WCA May 2017

Industry news

years of Swiss reliability and quality... produce an eccentricity tester for electrical cables. In 1974, Zumbach was granted a patent for the new inductive Ex-Test 7 device, which became the first major success in what was then the new field of in-line measuring equipment.

The product range – and the company – continues to grow

The optical diameter measuring devices became Zumbach’s most successful products. The analogue Odc types were created around 1975, and the absolute measuring Odac ® gauges from 1977. The Odac 24 was the first gauge with absolute measurement to be sold in large quantities. “Odac ® ” became a registered trademark; and more than 80,000 Odacs of all types and for a huge range of applications have been sold since then. In 1994, Bruno Zumbach handed the management of the group over to his son Rainer. In the following years the group expanded and founded further subsidiaries, amongst others in Asia. Besides these own Zumbach companies, additional representatives have since been contracted. Consequently, one of the objectives of Zumbach, the proximity to customers, could be strengthened to a maximum and local services have consistently been expanded over the last 20 years. Numerous market-driven and innovative developments have been realised, eg non-contact profile and shape measuring systems or rotating measuring units with the revolutionary, non-contact transmission of both signals and energy, as well as the use of modern technologies (eg linear sensor technology and many others). Thus, a further aim of the Zumbach group could be met: always offering the customer the best solution with the most ideal price-performance ratio. It was necessary to serve all the markets at the same time, so work began to find representative offices for the most important countries. Specialist knowledge and local service are essential for successful sales of these products, and only very few

❍ Zumbach Electronic AG today

trading companies could offer this expertise. As a result, sales and service offices and later registered companies were established from 1970 in many different countries. The first was in the USA in 1979, followed by the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, India, Taiwan and, in 2001, China. Over 20 sales engineers in Orpund and the foreign companies now ensure the success of the products on the global market. Expansion into the plastics industry The plastics industry is a large, growing market. Tubes and hoses of all types need to be tested for their diameters and wall thicknesses, giving rise to special devices using other technologies such as ultrasound etc. Profiles also became a relevant market segment and can be measured and monitored in real-time today with devices equipped with light-slit method and image processing capabilities. Expansion into the steel industry In the late 1980s, Zumbach also ventured into a completely new field: the steel industry. This concerned the measurement of huge, red-hot steel pipes for the oil and gas industry. They

were later joined by rods and wire rod that must be measured at speeds of up to 400km per hour. Although the established Odac measuring heads could be used, complex systems for cooling and mechanical protection needed to be developed. The first systems were sold in Italy, France and Spain. These steel systems were subjected to ongoing development and upgrades, and today are responsible for a good proportion of overall sales. Produce more, better, and at lower cost Zumbach systems, integrated into the manufacturing process, enable customers to increase output with lower material costs. They also reduce downtime, allow for safer operation of equipment and provide for flawless quality control. In addition, they allow for an immediate quality improvement in cable manufacture through tighter tolerances, better transmission capabilities, easier subsequent manufacture, and simple pairing of conductors, as typical examples.

Zumbach AG – Switzerland Website : www.zumbach.com

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Wire & Cable ASIA – May/June 2017