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Custom Software for Construction Equipment

We develop software that serves as the connecting element on construction sites and within vehicle fleets.

From in-cab terminal software to telematics platforms for digital construction sites: slaswhy develops customized software solutions for construction equipment manufacturers.

Custom Software Service Provider

Connecting the Construction Site with Software

We are the ConTech Crew at slashwhy: a team of embedded systems, cloud, UX, and AI experts with a clear focus on construction technology. We develop custom software for manufacturers of construction machinery—from excavators and cranes to road rollers. Our foundation: over ten years of experience with mobile machinery in the agricultural sector. Many of the challenges we’ve faced in that field resurface on the construction site—such as telematics, remote services, in-cab operation, and documentation requirements. We use AI where it truly helps in everyday operations: in analyzing machine data, in assistance features for operators, or in service situations when speed is of the essence.

What Our Customers Say

kim-nadine-meyer

Just as our company is tailored to individual needs and customer-focused in the field of agricultural machinery, we found slashwhy to be equally tailored to individual needs and user-centered in the field of software development.

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Kim-Nadine Meyer

PO & IT-Business Partner at GRIMME

henrieke-otte

In slashwhy, we have found a development partner on equal footing for a long-term and sustainable collaboration—one that embraces the same agile mindset in software development as we do.

henrieke-otte

Henrieke Otte

Product Owner at 365FarmNet

viktor-rempe

As a Höfelmeyer customer, I save money thanks to IRIS: by reducing raw material losses, by simplifying processes through digitization and saving time, and also because I receive ready-made reports from the software.

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Viktor Rempe

Technischer Leiter at Höfelmeyer

axel-schroder

Agile collaboration and a high degree of transparency in communication were key factors in the project's success.

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Axel Schröder

Director Advanced Engineering at CLAAS E-Systems

dennis-herzog-grimme

We've learned a lot from slashwhy, especially when it comes to automated testing, and we've applied that knowledge to other software projects as well.

dennis-herzog-grimme

Dennis Herzog

Teamleiter IT-Development at GRIMME

Typical Starting Points

Why Construction Equipment Manufacturers Approach Us

The construction industry is one of the least digitized sectors in Germany: With a score of 67.6 points on the digitization index, it falls well below the average of 112.5. For manufacturers, this means that while the technology has often been built into the machine for some time, its benefits do not reach the customer. In most cases, there is a specific catalyst for change. The most common ones are:

By 2027, Software Will Be Part of Machine Safety

Effective January 20, 2027, the EU Machinery Regulation will take effect, replacing the previous Machinery Directive. Software can then be considered a safety component in its own right, and connected construction machinery must be protected against tampering and cyberattacks. Added to this is the Cyber Resilience Act: The first reporting requirements take effect in September 2026, and starting in December 2027, manufacturers of connected products must provide security updates throughout the entire product lifecycle. For many, this means fundamentally revising software architecture, update processes, and technical documentation. Those who wait until shortly before the deadline will have to make costly retrofits under time pressure.

Machine data is not reaching the customer

Modern excavators, wheel loaders, and cranes have long been tracking engine load, fuel consumption, operating hours, and error codes. However, construction companies and rental firms operate mixed fleets from various manufacturers and want to view all machine data within their own fleet management systems. The EU Data Act takes this a step further: Users have a right to access their machines’ data, and new connected products must enable this access from the outset. If telematics remains a siloed solution within a company’s own portal, the potential for digital services is squandered, and the company’s own machines become less attractive to fleet operators.

Each model series has its own software version

Over the years, vehicle series, variants, and equipment options have proliferated, along with control units from different generations and software from suppliers. Embedded software is spread across many projects, and a common architecture is often lacking. Every new feature must be built and tested multiple times, and every software update becomes a risk for series production. Series maintenance then ties up so many development resources that there is hardly any room left for innovations such as driver assistance systems or digital services. This is where, for example, partially automated series maintenance can be useful.

