable“ in Silicon Valley, which was endowed with half a million dollars and which the founders wanted to participate in. When they were considering the area for which they wanted to develop wearables, Paul's Industry knowledge The other important role: As a student, he led factory tours at BMW and gained his first insights into assembly line work. For example, he learned how significant the impact of a seemingly minimal improvement in cycle time can be. He also learned that most workers wear work shoes, overalls, and gloves as standard. So why not use the factory workers' workwear to optimize processes? The decision quickly fell on the glove, which was now to become one thing only: intelligent. Paul explains why:
"If I optimize a small detail in the process, it has a big impact: Because as a worker, I don't just do a certain movement once, but 500 or 1,000 times a day."
The idea was born, and the first prototype was developed during the Intel Challenge. The team actually made it to the podium with third place, securing $150,000. The subsequent positive response from the press and industry prompted the four to pursue the idea further. ProGlove was born.
And with it, the first intelligent glove. However, it was a somewhat slimmed-down version. After testing over 70 prototypes in the first few months, the developers realized that some of the initial features weren't absolutely necessary.
The first product market is therefore now concentrating primarily on the factor speed in production and logistics processes. It works like this: The worker scans each component to be installed directly with his ProGlove glove, which is equipped with a barcode scanner. This saves him from having to reach for the scanner each time – saving approximately three seconds per scan. Assuming that each car is typically scanned 1,000 times, you can imagine the potential for time – and therefore money – savings.
mark but also brings other advantages: It checks whether the right parts are installed, keyword Quality. It is also documented where each part was installed, keyword documentationAnd the wearer also benefits from the intelligent glove: By working hands-free, workflows can be made more ergonomic.
And where can the smart glove be used? Thomas says:
"We started with the automotive industry because that was simply the biggest pain point. But now we're also active in many other industries, such as logistics. Because here, too, fast and ergonomic scanning is essential."
Many other areas of application are conceivable in the future, such as the healthcare sector. The big vision: All professionally used gloves should be intelligent!
“If I don’t feel supported as a founder in Munich, I’m just stupid.”
Exchanging the company's Munich location for an American one—this idea was briefly on the table at ProGlove, too. But not because the four founders don't feel comfortable in Munich. In fact, the opposite is true, as Thomas explains:
"If I, as a founder, don't feel supported in Munich, I'm just too stupid. There are so many options available. For example, we took advantage of all the entrepreneurship centers in Munich, such as the UnternehmerTUM, the SCE, the LMU EC, and Techfounders."
When it comes to financing, however, things get a bit more difficult for a hardware startup in Munich—and almost certainly in Germany in general. The German financing scene is currently very comfortable in the software sector and is shying away from the riskier hardware scene—at least that's how the ProGlove founders see it:
"For hardware, I simply need more money because the development cycles are significantly longer. And more investment is also needed in collaboration with industry: This customer base requires significantly more persuasion and usually pays later."
Investors in America are different: here the willingness to take financial risks is significantly higher. And since the belief in “German Engineering" is quite large abroad despite some scandals, ProGlove was also able to land a deal with two American investors, namely Intel Capital and GettyLab. Third in the investor round is Bayern Kapital. In total, the Munich-based startup raised first round of financing $2.2 million And he also decided to stay in Munich: the manufacturing conditions here are simply much better than in the States.
What is the plan?
mark is now on the market and what's next for ProGlove?
"Since we have VC money in the company, our primary focus now is, of course, scaling. We need to generate revenue and want to serve as many customers as possible. And then, in parallel, we'll start working on our second product."
This is the intelligent glove Catherine, which will also have an integrated display.
In addition, the company plans to enter the American and Asian markets. Further licenses are still required for this, as mark only approved on the European market.
The next financing round is scheduled to begin in mid-2017. And since the valuation will be based on sales, it is important to mark to become the most loyal friend of all workers!
