70 | ENGINEERING RICADO Group CONTROL TECHLTD www.controltechltd.nz 07 219-0661 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING Delivering customised control system solutions Industry Leaders in Local Government Three Waters and Horticultural Sector Flood Pumping Waste Water Water Treatment Storm Water Frost Protection & Irrigation Water Take Compliance System Integration Remote Monitoring & Control Automation All types of Pumping Applications SITE MAINTENANCE REMOTE MONITORING & CONTROL DESIGN & BUILD Proud to Partner with RICADO Bringing systems together RICADO’s web-based platform brings separate systems onto one screen, providing real-time information from equipment that may have been installed at different times by different contractors. T T Russell Fredric “Control Tech has the engineering and electrical expertise, and we bring the platform that connects the system, the data and the people using it. Together, we can deliver a solution without either business needing to do everything itself.” A Te Puke technology company is connecting legacy hardware, disparate systems and people to turn industrial data into intelligence for better decisions. RICADO’s web-based platform brings separate systems onto one screen, providing real-time information from equipment that may have been installed at different times by different contractors. Developed in-house and hardware agnostic, business development manager Phil Waylen says it can connect with existing systems rather than requiring them to be replaced. “We see connected intelligence as connecting systems, hardware and people so the data is there when someone needs to make a good decision.” RICADO’s model has developed through 17 years of organic growth and is now used in orchards, farms, post-harvest facilities, coolstores and local government infrastructure. The company has 14 staff, predominantly software and hardware developers, supported by three technical support staff providing 24hour cover. Bringing the systems together can extend beyond monitoring to control, allowing operators to make changes remotely rather than simply receive information. That is particularly useful for distributed infrastructure, where physical access can be time-consuming or impractical. Partnerships are another key part of their business model. RICADO often works alongside engineering companies, internal teams and contractors rather than leading projects itself; its role can be the connection between the designed system and the outcome. Whakatāne-based Control Tech is a long-standing example, with the two businesses working together for the last 17 years on customised control system solutions for the kiwifruit industry, including large-scale developments and modernisation of existing orchards. “Control Tech has the engineering and electrical expertise, and we bring the platform that connects the system, the data and the people using it. Together, we can deliver a solution without either business needing to do everything itself.” Coolstores are another area that the RICADO platform really shines. A recent project with kiwifruit packhouse Punchbowl demonstrates how that approach works in practice. Commissioned in February 2026, RICADO integrated with Punchbowl’s existing precooling system to provide real-time access to temperatures, pressures, compressor information, alarm states, defrost settings and equipment faults across its precooler tunnels. The system provides configurable alerts, historical trend data and a custom Precooler Report Dashboard. Operational reporting records each precooling event, including loading, cooling start, time-to-target and performance measures, while pallet barcode lookup provides historical traceability. “Punchbowl already had a functioning system, so the opportunity was to connect what they had and make the information much more accessible and useful for the people operating it.” The solution is relevant to other applications where freshly picked fruit has a narrow window in which to reach its required temperature. How quickly it gets there can influence its condition during the months it may spend in storage before export. RICADO’s approach has evolved from solving specific problems in the kiwifruit sector, with solutions often leading to applications elsewhere. Its ability to work with existing hardware means customers can retain existing equipment while gaining greater visibility and control through the platform. RICADO sees opportunities to apply the same knowledge to other perishable products and industries, with coolstores and precision irrigation particular areas of interest. “Being able to expand into complementary industries using the same technology and adapt it to that industry, that is definitely something for us to target in the future.”
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