Wenglor sensoric group develops innovative sensors, safety systems and machine vision products with intelligent interfaces and software for industry all over the world. Founded in 1983, wenglor is one of the world’s key high-tech providers for the automated industry. The solutions of the company enable the trends of Industry 4.0 as well as the Internet of Things, 3D technologies, robotics and artificial intelligence (AI). In doing so, they conserve resources and increase the quality and safety of the manufactured products.
The second-generation owner-managed family business is represented worldwide with 28 subsidiaries in 53 countries. In addition to the company headquarters in Tettnang, the group of companies with over 1,100 employees also develops and produces its multi-patented products in Munich, Berlin, Sibiu (Romania), Perth (Scotland), La Chevrolière (France) and Belgrade (Serbia).
Interview with Fabian Baur, Managing Partner at Wenglor Sensoric.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
Fabian Baur: The wenglor sensoric group develops smart sensor and image processing solutions for the automation industry worldwide. For example, wenglor products with a wide range of functional principles can be found in the automotive industry, in pharmaceutical, wood, electrical and packaging processes as well as in mechanical and plant engineering. They conserve resources and increase the quality and safety of manufactured products.
E.E: What’s the news about new products/services?
F.B: Our product portfolio includes sensors and machine vision. The following products have been successfully released recently:
Sensors
Where complex shapes are measured, surfaces and colors of objects vary, maximum precision in the micrometer range and temperature-stable measured values are required, the triangulation laser distance sensors from the P3 series unleash their unrivaled performance – thanks, among other things, to the unique TripleA technology. CMOS sensors can be used for various applications at distances of up to 1,000 mm. The P3 sensors detect even small differences in height with reproducibility of up to 0.8 µm using a highly accurate triangulation process.
- Inductive Ring Sensors
The inductive ring sensors enable precise and reliable detection of small metal parts in feed hoses. The correction factor 1 ensures reliable detection of all metal objects from a size of 2 mm. Thanks to the robust soft binder, the sensor can be fixed securely even in challenging environments with vibrations or compressed air.
- U2GT Full-Metal Ultrasonic Sensors Hygienic Design
The new all-metal ultrasonic sensors in a high-quality stainless steel housing convince with the highest robustness and hygienic design. The hygiene sensors are optimized for measurement and detection tasks and are used both in the hygiene sector and in the washdown area.
- Industrial RFID Reader
The new industrial RFID readers offer a quick and reliable identification solution at close range – even in challenging process environments thanks to a high degree of protection and temperature resistance. Thanks to an IO-Link interface, parameters can be changed easily and process data can be transmitted efficiently.
Machine Vision
- B60 Smart Camera & uniVision 3 Machine Vision Software
The B60 series smart cameras combine high-performance intelligent cameras for industrial image processing with the powerful uniVision software. In addition to the proven advantage of a smart camera, combining image capture and evaluation in one housing, the B60 boasts the best performance and modularity.
- MLZL weCat3D Sensors for Welding Systems and Brake Presses
Welding Systems: Fully automated welding places great demands on quality and precision. Consequently, the correct position of the respective joints must be reliably detected before the welding process is started in the robot cell. Welding systems are equipped with innovative weCat3D 2D/3D profile sensors for the purpose of weld seam tracking.
Brake Presses: Modern die presses offer a variety of tools to make bending processes faster, safer and more accurate. To ensure exact bending angles, precise monitoring is required throughout the entire bending process.
E.E: What are the ranges of products/services?
F.B: We work on existing industrial challenges in cooperation with our customers: Our products represent unprecedented solutions for real applications. Our product range includes sensors of various functional principles as well as machine vision products including software. When implementing any application requirement, the wenglor portfolio offers a wide range of all relevant products in the areas of machine vision and sensor technology. Here, the comprehensive expertise is impressive, allowing the right illumination technology, the necessary communication technology or other accessories to be put together depending on the requirements.
E.E: What is the state of the market where you are currently active?
F.B: We are among the world’s top 5 in the field of sensor technology and machine vision products. In general, we speak of 7+1 sectors in which our customers are located. These are recycling, logistics, wood industry, electronics industry, food industry, packaging industry, special machine construction and automotive industry.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
F.B: Market trends in the automation industry show an increased movement towards the integration of AI solutions in automation systems in order to increase efficiency, precision and flexibility. Machine learning through AI is also becoming increasingly important. wenglor is aware of these trends. With the acquisition of software developer deevio, we recently expanded our expertise in the fields of AI and data science.
E.E: What are the most innovative products/services marketed?
F.B: In the field of sensor technology, our inductive ring sensors set new standards in the reliable and precise detection of small metal parts within feed hoses. In addition to sensory precision, the ring sensors are particularly impressive thanks to their separable housing, which allows the sensor to be mounted and removed from the hose quickly and flexibly.
In the machine vision product area, the first-class performance of our B60 series takes industrial image processing to a new level. The efficient interaction of hardware and uniVision 3 software enables the realization of comprehensive and expandable solutions for demanding image processing applications. The seamless integration of HALCON into the powerful wenglor uniVision 3 software ecosystem enables intuitive parameterization and individual programming in one.
E.E: What estimations do you have for the beginning of 2024?
F.B: We work on existing industrial challenges in cooperation with our customers: Our products represent unprecedented innovative solutions for real applications. In doing so, it is central to us that we are at the cutting edge, always solution-oriented, customer-oriented and innovative.
However, social commitment and the topic of sustainability are also extremely important to us in 2024. Sustainability and environmental protection are two key factors that play a central role in our daily decisions, product developments and corporate management.