Machinery companies that have so far relied solely on shaping metal to create their product are coming to the realisation that to stay competitive they are going to have to incorporate digital technology into the designs.
Bending metal and computing are two entirely different disciplines and to bring them together the industry has turned to investing in IT companies, or buying them outright.
Dutch software
The latest company to form a union with a software house is Lemken, which has invested an undisclosed sum in Track32.
Track32 is a Dutch company that is building its business around image recognition and analysis. Projects include spotting in vitro weed seed germination and bird recognition.
Lemken has already been working with the company, jointly developing its IC-Weeder artificial intelligence (AI), a hoeing machine which reliably distinguishes between sugar beets and weeds, even under high weed pressure.
Committed to Track32
This formalisation of the partnership will, according to Lemken, accelerate the development of smart technologies and ensure continuity of present activities.
It is a sad truth in the digital technology business that young software companies do not always thrive, however clients tend to work on much longer timescales and so need continuity.
This investment by Lemken will, the company believes, lend security and increase the potential for growth of Track32, thus soothing the fear of a vital supplier suddenly disappearing off the radar.
Image recognition as a business
Unsurprisingly, Track32 agrees. With Lemken as both an investor and client, it will be able to concentrate more closely on the further development of its software and will benefit from closer proximity to end customers.
This last point is important, for up until now Track32 appears to have mainly engaged in more academic work.
The two projects already mentioned were in collaboration with research institutes rather than commercial concerns. Bringing its knowledge and expertise out into the field will hopefully benefit both Lemken and agriculture in general.