TELTONIKA 2020: YEAR IN REVIEW

Right from the start, 2020 has turned our lives upside down. This year has been challenging for people, businesses, and the whole world in general. Despite all the difficulties, Teltonika has found new opportunities for helping people fight against COVID-19 and shown a remarkable 30 percent growth in 2020. Let’s recall the events that made this year extraordinary.

A new manufacturing facility for future achievements

In 2020 we established a new modern manufacturing facility for Teltonika EMS with innovative SMT lines. The new production site has full automation of assembly via robotics for testing, laser marking, component calibration, box building, labelling, sorting, and packing. To produce millions of complex devices, we unify cloud-based systems, robotics, and Big Data algorithms. Our daily production operations cannot go without the impact of Industry 4.0.

A new business niche for helping more people

The highlight of this year is without any doubt our artificial lung ventilator project. We have achieved spectacular results in an extremely short period. Our team of ambitious engineers, developers, and other specialists devoted their time and knowledge to the production of pulmonary ventilators so that in the future these devices could save as many lives as possible. Together with Lithuanian and foreign experts, we have done medical research, developed the PCB, designed a prototype, prepared for mass production, and started the certification process.

With the primary goal to produce affordable artificial lung ventilation devices for all healthcare facilities, we created our new business niche – telemedicine. To operate in this industry more efficiently and develop high technology devices, we established Teltonika Telemedic, the youngest member of the Teltonika company group. Teltonika Telemedic aims at designing and developing innovative devices that would help people and protect their health.

Good deeds and financial support

The difficulties that healthcare facilities face due to the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged us to offer our help. Therefore, Teltonika made a financial contribution to small municipalities to help them quickly prepare protective measures for doctors and patients. As an example, the founder of Teltonika, Arvydas Paukštys, made a financial contribution to the Vilkaviškis municipality. The contribution was intended to help medical workers, ensure their safety and provide them the needed protective measures. Consequently, in 2020 Arvydas Paukštys acquired a status of an honorary citizen of Vilkaviškis municipality.

For all the provided help in fighting against COVID-19, the founder of Teltonika company group Arvydas Paukštys received the Order of the Knight for merits to Lithuania award.

This year was full of other good deeds as well. Arvydas Paukštys became the first person in Lithuania to be named national patron for his financial contribution to rebuilding the burnt down Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Rosary in Balbieriškis. On July 6 during the council meeting of Prienai municipality, Arvydas Paukštys was named an honorary citizen of Prienai city.

The visit of the President of Lithuania

Our dedication to the artificial lung ventilator project did not go unnoticed. On April 17, Gitanas Nausėda, the president of Lithuania, paid a visit to Teltonika. During the visit, we presented the manufacturing process of our pulmonary ventilators and discussed how our modern automated assembly lines allow us to produce such devices efficiently even during the pandemic. The President and the chief operating officers of Teltonika companies discussed the new telemedicine business direction and the production of special medical equipment intended for early detection of health disorders and for helping healthcare workers. The new activity field should cover not only employees' healthcare but also the development of new pulmonary ventilation devices. According to the President, Teltonika demonstrated incredible flexibility by creating a prototype of an artificial lung ventilator in a really short period. This product will be added to the portfolio of previously developed medical devices. President Gitanas Nausėda expressed his gratitude to our team for fighting against COVID-19 and commended Teltonika for promptly implementing all the necessary safety measures to protect employees.

The new home of Teltonika

In the final quarter of 2020, the Teltonika company group announced one of the largest investments of the company, the establishment of Teltonika High Tech Hill. The building complex on Liepkalnis hill in Vilnius will become the new home for all the employees of the Teltonika company group. This project will not only ensure the best working conditions for every employee but also provide the feeling of home environment associated with mutual trust and respect. To implement this project as soon as possible, we have reached out to 6 highly experienced teams of Lithuanian architects. The challenge for every team was to propose an architectural solution that would not only match the current scenery of Vilnius but also secure favourable environment for our specialists. After thoroughly reviewing all the architects’ submissions, we were happy to conclude that the Teltonika High Tech Hill project by Remigijus Bimba (AKG company) matches our expectations the most. The new technology park will provide 2000 new workplaces and 1000 ones for existing employees. The total investment into this project comprised of both buildings and manufacturing equipment is expected to be over 220 million euros. The projected period of completion is 3-4 years.

