Privately held APM Automation Solutions Ltd. has received worldwide recognition for its technologically innovative, effective and economical line of non-contact level measurement instruments. The company’s APM 3DLevelScanner™ represents a new family of devices that takes the guesswork out of measuring the level, volume and mass of materials inside a silo or open bin with 3D mapping of the contents. It incorporates APM’s unique patented technology to a range of 3D level measurement solutions that address applications previously thought to be beyond the scope of level measurement with unparalleled degrees of accuracy.
The Company
Privately held APM Automation Solutions Ltd. headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, has received broad recognition for its technologically innovative, effective and economical line of non-contact level measurement instruments. The company’s products are sold through exclusive regional distributorships in Europe, and will start in North America by 2009.
In April 2008, APM Automation Solutions Ltd. was the recipient of the Emerging Technology Company of the Year Award 2007 presented by the Chief Scientist of Israel’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor. The Chief Scientist’s Emerging Technology Company of the Year Award is considered the most important competitive honors forum for technology organizations and their leaders. Award winning companies, selected by a panel of judges, are recognized for their innovation, vision and the impact that their technology or products are likely to have.
Process Level Measurement
Process level measurement assesses the amount of material, solid or liquid, that is stored in containers, usually silos or bins or tanks of various shapes and sizes. Accurate measurement of quantities of materials is critical for many industrial applications, including food, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, chemicals and more. By knowing the contents of silos at all times, companies benefit from improved inventory control, including:
- On-line monitoring – to ensure continuity of production
- Low-level alarms – to trigger re-ordering of materials
- High-level alarms – to monitor filling operations and to prevent over-filling
- Minimize stock levels – enabling ‘just-in-time’ strategies
Optimizing these critical processes – production and inventory management – results in combined benefits including streamlined operations, reduced costs, less time-consuming maintenance and support, and greater profitability. Assessing exactly what is inside silos and other storage containers at all times is a very difficult task. Currently available technologies are very expensive and fall short on a number of issues, including accuracy and ability to perform reliably under harsh conditions.
APM’s Unique Solution
The APM 3DLevelScanner provides an innovative measurement method that takes the guesswork out of measuring the level, volume and mass of materials inside a silo or open bin by generating 3D maps of the contents. APM’s unique product line enables an unrivaled degree of process level measurement and inventory control. APM’s 3DLevelScanner product line is an ideal answer to today’s growing measurement needs of many industries that are trying to automate their production and inventory control. It reliably delivers unprecedented degrees of accuracy at a very reasonable price, making the APM 3DLevelScanner the best – and sometimes the only – solution available.
The APM product line currently includes three models:
- 3DLevelScanner S for solid applications
- 3DLevelScanner M for solid applications with mapping capabilities
- 3DLevelScanner MV for solid applications with mapping capabilities and visualization graphic tool
APM also provides remote communication to the scanners via mobile communications.
Target Markets - Multimillion Dollar Industries
Examples of industries that are vigorously seeking cost-effective solutions to solve their process and inventory control challenges include:
- Aggregates and Mining: concrete production; processing stone, gravel, rocks and sand; building materials, feed for all farm livestock; fertilizers.
- Chemicals: storage of solid raw materials.
- Power: coal, cokes, fly ash
- Food and Beverages: beer production; drinking water supply; milk processing; sugar production.
- Pulp and Paper: pulp production; waste paper, stock preparation; chemicals and additives.
- Plastic: plastic pellets, plastic powder.
- Pharmaceuticals: cream production; high purity water sanitization and storage; reaction vessels in the industry; storage of liquid raw materials, and finished products; storage of solids and powders.
- Steel Industry: metals and iron
- Environment and Recycling
- Water and Waste Water
Rapidly Expanding Markets
Worldwide shipments of process level measurement devices exceeded $US 1.32 billion in 2004, as reported by an independent industry study conducted by Venture Development Corporation (VDC; see Appendix 1). VDC expects shipment of such devices to increase at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.4%, reaching $US 1.64 billion in 2009. The market is divided into two categories: Liquids – growing at an annual growth rate of 2%, and Solids by 16% annually. APM’s main area of activity is directed toward the solids market segment.
The Management Team
Ofir Perl, Founder and CEO. Ofir has five years experience managing and leading large-scale development projects in telecommunications and signal processing, from idea-stage to completion. He served as an officer (Captain) in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) where he was responsible for several systems engineering projects involving state-of-the-art communications and computing technology. Prior to founding APM, Ofir worked at RAD Data Communications as a developer and integrator. Ofir holds MBA and BSc degrees, both from Tel Aviv University, the latter with majors in communications, signal processing and bio-medicine. He lived for six years with his family in Belgium during which he had the opportunity to become familiar with the diverse multinational mix making up the new Europe.
Yossi Zlotnik, Co-founder and CTO. Yossi has five years experience managing and leading large-scale development projects in telecommunications and signal processing, from idea-stage to completion. He was a Captain during his military service with the IDF, working on the same projects and with the same levels of responsibilities as APM Co-founder Ofir Perl.
Yossi was admitted to the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology’s prestigious Excellence Program that enables exceptional students to “learn differently” and to think “outside the box”. He earned a BSc (Summa Cum Laude) from the Technion and an MSc (with honors) from Tel Aviv University, both degrees in electrical engineering. He specialized in high-diversity MIMO channel coding.
Uzi Ish-Hurwitz, Chairman. Uzi has more than 30 years experience in management of high technology companies. Among the senior positions he held are:
- CEO and Chairman of the Board, Shira Computers Ltd., Israel. Shira specialized in development of software products for the pre-print market.
- Executive VP and Member of the Board, Neuromedical Systems, Inc., New York A NASDAQ medical device technology company. Also CEO of its Israeli R&D and manufacturing subsidiary.
- Co-founder and President, Indigo Graphic Systems Ltd. (IGS), Israel. IGS developed, manufactured and sold the world’s first wide-format high-speed plotters and engineering reprographics systems for engineering applications.
- VP Operations, Scitex Corporation Ltd., Israel. Scitex developed, manufactured, marketed and serviced imaging systems used in the printing, publishing, printed circuit board manufacturing, cartographic and energy exploration industries. Built, led and managed the R&D, manufacturing, engineering, customer support, logistics, facilities, management information systems and quality assurance groups. IPO in 1980.
Uzi holds a BSc degree in electrical engineering from the Technion. He is a graduate of the London Business School and Harvard Business School senior management programs.
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