Cabins that are too complex for new employees

Experienced machine operators are retiring, and on the construction site, permanent staff, temporary workers, and career changers are coming and going. At the same time, more and more functions are being integrated into the terminal: assistance systems, diagnostics, and settings. If the HMI has evolved over the years and requires a great deal of experience to use, training time increases and operating errors become more frequent. This reduces productivity, jeopardizes safety on the construction site, and ultimately results in a complaint to the dealer. An intuitive user interface thus becomes a key selling point.

Technician goes out on-site even though it could have been handled remotely

When a construction machine is idle at a remote job site, every hour costs money, and the schedule for the entire construction project is thrown off track. Often, it takes several hours just for the service technician to travel to the site—only to read a fault code once there. Yet many faults could be narrowed down via remote diagnostics, resolved through remote maintenance or over-the-air updates, or avoided entirely with predictive maintenance. Without remote services, service remains reactive, expensive, and difficult for dealers to plan.

Your machine, our software

Companies for Which We Develop Custom Software

Construction machinery is mobile equipment: robustly built, often in use for decades, and increasingly digitally connected. We develop customized software solutions for manufacturers of a wide variety of construction machinery and for companies that use it on construction sites. We support the following companies:

✓ Earthmoving

Excavators, wheel loaders, and dozers are the workhorses of every construction site and are often the first machines to be fully connected. Typical software applications include assistance systems for precise digging and grading, terminals for rotating operators, telematics for tracking operating hours and fuel consumption, and remote services for machines in continuous operation. As automation increases, semi-autonomous functions and autonomous construction machinery are also coming into focus.

✓ Crane & Lifting Technology

For tower cranes and mobile cranes, software is key to safety. Load moment limitation, working range limitation, and the monitoring of wind and load must function reliably and be clearly understandable to crane operators. In addition, there is remote maintenance for cranes at changing construction sites, digital inspection and maintenance records, and the networking of multiple cranes on a single construction site or specific site planning, e.g., for collision avoidance.

✓ Road Construction

Rollers, milling machines, and pavers work in coordination and within tight time frames, often at night or while traffic is flowing. Software helps coordinate the machines and make quality measurable: from comprehensive compaction monitoring and milling profiles to asphalt temperature monitoring. The collected data also serves as the basis for automated construction site documentation, which clients are increasingly demanding.

✓ Transport machines

Farm loaders, mini-excavators, and dump trucks are manufactured in large quantities, frequently rented out, and operated by many different people. For manufacturers, therefore, ease of use, robust and cost-effective electronics, and software that can be maintained across many variants are key. Telematics and tracking are becoming standard, especially for rental machines, while battery management and charging control are added features for electric compact machines.

✓ Mixed Fleets

In addition to manufacturers, we develop software for companies that use or rent construction equipment. Their challenge is managing mixed fleets from different manufacturers, each with its own telematics system. We consolidate this data into a cross-manufacturer fleet management system and develop software for construction site management, scheduling, and digital construction site documentation, tailored to your workflows.

Our Service Portfolio

UI & UX Design

Web & Mobile Development

IoT & Cloud Systems

Embedded Software

Desktop Development

AI Driven Solutions

Workshops & Trainings

Staying ahead in the field with modern telemetry

GRIMME GSC Middleware

As a leading manufacturer of agricultural machinery for potato, beet, and vegetable cultivation, GRIMME is also a pioneer in digital agricultural technology. However, the development of the GRIMME Smart Connect (GSC) telemetry unit faced recurring challenges: There was no stable, maintainable middle layer between the supplier’s hardware and the customer-facing applications.

View project
  • AgriTech,
  • Application Development,
  • Embedded Development,
  • IoT,
  • Agile Coaching

From A for “Assistance System” to Z for “Condition Monitoring”

Software for Smart Construction Machinery and Connected Construction Sites

From the control unit software in the machine to the terminal in the cab, to the cloud platform and AI solutions: We develop the software that connects the machine, the driver, and the fleet. As your development partner, we support you from the initial idea through to series production.

How We Support Construction Equipment Manufacturers with Custom Software

  • The terminal is the most important interface between humans and machines. It brings together assistance systems, diagnostics, and settings, and must function reliably even in the presence of vibration, sunlight, gloves, and time pressure—for rotating drivers without the need for extensive training.