Effective reorganization for rapid growth

The reorganization of Teltonika has been one of the most crucial events this year. The primary goals of reorganization were to accelerate the future growth of Teltonika and to enable every business niche to function more effectively. As Teltonika mainly operates in four industries, we have established four separate companies. This way these companies will be able to work more efficiently and achieve the best results.

• Teltonika Telematics, run by Antanas Šegžda, develops vehicle tracking devices and performs in the telematics industry.
• Teltonika Networks, run by Giedrius Kukauskas, is a company developing professional network connectivity equipment for IoT and M2M communication.
• Teltonika EMS, run by Simas Rutkauskas, controls the production lines and operates as a manufacturer of electronic and IoT devices.
• Teltonika Telemedic , run by Martynas Osauskas, develops telemedicine devices such as artificial lung ventilators as well as works on various Mobility for asset monitoring and ensuring security.

During the last step of reorganization, the name of UAB Teltonika, the company that has been operating for more than 22 years, was changed to UAB Teltonika IoT Group. This company manages all four newly established companies in Lithuania and other offices located all over the world. The CEO of Teltonika IoT Group is Arvydas Paukštys, the founder of Teltonika.

A new device in telemedicine: the smart bracelet

On July 2, Teltonika Telemedic and Kaunas University of Technology signed a licensing-cooperation agreement. According to the propositions of the agreement, both sides become responsible for producing and commercializing a smart medical bracelet based on the algorithms created by Vilnius University and Kaunas University of Technology. This bracelet will continuously monitor atrial fibrillation and notify the user of a heart rhythm disorder. We seek to develop exclusive medical bracelets with extraordinary functions, attractive design, and the possibility of data transmission. The prototype will include a photoplethysmographic sensor for constant monitoring and an electrocardiographic sensor for occasional monitoring checks. The technology implemented in this device is deemed to become one of the most advanced on the market. The production of smart medical bracelets is projected for 2021.

Official recognition of our latest manufacturing solutions

The last quarter was exciting for us not only because of the Teltonika High Tech Hill project but also due to our new achievement in manufacturing. In September, Teltonika has won the Industry 4.0 Star 2020 awards in the category of large manufacturing companies. This contest seeks to encourage Lithuanian businesses to participate in the global Industry 4.0 revolution and implement smart innovative solutions in their activities. We demonstrated our latest and the most effective manufacturing solutions to the jury of the competition:

• Automated maintenance surface mounting plates;
• Automated assembly systems of two product families – 2 systems with 9 robots;
• PET printing replaced by laser engraving technology;
• Module stickers replaced by laser engraving;
• Automated formation of costs;
• Digitized price control tool.

The new trend: webinars

The goal to be closer to our clients and provide them substantial help during the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged our new trend. We have organized more than 100 webinars involving all Teltonika business niches. During the webinars, our specialists presented the products under the Teltonika brand. We are pleased that a number of our distinguished partners took part in our webinars as well.

Our records in digital communication

It’s not a secret that the greatest achievements of humankind are a direct reflection of crises. The world has changed beyond recognition almost overnight. We witnessed a digital education reform, when teachers exchanged their classroom boards for a web camera, and the launch of the 5G network in Europe, which is truly remarkable.

The global pandemic boosted digital communication for a lot of businesses. The Teltonika company group has also set a new record. We have sent more than 200 newsletters since the beginning of 2020, which created an opportunity for over 30 000 of our clients, partners, and other subscribed enthusiasts to receive our latest news in real time. Our news articles appeared to be one of the most effective ways to share information about our products. They were read more than 650 000 times this year!

Besides, we impressed our clients and partners by providing more than 100 use cases. Throughout 2020, the following use cases attracted the most attention, and thus, were chosen as our TOP3.

