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Wire & Cable ASIA – May/June 2017
Industrynews
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
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:
❍ Zumbach Electronic AG today