ifm group of companies

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ifm group of companies

logo
legal form Foundation & Co. KG
founding 1969
Seat Essen , Germany
management
  • Martin Buck
  • Michael Marhofer
Number of employees 7300
sales EUR 943 million (2018)
Branch Automation technology
Website ifm.com

The ifm group of companies (ifm) , headquartered in Essen, is a manufacturer and distributor of automation systems and components for industrial companies.

history

Olgastraße 2 in Tettnang until 1973 production and development site on initially 50 m² (later 140 m²)

In 1967 Robert Buck founded the engineering office for measurement technology and automation for the development of sensors and controls. At this time, the collaboration between Robert Buck, Gerd Marhofer and Bernd Rüsing in the engineering association for measurement technology (ifm) began. At the suggestion of Gerd Marhofer, Robert Buck developed an inductive proximity switch in 2-wire alternating voltage, which, under the later brand name efector, formed the basis for the establishment of today's ifm group of companies on October 29, 1969 as ifm electronic geräte gmbh + co kg , based in Essen educated. Robert Buck led the production and development of the company in Tettnang on Lake Constance . Gerd Marhofer and Bernd Rüsing headed sales and administration in Essen. Bernd Rüsing resigned as managing director in 1971.

Production in Tettnang-Bechlingen 1976

At the Interkama trade fair in Düsseldorf in October 1971 there was a sensational eavesdropping attempt. Conversations at the ifm booth were overheard through a bug.

Main office in Essener Teichstraße from 1975 to 2009

In 1972, three years after it was founded, ifm generated sales of 2.5 million DM with 36 employees . In 1973 the company relocated its production and development facilities and rented an area of ​​around 550 square meters in Wasserburg on Lake Constance . In the same year, the company invented the first electronic speed monitor. In 1974 ifm founds the first independent sales companies in Bavaria , Baden-Württemberg and Lower Saxony . On January 1, 1975, the company moved its headquarters in Essen to Teichstrasse 4, where it remained until the move at the end of 2009. In 1976 the first sales companies outside Germany were established in France and Japan. In the same year the company moved with its production and development back to Tettnang-Bechlingen and achieved a turnover of more than 10 million DM for the first time. From 1977 the company traded as ifm electronic gmbh . In 1978 ifm bought the current production site in Tettnang-Bechlingen with around 52,000 square meters and 13,000 square meters of built-up space to ensure long-term planning security and options for expansion.

1980s

Assembled flexible circuits

From 1980 ifm began manufacturing optical sensors under the name opto-efector . In the same year, the production of flexible circuits started with film technology . In 1982 Bernhard von Spiczak appointed Robert Buck and Gerd Marhofer to the management. In 1983, the sale of programmable logic controllers began in the new control technology product area. A year later ifm introduced electronic flow monitors under the product area of ​​fluid sensors. In 1985 ifm took over the Swedish company SSE, which had been manufacturing products for ifm since the 1970s. The first in-house development in the field of control technology under the brand name ecomat 100 took place in 1986. In November 1988 production began in Le Bourget-du-Lac in France .

1990 to 2009

In 1991 ifm founded the telephone marketing division and started sales in East Germany with its own sales company. In 1993 ifm was involved in the development and introduction of the AS-Interface fieldbus standard . The company opened its first locations in Eastern Europe with branches in the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993. A company in Malaysia and a sales office in India followed in 1994. In 1996 ifm began to build up its production at the previous US sales location in Exton , in the US state of Pennsylvania . The company's central warehouse moved from Bochum-Wattenscheid to Essen-Steele in 1997 . In 1998 the company introduced the first products in the field of security technology. In the same year ifm founded companies in Australia and Austria and the development and production of optical sensors moved from Tettnang to Meckenbeuren . At the end of the 1990s, a new production site opened in Wasserburg.

In July 2000 a new building was inaugurated at the Kressbronn location on Lake Constance . The founders Robert Buck and Gerd Marhofer handed over management of the company to their sons Martin Buck and Michael Marhofer in 2001. In 2003 ifm founded ifm electronic gmbh Vertrieb Deutschland , which combined all previously legally independent German sales units. In the same year, the step-by-step takeover of the Rosenheim company i-for-T and with it the establishment of the vibration sensors division began. From 2003 to 2005 ifm founded new companies and branches in Canada , Mexico , the Netherlands , Poland , Portugal , Russia , Turkey and Hungary . In 2005 the managing director Bernhard von Spiczak retired. In 2006 ifm brought the IO-Link communication system to life together with thirteen other companies . After 30 years, the company headquarters in Essen moved from Teichstrasse to the completely refurbished and modernized Glückaufhaus in 2009 .