    What we develop: Intuitive user interfaces for machine control that enable simple and efficient operation directly from the cab.

    • Operating concepts and HMIs, developed and tested in collaboration with operators during their daily work

    • Design systems for consistent operation across all model series

    • Terminal software, implemented directly on the target hardware by our embedded developers

    • CAN connection to the machine’s control units

    Your benefits: New operators become productive faster, operating errors and support requests decrease, and ease of use becomes a selling point for your machine.

  • Autonomous construction machinery is the goal of many manufacturers. The path to achieving this usually involves assistance systems that gradually reduce the workload on operators. Every new feature must fit within the machine’s safety concept and meet functional safety requirements.

    What we develop: Custom software that enables the autonomous operation of construction machinery and makes workflows more efficient and precise.

    • Assistance functions such as automatic leveling, work area limitation, and collision warning

    • Semi-autonomous work cycles for recurring tasks

    • Software that integrates sensor data, positioning, and machine control

    • Functions that fit into your machine’s safety concept

    Your benefits: Your machines operate with greater precision and efficiency, drivers’ workload is reduced, and you’re gradually building the technology the market will expect in the future.

  • There are many tasks on a construction site that are dangerous, monotonous, or require a high degree of precision. This is exactly where artificial intelligence can help. The key is to deploy AI specifically where it adds real value and to make it robust enough to withstand the demands of everyday life on a construction site.

    What we develop: Custom, AI-driven software solutions that automate complex work processes in the construction industry.

    • Image recognition for people and obstacles in the machine’s vicinity

    • Models for analyzing machine data and optimizing motion sequences

    • Prototypes we use to validate AI use cases together with you

    • Software that runs directly on the machine, even without a stable internet connection

    Your benefits: You automate dangerous and monotonous tasks and invest only in AI applications that have already proven themselves in testing.

  • If a machine is down at a remote construction site, every trip a service technician avoids makes saves time and money. This requires a secure connection from the machine to the service partner that also meets the requirements of the Cyber Resilience Act.

    What we’re developing: Software that enables remote diagnostics of construction machinery without requiring a service technician to travel to the site.

    • Remote diagnostics and remote maintenance

    • Over-the-air updates for control units and terminals

    • Condition monitoring for engines, hydraulics, and wear parts as the basis for predictive maintenance

    • Service apps and portals for dealers and technicians

    Your benefits: Fewer on-site service calls, shorter downtime for your customers, and a service that becomes predictable and can be marketed as a digital offering.

What Our Team Members Have to Say

peter-riedemann

The technical foundations are already in place in many construction machines. The key now is how these building blocks are brought together. Our experience in agricultural technology shows that those who think of data as a platform early on, set up a clean architecture, and consistently open interfaces lay the groundwork for scalable solutions. That is precisely what determines whether individual digital functions will evolve into a system that is sustainable in the long term.

peter-riedemann

Peter Riedemann

Business Manager AgriTech at slashwhy

alex-trienen-business-manager-slashwhy

Great user interfaces are the result of the synergy among all our UX disciplines. Through user research, we lay the foundation; through prototyping, we make ideas testable; and through UX testing, we gather real feedback. In UI design, we shape all of this into a form that users can understand and use.

alex-trienen-business-manager-slashwhy

Alexander Trienen

Senior UX Designer at slashwhy

dr-joachim-wilharm-slashwhy

At first, many people underestimate how much depends on a cloud connection like this. Security must be considered from the very beginning, the architecture must be able to scale, and at some point, the need for a dashboard or an app often arises. We can handle all of this—from the embedded software on the device to the UX & UI team—if, in the end, a user interface is needed, for example, for an app.

dr-joachim-wilharm-slashwhy

Dr. Joachim Wilharm

Managing Director at slashwhy

winona-biber-slashwhy-user-experience-design-hamburg-osnabrueck-square

In user interface design, we balance usability engineering with aesthetic design and accessibility. I view the latter as an integral part of the development process. This requires some effort and a willingness to learn, especially at the beginning, but it becomes easier over time and ultimately pays off with greater reach, higher revenue, and more satisfied users.

