Command Alkon extends cloud batching to Gedis systems via German deal
Command Alkon, the Ohio-based software platform provider for the heavy building materials industry, has announced a partnership with German automation specialist Gedis GmbH & Co. KG that makes Gedis the first third-party batch system vendor to integrate with Command Alkon's cloud batching platform. Under the agreement, Gedis also becomes the exclusive value-added reseller and certified implementor of Batch in Command Cloud in Germany.
The commercial centrepiece of the deal is a technical integration connecting Gedis's IBS33W batch system for ready mix and precast concrete to Command Cloud. Until now, concrete producers wanting to adopt cloud batching faced a binary choice: migrate entirely to Command Alkon's own COMMANDbatch or Marcotte Batch hardware, or remain on-premise. The new integration allows Gedis customers to retain their existing batch panels, field wiring and I/O while gaining centralised management, real-time analytics and remote batching capabilities through Command Cloud.
What the integration delivers
Producers running IBS33W systems alongside Command Alkon's own hardware will be able to monitor and operate every plant from a single interface, manage materials, mix designs and user permissions centrally, and access ticket history and audit logs across the full network. The partnership also includes API access to Command Cloud master data through Command Alkon's developer portal, with certification and technical support delivered via the company's Learning Management System.
Todd Koch, SVP of Plant Automation Solutions at Command Alkon, said the partnership adds reach to a platform already in production with more than 100 producers across roughly 1,800 plants in nine countries. "Producers do not have to replace plant equipment that works in order to modernise how they operate," he said. "For a producer with a mixed plant ecosystem, it means one interface, one process, and one set of standards across every plant."
Wolfgang Schmack, owner of Gedis, added that the deal allows his company to extend the capabilities available to existing IBS33W customers, including access to Command Alkon's Batch AI product, which continuously adjusts gate opening times to hold individual batches to specification as plant conditions change. Batch AI availability on Gedis systems is described as a future release, with no timeline confirmed.
Market context and competitive significance
The heavy building materials vertical has historically lagged broader manufacturing in cloud adoption, largely because batching automation is safety-critical, capital-intensive and deeply embedded in plant operations. Vendors selling cloud control to concrete producers have typically required wholesale hardware replacement, a barrier that has slowed migration.
Command Alkon's Connected Partner Programme is designed to dissolve that barrier by offering API-level integration to certified third parties, turning the platform into something closer to an open ecosystem than a closed stack. This is a meaningful strategic shift. If more batch hardware vendors follow Gedis into the programme, Command Alkon strengthens its position as the de facto operating layer for the sector rather than a single-vendor solution competing for full-site deployments.
The broader enterprise software market has made a similar journey: platforms that opened APIs to complementary vendors (Salesforce with its AppExchange, SAP with its partner ecosystem) generally extended their total addressable market and deepened switching costs simultaneously. Command Alkon's approach mirrors that playbook in a niche but operationally dense vertical.
Gedis will handle sales, implementation and first- and second-tier support in Germany, with Command Alkon retaining platform engineering, third-tier support and certification responsibilities. The geographic exclusivity granted to Gedis signals that Command Alkon intends to build out its reseller network on a country-by-country basis, a structure that suits a sector where local engineering relationships carry significant weight with buyers.