In the beginning there were bicycles, sewing machines and precision mechanics, today it's all about the Industrial Internet of Things: What has remained the same at Balluff over a hundred years? Where is the continuity behind technical innovation and disruption?

The answer to your question is in our claim - innovating automation. What has always characterized Balluff is the drive to meet new technologies with openness and to develop meaningful solutions for our customers. Our entry into sensor technology in the 1950s was already characterized by the courage to penetrate a new, previously uncovered business field. At that time, the machine tool manufacturer Heller was looking for a production partner for electromechanical control elements. So it was that Balluff began production of the first cam switch in Neuhausen in 1956. Up to this point, there were no electromechanical switching devices for electrical controls that worked under the harsh conditions of a machine tool. Over the past decades, we have proven time and time again that we rely on the right technologies at the right time: With the inductive proximity switches at the end of the 1960s, the RFID systems in the 1980s and magnetostrictive displacement transducers and magnetically coded displacement measuring systems in the early 2000s. The introduction of IO-Link as the first standardized digital interface at field level marked our entry into the Industrial Internet of Things in 2006. Intelligent camera systems expanded our identification expertise in 2016. Since 2017, we have been increasingly driving forward digitalization solutions. These technological milestones were preceded by smart and courageous decisions - then as now.

What do family businesses do differently and perhaps better?

Balluff is a global company. We have locations and sales offices in almost 70 countries. Nevertheless, a familiar and trusting relationship with one another and short decision-making channels still play a major role. As a family business, we are more financially independent. We always make business decisions with a view to sustainable growth and thus secure the long-term future of Balluff. Just as we as managing directors make decisions in the interests of the company as a whole, we also trust our employees to act independently in the interests of the company. This special relationship of trust and responsibility characterizes us as a family business.

Today, in 2021, the topic of networking is central to Balluff. Which technologies are currently driving development here and what is Balluff contributing to this?

Our domain is capturing, transporting and processing data. We see great potential in making data even more accessible for our customers. That is why we want to further expand our portfolio of networking solutions. This also includes data pre-processing. We also want to develop even more flexible solutions that help to generate data that was previously difficult or costly to collect. Wireless technologies are the key to unleashing industrial communication. That is why we have been working intensively on an IO-Link wireless standard in recent years and are delighted to be able to add an important component to our portfolio for contactless data transmission this year with IO-Link Wireless. The introduction of 5G will further boost this area.

Software is another important component of good automation solutions. Many products can no longer do without software. This area is also becoming increasingly important for us: we now have more than 100 software experts working for us. Our aim is to keep the installation, parameterization and updating costs as low as possible by providing the right software for our products.

What role do you see for people in the digital factory? How can the interface be optimally designed?

Our products ensure that cooperation between man and machine in production can become ever closer and more flexible without compromising safety. The data generated by our solutions creates transparency across all processes and thus the basis for smart decisions by the people who control the systems and processes.

Global supply chains have come under considerable pressure in the last two years. There is a shortage of raw materials, components and skilled workers. What contribution can digitalization make to solving these problems?

In the short term, digitalization can hardly help here. We are currently observing worldwide what happens when an increasing renationalization of global supply chains meets a rapid increase in demand. However, the markets are generally good at balancing out even such strong fluctuations. In the long term, consistent digitalization could help to respond more flexibly to short-term shocks. However, we believe the real problem lies in the scarcity and finite nature of raw materials and the lack of skilled workers. In Europe, the working-age population peaked back in 2010. Countries such as China will only really feel the effects of demographic change in the coming decades. We see the end-to-end digitalization of industrial production processes as the key to maintaining our prosperity despite demographic change. Digitalization allows us to reduce waste and eliminate inefficiencies.

Last question: Balluff launched a major new building for its birthday in August. Where will the journey in this building take you over the next few decades?

In the field of automation technology, we are operating in an absolute growth market with great potential. Hardware and software are growing even closer together. This is also changing the way we work together. The corona pandemic has already given us a boost. We are now incorporating the experience we have gained into the construction of the new Balluff Campus. The new building offers us the opportunity to combine the best of both worlds - as a catalyst for faster, more agile and hybrid collaboration.