Expansion since 2010

Angela Merkel and Barack Obama are testing the pmdtechnologies 3D camera at the 2016 Hannover Messe

In 2010 ifm founded a development site in India. This was followed by a production and development center in Singapore in 2011 as well as production facilities in Poland and an expansion of production in the USA in 2012. In the years from 2011 to 2015 ifm also invested in the expansion of the German locations in Kressbronn am Bodensee, Wasserburg as well as at the three locations in Tettnang (Bürgermoos, Bechlingen, Waldesch). In 2012 ifm took over the company Handke Industrie Software , which was then renamed ifm datalink. In 2013 ifm took over the Siegen-based developer of 3D technologies, pmdtechnologies , with 55 employees, in which it had been involved since 2005. In the same year the ifm foundation & co. kg was founded, which in 2014 replaced the previous parent company ifm electronic gmbh at the top of the group. In order to enlarge the storage area and for faster delivery, the ifm logistics center moved from the Steele district of Essen to a new building in Altenessen in 2015 . After the merger of the software developer GIB and the developer for IT infrastructure QOSIT to form TiSC AG , ifm took over a majority stake in TiSC AG in 2016 . In 2017, the company announced that it would combine the locations of its Siegen subsidiaries pmdtechnologies and TiSC AG under one roof. The Summit software and technology center with around 12,000 square meters of business space was completed in June 2019 .

Companies

Branches and commercial agencies of the ifm group of companies

ifm has over 6500 employees in more than 70 countries worldwide (as of 2018). At the top of the group is the ifm foundation & co. kg . This includes five intermediate companies to which the operating subsidiaries of the corporate group are assigned. The head office, sales and logistics center are located in Essen . The company has 10 production and development locations, around 50 trading branches and more than 60 trading partners worldwide. The main development location is Tettnang (Bechlingen). The company operates six production sites in Germany, three of them in Tettnang, two in Kressbronn and one in Wasserburg on Lake Constance. Since January 1st, 2014, all companies of the ifm group of companies have been part of the ifm stiftung & co. kg consolidated .

Products

The group of companies develops, produces and sells sensors , controls and systems for industrial automation. In addition to position and process sensors, the product range includes sensors for motion control and safety technology . In addition, products for industrial image processing and communication as well as identification systems, systems for mobile work machines, systems for condition monitoring of machines and software. With the majority stake in TiSC AG and its subsidiaries GIB and QOSIT, ifm is also increasingly relying on the development of Industry 4.0 solutions .

social commitment

Among other things, ifm has been participating in Girls' Day at various of its German locations since 2006 . Since 2010 ifm has been involved in research together with the University of Ravensburg-Weingarten via an endowed professorship . This is set up over a period of ten years. With the prover bike 4.0 project launched in 2016, the ifm group also supports social institutions in the Lake Constance region. One euro is donated for every 10 kilometers that an employee cycles to work in a year.

Awards

ifm received design awards for several of its products. These include the Red Dot Design Award in the field of Product Design (signal light DV1500) and the iF Design Award (Threshold Display DP2200) in 2018. In previous years, the capacitive sensor KI6000 and the vortex inline flow sensor with the German Design Award 2017 and the PN pressure sensor received the Red Dot Design Award and the iF Design Award in 2015.

