I love this story. This is just absolutely great from an industrial Internet of Things perspective and it's a great example of how a business can shift and create new sources of revenue. So, there's a PDF of this and you can follow that link. This is about the Michelin Tire Company and selling truck tires. So, the historical business model for Michelin for years was manufacturing and sell tires to trucking companies and anyone that needs truck tire. So, all those individual trucking companies, they had to buy ahead and keep in stock tires for their trucking fleets. That was a cost to them. They have this inventory of tires to have on hand. So, when one of their trucks needs a tire replacement, they have the resources on hand. They carry that cost on their books because they have them, somewhere at present, to be able to get new truck tires put on vehicles. Tires wear out. So, this is times going from left to right here. So, what they did was, he took inexpensive sensors and enabled some added services. So, they embedded some sensors in the tires and on the truck bodies. Now, they manufacture and sell tires plus they offered feedback on tire wear and driving habits to reduce fuel usage. So, this took off and was big for them. Then, they took it one step further and they said, "We can save our customers even more money if we just offers tires as a service." That's what they did. So, the entire business model shifted from this historical manufacturer, is when we manufacture a product, put it in the distribution channels so that they can have revenue, that was it. Now, they're offering an entire business model, which is a service. So, they offer tires as a service, customers don't have to hold and carry that inventory., so they've got more free cash available to use and deploy in other means that run their business and lowers their costs. They continued to offer this feedback on tire wear driving habits fuel consumption and the whole ecosystem became a services-based business. This isn't an Industrial Internet of Things but that shift in their business paradigm enabled them to move into new products and new services. This is a short video that highlights. If you're like most fleet owners, you're always on the lookout for ways to increase efficiency and lower your overall costs. Michelin is right there with you, always developing new ways to give your fleet that extra edge. No one has invested in fuel solutions like Michelin. You've seen that commitment with our wide based single Michelin X1 Tire range that was a huge innovation in the industry. Now, we're offering another industry leading fuel-saving innovation, the new Michelin aerodynamic solutions. This easily installed kit is designed to reduce the wake by controlling the airflow at the back of the trailer. The technology behind the kit makes it easy to use and easier to manage. The energy guard kit includes a resilient trailer skirt, aerodynamic mud flaps, trailer end fairings, and a wake reducer. Sliding brackets reduce load on skirt panels to take full advantage of tough skirt materials. The trailer skirt is designed to be the most durable on the market. The brackets flex and give to enable more coverage and stiffness to control airflow, while remaining incredibly tough. They're able to bend over objects and click right back into place and form. This revolutionary technology is unlike anything else out there, and helps keep maintenance and replacement costs down. The patented design of the aerodynamic mud flaps works to reduce vehicle drag and road spray. The trailer end fairings unique profile is designed to work with the trailer skirt, and then turn airflow around the back of the trailer, reducing drag even more. The wake reducer is another Michelin innovation that is unique to the energy guard kit. It's similar to a spoiler, increasing the pressure on the back of the trailer and reducing drag even more. It reduces the size and effect of the primary recirculation zone behind the trailer. This is a full trailer kits solution that allows you to maximize fuel efficiency with minimal maintenance costs. We know what you're thinking, what kind of fuel savings are we talking about? This durable lightweight outfit delivers an impressive 7.4 percent savings at 65 miles per hour. But what makes the energy guard kit so unique from anything out there is that it's an integrated system. So, all the elements are designed to work seamlessly together to deliver proven fuel savings. Each piece is crafted to complement the others, which means, no guesswork on your part. Unlike competitor components, the energy guard kit requires no driver interaction at all. Once installed, it's always working, whereas competitor tails frequently require the driver to get out and deploy or collapse them. The installation will not interfere with door operations, making it convenient and efficient for drivers. The energy guard kit also requires no maintenance. Once. So, you get the idea. If they hadn't started down the installing sensors and offering feedback to fleet operators, truck owners insights into how they can change their driving habits to reduce fuel efficiency, they never would have probably got to this point of manufacturing this aerodynamic kit for truck trailers as a way to do and perform additional or yield, realize additional reduction in fuel usage. So, they were able to leverage what they did. Their shift in service, again, to create another revenue stream for them. I think it's very interesting, I mean, 20 years ago, people at [inaudible] asked Michelin, "Are you going to get an aerodynamic panels?" They would have probably said, "No, that's crazy where a tire company. We don't do stuff like that." But this is the only ballgame now.
