In today's highly technical and digital age, it is inevitable that digitalization will also find its way into the technical sector. It is not only inevitable, but also a great opportunity to implement digital innovations. This is also the case with us in the engineering sector. In the last few months we have been looking for a solution to transfer a wide range of parameters from the ski jumping facilities scattered around the world into one digital solution. A system that enables remote maintenance and gives jumping hill operators valuable tools to monitor a wide variety of numbers, values and parameters.

The result is a platform in which every operator gets a user interface tailored to their needs. On this “dashboard”, as such a system is called in the digital world, various parameters can be read out and displayed in curve diagrams over a certain range of time periods. Values such as outside temperature, ice temperature, utilization of the cooling system as well as efficiency and default reports can be accessed online. This is an immense relief for the operators, as they always know exactly how efficiently the technology is currently working and whether any adaptations are required to ensure optimal jumping operation. Statistics about certain values can be created because they are constantly measured and therefore can be displayed in a practical curve diagram over a wide range of time periods.

The master dashboard, which is available only to us, displays the parameters of all jumping hills and thus enables us to react quickly and efficiently if certain values are incorrect or a default message appears. A win-win solution for our company as well as for all hill operators and a best practice example of how the latest technology is finding its way into sports facility construction!

The platform is currently only compatible with newer generation cooling systems, as these - in addition to having a much lower environmental impact and higher efficiency - also have the necessary technical equipment. The technology is currently installed in five ski jumping facilities. The next one will follow in April, the Fichtelbergschanze in my home town of Oberwiesenthal.

You shouldn't resist to constant development, but rather actively help to shape it. Then, as you can see, really cool and innovative things are possible!

Yours, Peter Riedel