Imano biobiz - industry solution for more efficient biofuel business from forest to green energy
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | IMANO AB |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 3 000 000 |
| Project duration | November 2012 - February 2014 |
| Status | Completed |
Purpose and goal
The goal of developing an industry-wide solution to manage biomass supply chain information has been achieved. The aim was to establish Imano in a new industry, bioenergy, and expand the service offering with a new business model; software-as-a-service. These aims were achieved in the end of project when four Swedish bioenergy companies decided to sign up for long-term subscription to the developed biobiz service. The project developed unique communication processes for exchange of real-time information, shared between forest and energy companies, in the supply chain of biomass.
Results and expected effects
The final result of the biobiz project is that four bioenergy companies and eleven of the 15 biggest biomass suppliers in Sweden now are using biobiz as a service in the daily operation. Biobiz have created the following effects for the users: - Simplified and streamlined administration of the biomass supply chain and business - Reduced risk of downtime in bioenergy plants - Improved heat- and power production efficiency and utilization of biomass The main effects for Imano are the creation of a platform for entering the bioenergy market and a new delivery- and revenue model.
Approach and implementation
During the first quarter of 2013 a preparatory phase was carried out in which stakeholders were introduced to the project, requirements analysis was conducted and solution architecture was developed. The biobiz solution was developed in collaboration with four bioenergy companies, setting the requirements, and a forest industry reference group. In second half of 2013, a first version of biobiz was evaluated by the four energy companies in a pilot phase. In parallel, the service was developed further and Imano established an organization for delivery of software-as-a-service.