Architecting an Edge-to-Cloud Connected Product Ecosystem for Commercial Dishwashers
Reinventing legacy dishwashers as intelligent, service-connected assets through edge intelligence, unified operations, and predictive maintenance at scale.
At a Glance
According to a report by Market Reports World, the commercial dishwasher market is expected to reach USD 3.95 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 3.4% from 2025 to 2033, driven by the shift toward digitally connected commercial kitchen operations, integrated IoT modules, remote diagnostics, and AI-driven maintenance alerts.
A U.S.-based nationwide leader operated a large installed base of commercial dishwashers across customer locations. These standalone, relay-based machines offered limited visibility into machine health, cycle performance, water consumption, and energy efficiency, keeping diagnostics and maintenance largely manual and field-dependent.
The client needed a retrofit-first approach to Modernize, Connect, Unify & Evolve its existing ecosystem by adding an IoT edge device without disrupting proven operations, connecting machines to the cloud, unifying equipment visibility, and creating a foundation for remote diagnostics, predictive maintenance, and Edge IoT intelligence.
Key Highlights
Legacy Relay-Based Dishwashing Machine Modernization
Production-Ready IoT Edge Device Retrofit Architecture
Embedded ESP32 System-on-Chip Edge Intelligence
Unified Edge-to-Cloud Communication & Data Services
BLE-Enabled Mobile Service & Diagnostics App for SSRs
Cloud-Native Operations & Maintenance Platform
Challenges
- Legacy relay-based machines operating as standalone equipment.
- Retrofitting without disrupting proven machine operations.
- Validating retrofit architecture compatibility across machines.
- Fragmented machine visibility across nationwide installed base.
- Reactive & field-dependent service operations across sites.
- Limited foundation for predictive and edge AI-led intelligence.
- Equipment-centric model constraining digital service innovation.
About Client
Our client has been a nationwide leader in the manufacturing and installation of commercial dishwashing machines, operating through 100+ branches and serving a loyal customer base across over 15+ industries.
Mfg.
Industry
Appliances
Domain
USA
Location
How We Helped?
Azilen developed a cloud-connected dishwashing ecosystem that transformed client’s standalone machines into connected products through a Modernize, Connect, Unify & Evolve model.
We modernized legacy relay-based dishwashers with a production-ready IoT edge device, connected them to a cloud ecosystem for unified machine-performance visibility across customer sites, and established a scalable foundation to evolve toward for remote diagnostics, Edge AI, and predictive intelligence.
1K+
Commercial Dishwashers Supported by a Scalable Retrofit Architecture
12GB+
of Telemetry per Dishwashing Machine Annually Processed in real time
$1M
five-year cost savings potential across 1K machines
The Solution
The Connected Product Ecosystem: Azilen engineered an end-to-end connected product ecosystem that transformed proven commercial dishwashers into intelligent, cloud-connected assets, without replacing the existing installed base. By integrating sensor-driven edge intelligence with secure cloud, data, and application layers.
(A) Retrofitting Intelligence at the Machine Layer
The transformation began with a production-ready IoT edge architecture engineered around existing machine operations, electrical systems, and wash-cycle logic.
→ Retrofit-First Machine Architecture: Introduced digital intelligence without replacing proven legacy equipment.
→ Multi-Parameter Sensor Acquisition: Captured temperature, water flow, pressure, chemical dosage, current, power, and cycle signals.
→ Embedded ESP32 SoC Intelligence: Enabled local signal processing, control execution, data logging, and machine connectivity.
→ Sensor-to-Actuator Control: Orchestrated pumps, valves, heaters, chemical dosing, and configurable wash-cycle operations.
→ Offline-Resilient Edge Operations: Preserved machine functionality and telemetry locally during connectivity interruptions.
→ Production-Ready Hardware Engineering: Combined the control board, actuator PCB, power module, firmware, and IP65-rated enclosure through iterative engineering validation.
(B) Modernize, Connect, Unify & Evolve:
Building on the retrofit foundation, the solution connected machines to the cloud, unified equipment data and operational experiences, and created a scalable pathway from visibility to remote diagnostics, predictive maintenance, and Edge AI.
Below diagram depicts the cloud connected dishwasher’s ecosystem system overview in a nutshell:
Commercial dishwashing manufacturers are moving from standalone equipment toward intelligent, connected products.
Modernizing hardware with edge intelligence and unifying machine data in the cloud enables remote diagnostics, predictive maintenance, and AI-led optimization.
The value lies in a connected product ecosystem that unifies the complete data value chain.
Swapnil Sharma – VP (Strategic Consulting)
(C) Cloud-Native Equipment Operations & Maintenance Platform:
The web platform created a unified view of connected equipment across branches, customer locations, and machine types.
Primary users: Equipment operations teams, maintenance teams, and platform administrators.
→ Device Configuration: Machine registration, edge-device mapping & configuration management.
→ Installed-Base Overview: Machine connectivity, health, utilization, and risk visibility across locations.
→ Machine Health & Diagnostics: Sensor trends, condition, active faults, & diagnostic observations.
→ Service & Maintenance Oversight: Previous service history, upcoming maintenance & alerts tracking.
→ Predictive Insights & Reporting: Machine-health indicators, reporting & maintenance forecasting.
(D) BLE-Enabled Mobile Service & Diagnostics App
The mobile experience connected field representatives directly with nearby machines for faster diagnostics, configuration, and service execution.
Primary users: Onsite Service & Sales Representatives and field-service teams.
→ BLE Device Discovery & Pairing: Securely connect with nearby IoT edge devices at customer sites.
→ Live Machine Diagnostics: Review temperature, pressure, flow, chemical, current, and cycle parameters.
→ Machine Configuration & Testing: Update settings, thresholds, & supported diagnostic operations.
→ Customer Workspace: Access customer service history, warranties, complaints, and equipment context.
→ Field-Service Reporting: Capture work performed, time, notes & service completion records.
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