In 2020 ifm was recognized by Focus magazine as the best employer in the electrical / electronics sector. In 2017 ifm took first place in the SME ranking of the German economy . Managing director Michael Marhofer was chosen as EY Entrepreneur Of The Year in the category of capital goods industry in 2013. In 2012, the company was recognized as a hidden champion at the n-tv Mittelstandspreis in the generation change category.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c ifm foundation & co. kg: consolidated financial statements of the ifm foundation & co. kg for the 2018 financial year. October 28, 2019, accessed on October 28, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Worth knowing. In: Ostthüringer Zeitung. January 3, 2018, accessed August 15, 2018 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h Gisbert Hoffmann: From silk to sensor. (= Förderkreis Heimatkunde Tettnang , Volume 7). Tettnang 2006. ISBN 978-3-88812-207-1 , pp. 183-194.
  4. ^ "Ideal playground for industrial spies ." In: Der Spiegel , 13/1972 of March 20, 1972. Accessed on September 17, 2018.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l ifm group of companies: a chronicle. November 1, 2017, accessed August 23, 2018 .
  6. ↑ a b c Florian Langenscheidt, Peter May (Ed.): From the best family . GABAL, 2011, ISBN 978-3-86936-254-0 .
  7. ↑ Inge Hübner: It's all in the mix. In: openautomation.de. November 12, 2014, accessed August 15, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Angelika Banzhaf: Robert Buck is dead: "ifm was his life's work". In: Schwäbische Zeitung of November 16, 2016. Accessed on September 17, 2018.
  9. ↑ Excerpt from the commercial register ifm electronic gmbh Sales Germany. In: Genios. Retrieved August 15, 2018 .
  10. ↑ José Pinto: Sensors learn to speak . In: Hessian Lower Saxony General . April 22, 2017, p. 5 .
  11. ↑ Gerd Heidecke: More interest since moving to the Glückaufhaus. In: The West. March 14, 2012, accessed August 15, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Roland Weiss: ifm is investing a large part of the 90 million on site. (No longer available online.) In: Schwäbische Zeitung. September 7, 2012, formerly in the original ; accessed on August 15, 2018 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.schwaebische.de  
  13. ↑ IFM: Handke has been trading as IFM Datalink since August 1st. In: openautomation.de. August 15, 2012, accessed August 15, 2018 .
  14. ↑ ifm Electronic takes over microelectronics manufacturer pmdtechnologies. In: Pharma + Food. May 28, 2013, accessed August 15, 2018 .
  15. ↑ a b consolidated financial statements for the 2016 financial year. Ifm stiftung & co. kg, November 13, 2017, accessed August 15, 2018 .
  16. ↑ Ifm Group moves into new warehouse on Bamlerstrasse. In: The West. December 22, 2015, accessed August 15, 2018 .
  17. ↑ a b G.IB, QOSIT and Ifm: Partnership for Industry 4.0 solutions. In: openautomation.de. February 8, 2016, accessed August 15, 2018 .
  18. ↑ Flemming Krause: Summit: Largest technology center in South Westphalia in Siegen. In: Westfalen Post. October 20, 2017. Retrieved August 15, 2018 .
  19. ↑ Karl-Hermann Schlabach: "We will deliver results". Siegener Zeitung, June 7, 2019, accessed on September 9, 2019 .
  20. ↑ ifm group of companies: sales locations. In: website of the ifm group of companies. Retrieved August 16, 2018 .
  21. ↑ ifm group of companies: Products. Retrieved August 23, 2018 .
  22. ↑ Girls' Day: Technology you can touch. In: Schwäbische Zeitung. April 28, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2018 .
  23. ↑ ifm group of companies: Girls' Day 2012 - technology you can touch. In: press box. April 27, 2012, accessed August 16, 2018 .
  24. ↑ Sariana Kunze: First endowed professorship at the University of Ravensburg-Weingarten. In: electrical engineering. July 2, 2009, accessed August 16, 2018 .
  25. ↑ Ifm donates over 6,000 euros. In: Schwäbische Zeitung. December 15, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2018 .
  26. ↑ ifm prover donates 7,000 euros to the children's hospice. In: Schwäbische Zeitung. December 21, 2016, accessed August 16, 2018 .
  27. ↑ Career #Signaluchte is awarded the #RedDotAward 2018. In: induux the industry platform. August 9, 2018, accessed August 16, 2018 .
  28. ↑ ifm electronic. In: iF World Design Guide. Retrieved on August 16, 2018 .
  29. ↑ ifm group of companies: Excellent product design. In: website of the ifm group of companies. February 1, 2017, accessed August 16, 2018 .
  30. ↑ IFM: Pressure sensor PN wins "iF" and Red Dot Design Award. In: openautomation.de. April 1, 2015, accessed August 16, 2018 .
  31. ↑ Focus Award: The best employers in Germany 2020. February 18, 2020, accessed on June 4, 2020 (German).
  32. ↑ From two-man business to the largest medium-sized company in Germany. In: P&A perspective process industry. Web magazine from industr.com, August 8, 2017, accessed on August 16, 2018 .
  33. ↑ Excellent entrepreneurs. In: Manager Magazin. September 20, 2013, accessed August 16, 2018 .
  34. ↑ Otto Bock is "Hidden Champion". In: website of n-tv. May 24, 2012, accessed August 16, 2018 .
  35. ↑ ifm foundation & co. kg: consolidated financial statements of the ifm foundation & co. kg for the 2017 financial year. October 31, 2018, accessed on April 24, 2019 .