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United States | english

The generational change at Pilz

Renate Pilz and the automation system PSS 4000

At the end of 2017, Renate Pilz is leaving her active role in the Pilz Management Board. She hands over the management of the company to her two children, Susanne Kunschert and Thomas Pilz, with whom she has been leading the company for ten years. As such, Pilz remains a family business.

Renate Pilz has had a decisive influence on the company, promoting many product innovations and the internationalisation of the company. For her it was a passion to continue the company after the early death of her husband, the then Managing Director Peter Pilz, and to continue in the spirit he intended. The vision to make machines safe worldwide originated from him. From the very start, Pilz has set standards. Our products and solutions have become established as a brand in safe automation technology.

Under the management of Renate Pilz, the company expanded worldwide. The Swabian SME with 200 employees has become a company with over 2,000 employees worldwide. Renate Pilz developed the company with a great deal of dedication and passion. An example of this is the development of the first programmable safety controller: an innovative and courageous path, where Pilz made industrial history. Together with her team she initiated important standards and directives, to achieve a globally uniform view of plant safety.

From 2018, Susanne Kunschert and Thomas Pilz will take the company forward – based on existing company values and the jointly developed strategy. Some of the issues they will promote in future are the progressive digitalisation of industry and robotics at Pilz.

Pilz Management Board

Pilz Management Board

Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow: Pilz in transition

Commitment and values are deeply engrained in Pilz's business culture because: Values create future. Take a little time to find out more about the value-based business management and the remarkable history of Pilz!

 

Figures, data, facts: Pilz in profile

What are the products and solutions that Pilz can offer for complete automation? How important to us is the issue of research and development? Learn more about what distinguishes Pilz!

Company profile

Press releases

The generational change in the press
Read how the press reported on the change at our company!

How an idea conquered the world

1948 – 1959

The early years

In 1948, Hermann Pilz founded a glass-blowing business in Esslingen. The company initially concentrated mainly on the manufacture of glass apparatus for medical technology and on mercury relays for industrial applications. These relays were the starting point for further development towards industrial relays. Even then his son Peter Pilz was already involved in the company. Thanks to his pioneering spirit, Peter Pilz was instrumental in the company’s transformation from glass apparatus manufacturing to electronics.

1960 – 1969

Inventive genius inspires development

The 60s were characterised by progressive miniaturisation in the electronics sector. At that time, product development focused on relays and control systems – above all timer relays. Pilz became the market leader with these products. To meet high customer demand, it steadily recruited more people to work at its Nellingen location. At the end of the 1960s Peter Pilz took the helm at the company and spearheaded internationalisation with three newly established subsidiaries (Austria, France and Switzerland).

1970 – 1979

Pilz relays conquer the market

Expansion continued throughout the 1970s. As well as electronic control and monitoring devices, Pilz made programmable logic controllers – a product area that proved a huge success for the company. Pilz also redefined the benchmark in the standardisation of electronic components. Together with major industries, Pilz developed a standard with the serial mounting dimension of 35 mm that was ultimately accepted as the standard. Pilz thus became the first industrial electronic equipment manufacturer that was able to market DIN electronic relays.

1980 – 1989

Pilz becomes market leader

In 1987, Pilz developed the “Pilz E-STOP relay PNOZ”, which was a pioneering product for both the company and the industry sector, and which is now renowned the world over. Today PNOZ is more than just a product name. Ever since its development, PNOZ has been a benchmark for safety-related relays in mechanical and plant engineering. Pilz was the first to supply such a product range on the world market and became European market leader within just a few years. 1987 saw the establishment of the fourth subsidiary Pilz UK, which has since served the British market.

1990 – 1999

Pilz extends its role as a global player

Many international branches were founded in the 1990s. Pilz recognised early on that the world market is crucial to a successful future. In 1992 Pilz moved into its production and administration building at the current headquarters in Ostfildern. The adoption of cutting-edge production technologies coincided with the move. With its expertise in the areas of programmable logic controllers and safety technology, Pilz accomplished a further advance in innovation in 1994: the first programmable safety controller PSS 3000.