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Winona Biber

Senior UX Designer at slashwhy

Your Development Partner for Construction Equipment

Why Work with slashwhy?

Software for construction machinery must operate under harsh conditions, function reliably in mass production, and be maintained over many years. To achieve this, more than 250 developers, UX designers, and architects work at slashwhy in Osnabrück, Hamburg, Bielefeld, and Kiel.

Ten Years of Software for Mobile Work Machines

Construction machinery operates under conditions that software must withstand: dust, vibration, temperature fluctuations, dead zones, and changing operators. Added to this are numerous product lines, long-term product support, and service through dealer networks. We’re familiar with these requirements from projects with manufacturers of mobile work machines such as CLAAS and GRIMME. You don’t need to explain to us why a machine must function even without a network connection or why an update in the field must not pose a risk.

Developing Cab and Cloud Solutions with a Single Team

Software for construction machinery spans many levels: control units, terminals, telematics, cloud platforms, and apps. When multiple service providers work in parallel on these projects, knowledge and time are lost at every handoff. At our company, embedded developers, cloud architects, and UX designers work together as a single team—from the CAN bus to the dashboard. Our UX designers go where the machines are working and observe how operators, technicians, and dispatchers interact with them.

Experience with serial products and regulatory requirements

A prototype runs on one machine; production software runs on thousands. That’s why we develop using automated testing, continuous integration, and thorough documentation, ensuring that every version remains traceable and verifiable. At CLAAS, we continue to develop production products in parallel with new projects. We take functional safety, the Machinery Directive, and the Cyber Resilience Act into account from the very first architectural decision, and we work agilely within the approval processes that manufacturers follow when developing their machines.

Video-Podcast (German)

Digital Ecosystems in AgriTech

How does a machinery manufacturer become a company that supports its customers throughout their entire journey? On the Dings & Digital podcast, Janna Spanke from slashwhy talks with Guido Ringling from KRONE about what makes a digital ecosystem successful in agricultural technology and what other industries can learn from it.

Expert article (German)

What the Construction Industry Can Learn from Agricultural Technology

Many construction machines are already equipped with digital technology today. However, they only reach their full potential when data, software, and systems are designed to work together. A look at agricultural technology shows exactly how this can be achieved. We’re sharing five concrete lessons for the construction industry.

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We develop custom, user-centered software for:

Exchange Ideas Now

Do you already have a specific project idea and want to find out if slashwhy is the right development partner for you? Or are you just starting out on your journey and looking for the ideal starting point? Either way, our ConTech team—led by Janna Spanke and Peter Riedemann—looks forward to hearing from you and is happy to assist you with a no-obligation consultation.

janna-spanke
  • Janna Spanke
  • Business Manager
  • AgriTech & Food
Call me!
peter-riedemann
  • Peter Riedemann
  • Business Manager
  • AgriTech & Food
Call me!

Your First Step?

Here's How We'll Work Together

It usually starts with a specific task: a terminal that needs to be updated, a telematics system that needs to be made more open, or a deadline set by the Machinery Regulation. Before we write any code, we work together to clarify what the software needs to do and for whom.

1 | Get to Know Each Other (No Obligations)

After you reach out to slashwhy, Janna and Peter will assess your current situation during your initial conversation: what machines, what systems, what deadline, or what problem. You’ll receive an honest assessment of where software can make a difference and what approaches are realistic, along with examples of how other manufacturers have solved similar challenges. Your inquiry and the conversation are worthwhile even if they don’t immediately lead to a project.

2 | Optional: Start with UX or a workshop

Many of our clients start with a workshop or an initial phase of UX design. We clarify requirements, observe drivers and technicians at work, and develop initial user interface concepts or prototypes. This creates a solid foundation before larger budgets are committed. Once the requirements and concept are in place, we move directly into development.

3 | Developing Software Together

How we work together depends on your needs:

  • Complete product development from concept to series production

  • Individual components, such as a telematics interface or a new terminal

  • Mixed teams in which our experts reinforce your internal development efforts

  • Modernization of existing software and architecture reviews

  • Agile coaching for your development organization

  • Further development and maintenance during series production