• Proximity Alert Solution for COVID-19
• Secure and Reliable Remote Office Connectivity
• Drivers’ Body Temperature Monitoring

The pandemic has also changed the use of social media platforms. During the first wave of coronavirus, the usage of such platforms as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube increased by over 30 percent. As a result, it encouraged our target audience to follow more than 20 of our social media accounts!

Teltonika | Networks surprised their clients with 101 new videos!
Teltonika | Telematics shared over 100 news posts on LinkedIn during the last half of this year!
Teltonika | SAS, with the help of their exciting videos, demonstrated that advanced technologies can be interesting for everybody!
Teltonika | EMS – astonished the mediaby welcoming the President of the Republic of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, at the production site!

Over 10 million IoT devices

When the whole world was living in uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Teltonika has achieved impressive results. In 22 years after the establishment of Teltonika, we finally reached a significant 10 million devices deployment milestone. This achievement would not be possible without effective and responsible teamwork, over 6 billion electronic components, and more than 2 million working hours. After celebrating this symbolic milestone, we have continued our work efficiently and launched two new products: TRB from Teltonika Networks and FMB003 from Teltonika Telematics. Approaching the end of this year, we are excited to have 13 million devices deployed!

Teltonika’s bestseller: FMB920

The third quarter of the year was a success for Teltonika Telematics. The millionth FMB920 GPS tracker was manufactured and deployed! The mass production of FMB920 started in 2016. Since then, it has been one of the most advance and the most sold Teltonika device of all time. Since the launch day, its popularity and value were unquestionable. It took markets in five continents by storm in just a few months, and the demand for it keeps growing ever since. It is an unmatched bestseller in many regions around the world due to its price-value ratio. From a technical point of view, FMB920 is designed for vehicle tracking in such applications as delivery transport, car rental, recovery of stolen vehicles, public safety services, taxis, insurance telematics, motorcycles, and more.

New usage possibilities of Teltonika Networks products

This year has brought us new achievements in technologies. We developed a new industrial cellular router RUTX12 with 4G LTE CAT 6 connection support. This router is faster than any other device of its kind in Teltonika Networks portfolio! Clients were eagerly waiting for this device, as it demonstrates the highest speed due to two simultaneously operational modems providing speeds up to 600 Mbps. The load balancing feature allows using multiple WAN sources to increase throughput and connection reliability. The support of dual SIM and instant automatic switching between operators ensure an uninterrupted connection even in case other network connections are disabled. Multiple ways of securing the undisturbed connection, a big number of interfaces, and plenty of advanced RutOS security features make this product irreplaceable in applications where losing connection is not an option.

The success of new devices

We have also launched our highly anticipated new RUTXR1 and Asset Tracker devices. RUTXR1 introduced by Teltonika Networks is the first network device with an exclusive array of different features that is suitable for server rooms as well as for different business purposes. This device supports not only our usual features, such as the Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi, dual SIM with automatic switching, and carrier aggregation, but also the SFP port for remote fiber-optic communication. This product combines the functionality of several devices used in internet infrastructure, which makes it outstanding. XR1 has already become a popular all-in-one choice in different business sectors where the highest reliability of the internet connection and the mobile network backup technology are crucial.

Asset Tracker, the valuable goods and equipment tracking device, presented by Teltonika SAS was highly demanded by our customers as well. This device functions as an increased security measure against theft and as a backup solution when the main tracking system is faulty. With the help of this device, our clients can be sure that even the most valuable construction equipment would be quickly found in case of theft with no losses.

The end of 2020 and our future plans

Nowadays the Teltonika company group already has 27 offices located in 18 countries. We have just reached the 1300 employees’ goal all over the world! It means that we have achieved a 30 percent company growth this year. Next year we seek not only to maintain the 30 percent growth but also to increase our productivity and manufacture up to 1 million IoT devices per month. In the next four years, we set an ambitious goal of reaching 3000 employees in Lithuania. Furthermore, in approximately four years, all our current employees and 2000 new ones will be welcomed in our new home, the Teltonika High Tech Hill building complex.

We sincerely THANK all our employees, clients, partners, and followers for a successful year!