2000 – 2009

From safety technology to automation

The new millennium heralded in an innovative decade for Pilz. A large number of new products were launched on the market. Most notably the revolutionary SafetyEYE, the first safe camera system for 3D zone monitoring, and the automation system PSS 4000, one system for the entire automation technology. The Peter Pilz Development Centre was built at the Ostfildern site. This increased the production area at Pilz by 50 percent. Software development started at Cork, in Ireland.

2010 – 2017

Pilz places the spotlight on digitalisation

The present decade has placed the focus on digitalisation. For example, Pilz showcased its “own” Smart Factory at the Hannover Messe for the first time. Internationalisation has continued, too: new subsidiaries have been established, including in India and Taiwan. The first production facility also opened in China, at the Jintan site. The new Peter Pilz Production and Logistics Centre was inaugurated at the headquarters. 2017 saw a generational change: Mrs Pilz is handing over the executive management to her children Susanne Kunschert and Thomas Pilz.

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Combining safety and automation: The Pilz brand

The spirit of safety

Our pursuit of safety forms the basis of our daily thoughts and actions. Our vision, “The Spirit of Safety”, has made us one of the leading automation technology suppliers. We use our automation solutions to create safety - for human, machine and the environment.

Find out more about what motivates and inspires us every day!

Our philosophy

Top developments: from mercury relays to visualisation software

1964

One of the first relays – mercury timer relay

The mercury switch was the starting point and basis for the first electronic control device, the mercury timer relay.

1968

First two-hand control relay - S-68 series

Over time the relay series was joined by other products that enabled Pilz to offer the right product for a variety of applications. The first two-hand control relay from the S-68 series epitomises that era.

1969

First control system – EUROPILZ SYSTEM

The origin of today's programmable safety controllers goes right back to 1969, when Pilz developed the EUROPILZ SYSTEM. The system comprises a complete range of plug-in Eurocards, used to build industrial controllers.

1974

First programmable controller – PC4K

With the controller PC4K, Pilz responded to market demand for “free programming”. In conjunction with a test device, the PC4K was the first controller that could be freely programmed.

1986

High-performance PLC – PITRONIK P9

Even higher-performance, computer-generated systems were added to the range of Pilz controllers in the 1980s. The PITRONIK P9 and P10 are products from that time.

1987

E-STOP relay PNOZ

The development engineers at Pilz built on existing knowledge of safety technology and developed the first E-STOP relay PNOZ at the end of the 1980s. Today, PNOZ is the epitome of safety relays and a fundamental aspect of safety technology.

1995

First programmable safety controller PSS 3000

In the face of widespread resistance and doubts, in the 1990s Pilz developed the first programmable safety controller PSS 3000. Wearing contacts are replaced by electronic circuits. The result was totally safe processes and reduced downtimes.

1999

First safe fieldbus system – SafetyBUS p

Pilz developed the world’s first safe, open safety fieldbus with SafetyBUS p. Up until that point, none of the established fieldbuses had been suitable for the transmission of safety-related data. So Pilz responded to the market demand for all components to be fully networked.

2002

First configurable small controllers – PNOZmulti

With PNOZmulti, the pioneer of configurable safety technology, Pilz brought the first modular safety system onto the market at the start of the 2000s. The configurable small controllers bridged the gap between classic safety relays and large programmable control systems.

2006

First safe camera system – SafetyEYE

Pilz developed the first safe camera system for 3D zone monitoring: SafetyEYE. For the very first time the safe camera system, which enables seamless, three-dimensional monitoring and control of danger zones, offered our customers scope to realise applications entirely without guards.

2009

First automation system for safety and automation – PSS 4000

Pilz offers a solution for a wide range of applications with the first automation system for safety and automation, the PSS 4000. The automation system PSS 4000 enables networking of multiple controllers in accordance with the Multi-Master principle, but each one runs independently. The automation system PSS 4000 is consequently the optimum solution for modular and flexible plants in accordance with the Industrie 4.0 benchmark.

2013

First internationally certified qualification for machinery safety – CMSE®

In 2013 Pilz brought the training course CMSE® – Certified Machinery Safety Expert onto the market. CMSE® is a qualification that is recognised worldwide and provides a sustainable 360° overview of the field of machinery safety. Cooperation between Pilz and TÜV NORD guarantees that the quality of the qualification is consistent internationally.

