The Saurer Group announced that it is to establish a technology centre in Arbon, Switzerland. The research and development centre at the home of the Saurer textiles group will combine Saurer’s leading expertise in sensor technology and automation with the latest innovations of Industry 4.0.

 Saurer is currently advertising around 10 vacancies, and the first candidates have already been found. The Group believes it can create up to 40 jobs over the next years.

Anton Kehl, Chief Technology Officer of the Saurer Group, says: “Our return to the roots of the Saurer textiles group is inspired by the pioneering spirit of our founders. Here in Arbon, Franz Saurer developed the first hand-knitting machine in 1869, built the first automatic embroidery machine in 1912, and conquered the world with his modern trucks from 1905. We aim to plot our course in this spirit of energy and innovation once again.”

The technology centre

 The technology centre in Arbon will work closely with existing research and development departments of the Saurer Group. This joint approach will be guided by Saurer’s central development philosophy that is summarised in the formula “E3+I”, which stands for “Energy, Economics and Ergonomics plus Intelligence”.

 The formula symbolises Saurer’s efforts to manufacture machines with minimum energy consumption, maximum production efficiency and pioneering ergonomics. At the same time, it intelligently integrates all of the data gathered during production with a view to implementing self-optimising systems, preventive maintenance or intelligent quality control, for example.

 Industry 4.0 offer great opportunities for a group like Saurer

 Concluding, Anton Kehl says: “New developments in Industry 4.0 offer great opportunities for a group like Saurer. We aim to exploit these new opportunities, and to evaluate how they can be used to the advantage of our customers. Our vision is to become a smart industrial solutions and services provider, and the Saurer technology centre will undoubtedly make a valuable contribution to helping us achieve this.”