The prize was awarded for the new "Continuous Improvement Program", which constantly improves the compressors through continuous further development in customer use. The machine manufacturer is the first company on the market with this solution. Traditional maintenance is now a thing of the past.

For 110 years, Boge has stood for pioneering compressed air solutions through intelligent engineering. In its anniversary year, the company laid the foundations for meeting the high demands placed on customized compressed air solutions even better with the opening of its Smart Factory. In the digitalized factory, people, components and machines communicate with each other to produce the components for the award-winning Boge HST high-speed turbo compressor in a customer-specific manner and with zero-defect quality. "The realization of this production line was a major challenge for us," says Wolf D. Meier-Scheuven, Managing Partner. "Thanks to the advanced production technology, we are now able to manufacture a wide range of variants with process reliability. This is innovative and represents our response to the continuously growing needs of our customers."

In 2017, Boge invested more than five percent of its turnover in research and development, around twice as much as the average company in the mechanical engineering sector. "We were able to increase turnover and market share, but had to accept calculable losses in earnings due to our investments in the future," explains Boge Managing Director Thorsten Meier. The compressed air expert invested around two million euros in the Smart Factory alone. "We have thus laid the foundations for further growth," says Meier.

Awards

The numerous awards Boge received in 2017 also show that the company is on the right track, with the business newspaper Handelsblatt and the consulting firm Capgemini naming the "Continuous Improvement Program" "Best Industrial Business Solution 4.0". The award was given for the forward-looking approach of focusing on the continuous technological development of machines in customer use on site, as well as the innovative financing model in which the customer and company share the actual energy costs saved after hardware or software updates. The association "Die Familienunternehmer" and the Bielefeld Banking Association also named Wolf D. Meier-Scheuven "Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 Ostwestfalen-Lippe" for his visionary company management and innovative product development, among other things. The compressed air specialist received its third award at the Hannover Messe for 60 years of participation as an exhibitor. cs