2016

Web-based visualisation software – PASvisu

The web-based HMI software PASvisu makes automation projects easy to configure, with optimum visualisation. PASvisu for the first time provides a convenient overview of plant and machinery – whether locally or via remote access.

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Together to success: Pilz's companions along the way

We asked some long-standing companions of our Managing Director Renate Pilz and of the company Pilz a few questions, including:

When did you first meet Mrs Pilz? How did that first meeting go? What do you wish Mrs Pilz for the future?

Out of this has come a film, a “behind the scenes” look at the company. Discover how our long-standing partners have experienced our family and company history and how they view the company's future!

Pilz is actively shaping the future of automation!

Pilz Management

Alongside a wide-range of social projects, the Pilz Management Board is also active in numerous committees and institutions. Our passion is to make automation even safer, to significantly advance research and further develop state-of-the-art technology. Even today we are actively shaping industry's hot topics and working on solutions for the automation of the future!

What will the future of automation look like? Find out more about the future topics that we are already working on today!

Automation of the future

Renate Pilz

  • Member of the exhibitors’ advisory board for SPS/IPC/Drives
  • Member of the board of Ulm University

Thomas Pilz

  • Member of the board of the German Engineering Federation (VDMA)
  • Chairman of the management board in the research association of the institute for microelectronics (Forschungsverein des Instituts für Mikroelektronik Stuttgart e.V.)
  • Chairman of the advisory board of the German research association for automation and microelectronics (DFAM)

Susanne Kunschert

  • Appointed in 2010 to the Research Alliance (Forschungsunion), the central, innovative policy body that advises the German Government.
  • Since 2011, member of the supervisory board at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
  • Since 2014, honorary member of the German Association for the Facilitation of Research Transfer (GFFT)
  • Member of the steering committee Allianz Industrie 4.0 Baden-Württemberg
  • Since 2015, member of the advisory board Business at Baden-Württemberg International (bw-i)
  • Since 2016, deputy chair of the Board of the German Engineering Association (VDMA ) Baden-Württemberg

Pilz products are used in applications all over the world!

Fire protection safely under control

When a fire breaks out, the toxic, aggressive smoke that is produced is generally responsible for a high number of injuries or even deaths, rather than the fire itself. In an emergency, the primary task of all fire protection systems in public buildings is to physically isolate the source of the fire, guarantee rapid smoke extraction and ensure safe, smoke-free escape routes. The Pilz automation system PSS 4000 is suitable for safety and standard; on modern fire protection systems it checks that any smoke extraction concepts that are triggered work reliably and launches alternative scenarios if necessary.

Flight simulators reliably monitored

There are only a few manufacturers of Level D-certified full flight simulators in the world. These are professional flight simulators of the utmost quality and are approved for instructing and training professional pilots. Inside the perfectly recreated cockpit you feel like you are in a real aircraft. From the outside, the hexapod-mounted simulator is quite clearly a machine. As such it must meet functional safety requirements. That's why the configurable safety system PNOZmulti is used within the simulator structure to ensure that neither pilots nor trainers are exposed to “real” danger during the simulation phases.

Safe high-performance laser

MEYER WERFT in Papenburg is one of the most modern shipyards in the world. With its innovative and efficient production technologies, it enjoys an excellent reputation in the shipbuilding industry. For years now, the sight of large cruise ships leaving dock and sailing down the River Ems has become something of a procession. The company is keen to optimise its production technologies and quality standards, so it built its own research laboratory for high-performance laser welding technology there. As the safety requirements are extremely high when laser welding at the highest risk level, Pilz provided a one-stop safe solution comprising control and sensor technology as well as services.

Automation system protects a sluice system

Bridges and sluices are typical of Holland’s infrastructure and handle a large amount of freight traffic. To enable traffic to be guided through quickly, safely and without delay, bridges and sluice systems must be automated to an optimum level. When it came to upgrading their sluices and bridges to the latest control technology, the province of Zuid-Holland opted for the automation system PSS 4000. This automation system can be used across a range of industries in applications of any size; it provides a high level of safety and cost effectiveness within the sluice complex.

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Contact

Pilz Automation Safety L.P.
7150 Commerce Boulevard
Canton, MI 48187
USA

Telephone: +1 734 354-0272
E-Mail: info@pilzusa.com

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