Challenge: Focusing on the right skills at the right time/company structure
Solution: Hiring the expertise needed to move ahead
For many businesses, the difference between being a market player and a market leader is the ability to measure their asset utilization to help eliminate bottlenecks and downtime, find operational savings and improve worker productivity.
RtTech Software, located in Moncton, New Brunswick, is a software company that specifically operates within the industrial space – helping companies optimize their productivity to maximize their returns. But RtTech had to focus on getting the right staff in order to get there.
RtTech started with the idea that this group of engineers could build software that sat a layer above automation and could assist large industrial and manufacturing companies in optimizing their operations by helping them improve their energy management or increase asset optimization.
Up until 2015, RtTech focused on industrial companies with capital expenditure budgets which could afford to put in the infrastructure required to benefit from RtTech solutions. That's when the company began looking at ways to significantly reach more customers through the launch of software subscriptions delivered through the industrial Internet of Things or IOT. The IOT is the concept of basically connecting any device with an on and off switch to the Internet (and/or to each other). This includes everything from cellular phones, coffee makers, washing machines, headphones, lamps, wearable devices and almost anything else you can think of. This also applies to components of machines like those of companies RtTech helps with efficiency improvements.
"Today, we can deliver the applications we originally developed but to a much larger group of businesses," says RtTech President Keith Flynn. "We can provide solutions to any size business, from large mining industrial sites to small 'mom and pop' manufacturing sites. Today, we can reach all corners of the planet, and assist whether you have the infrastructure or not."
The transition, however, did not happen overnight. That's when RtTech needed to work with government institutions to help offset the costs of this corporate evolution. It needed advice and support to hire the right people and to be in the right places so that it could assess the market and make educated decisions about their future direction.
"This support has meant everything to our success, says Flynn. Perhaps the biggest boost was our ability to hire the team we wanted. We were able to grow the company without completely bootstrapping ourselves."
Today, RtTech provides solutions to over 13 different sectors operating in over 28 countries. It also offers the software in 12 different languages. Thanks to its tremendous growth, it now competes with some of the largest software solution providers in the world, including GE Digital, IBM and PTC. The multiple sectors and multiple country delivery has helped to recession-proof the business, ensuring RtTech is always working with at least a couple of sectors that are enjoying economic growth.
The future for RtTech is extremely exciting. By being able to build the right team, there seems no limit to its potential growth.
Partnerships focused on driving innovation and developing new technologies, such as the one with the Government of Canada, are key to RtTech’s continued growth. With support from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), the government is helping RtTech address skills gaps in a highly-specialized field. Most recently, an investment of over $11,000 helped RtTech hire a software quality assurance engineer.
RtTech Software is a prime example of how innovation and resourcefulness fuel Atlantic Canada’s economy, at home and beyond.
For more information on programs and services available to businesses in Atlantic Canada call 1- 800-561-7862 or go to canada.ca/acoa.
