eMitter

eMitter is the name of a smart way of pest control by German Futura GmbH. The family-owned business has rethought the use of spring traps in a professional environment. The eMitter technology connects the traps for mice and rats directly to the Internet of Things without the need for additional hardware.

The bait stations are connected via mobile radio using 1NCE SIM cards. As soon as an animal is caught in the trap, the respective station reports its status via e-mail or app. The Animal Protection Act obliges to regularly check all traps used - a usually laborious manual process.

With eMitter the time-consuming individual inspection is no longer necessary. Traps can be specifically searched, cleaned and reactivated. In addition, Futura supplies suitable reusable baits which are completely free of toxins.

The traps are therefore not only smart, but also sustainable, environmentally friendly and compliant with leading food industry standards such as IFS and AIB. The company mainly supplies customers from the food industry, supermarkets and the pharmaceutical industry in more than 50 countries worldwide.

Background

Pest control in professional environments, especially in the food industry, requires high standards. For example, the use of poison is an absolute no-go due to its environmental impact. However where no poison is used, mechanical traps must be installed. These traps have to meet strict animal welfare requirements. In plain language: The animals must be killed quickly and painlessly with the trap. At the same time, the operator must ensure that animals are removed from the traps immediately, also to comply with hygiene regulations.

Challenge

The regular inspection of mechanical rodent traps is required by law, but it costs time and money and ties up resources. Therefore, the traps must be checked daily and emptied, cleaned and reactivated to prevent the spread of pathogens. It is also important for the operator to know in which areas any hotspots are located, i.e. where a particularly large number of animals are present. This information can help to take further preventive measures against pest infestation. But even here, manual recording comes with high efforts.

1NCE Solution

For higher flexibility, each trap is equipped with a 1NCE IoT SIM card, or a 1NCE IoT eSIM permanently soldered to the board. The 1NCE IoT Lifetime Flat as an associated mobile phone tariff allows for carefree connectivity and can already be used in over 100 countries worldwide at no additional cost. The spring traps are set up without additional hardware and are ready for use without connection to a local network infrastructure and are ready for use. When triggered, the 1NCE SIM immediately sends its status to the operator via 2G, 3G, 4G or NB-IoT, depending on availability and preference, via email or eMitter app. The data can be viewed and analyzed via eMitter's monitoring portal.