Wolf: As things stand at present, we anticipate consolidated net sales for the Turck group of about 270 million Euro this year. This is a significant decline in sales that is certainly heavily influenced by the performance of the automotive and mechanical engineering markets.

SCOPE: Ben Bernanke, Head of the Federal Reserve Bank, displays optimism in regard to development of the economy, and has spoken of the end of the crisis – Do you share his views on the matter and once again see light at the end of the tunnel?

Wolf: The Head of the Federal Reserve Bank is not the only one to speak of the end of the crisis. Many politicians are continuously stating this fact also. However, in the real economy, particularly in the automation sector, it is not yet in sight. The level of orders received has been relatively stable for some time and has not declined; however, a significant rise in order levels is not expected in the foreseeable future. There are some initial indicators giving reasons for hope, but there will not be a significant improvement this year. For the coming year, we expect a slight recovery with mid single-figure rates of increase.

SCOPE: How are your main markets - Germany, Europe, North America and Asia - developing?

Wolf: In Germany and Europe, we are at the described level, which is about 30 percent under the sales level of the previous years. In the USA, the largest automation market, where Turck as the sensor and connectivity market leader has high market shares, we are seeing a slight recovery. However, here the recessionary phase commenced much earlier than in Europe. In China, the sales are also increasing moderately. One bitter pill however, is the exchange rate for the US Dollar that is approaching 1.50 Euro and which complicates doing business in North America and parts of Asia.

SCOPE: A particular focus of innovation at Turck in the last number of years was the area of RFID. How is the market developing and do you see any new growth areas here?

Wolf: The RFID market offers almost inexhaustible potential, because more and more users recognize the additional benefits offered by the technology. In our RFID system BL Ident, we combine our know-how from all sectors of the company, from the sensor to the interface to fieldbus technology. The system is thus ideal for application in the industrial sector and can be very easily integrated into existing infrastructure. We are continually developing application-optimized expansions, and in the meantime, we offer a wide range of components such as data carriers for high temperatures up to 210 °C, or for autoclaves or precision read/write heads for roller conveyors.

SCOPE: At the SPS/IPC/Drives, you are presenting a newly developed linear position sensor, which can replace all potentiometeric or magnetostrictive displacement measurement solutions using its resonator measurement principle. Can you describe the development and the applications for which it is suitable in more detail?

Wolf: With our new development, the position detection is implemented using a different method than magnetostrictive or conventional inductive position sensors, not by using magnetic positioning, but rather via an inductive resonator, an oscillating system consisting of a capacitor and coil. The resonator principle is highly immune to electromagnetic interference. Because of the elimination of the magnetic body, unwanted collection of chips and cuttings on the positioning sensor are excluded. And thanks to the extremely short blind zones and the option to program the sensor to the required measurement range, the user no longer needs to stock longer variants for special applications. Furthermore, the LI series is the only position displacement measurement system on the market featuring the manufacturer-independent IO-Link interface, offering numerous benefits with commissioning, maintenance and stock keeping.

SCOPE: Your company has developed from a pure sensor manufacturer to an automation specialist. At the SPS/IPC/Drives you will be presenting the first member of your new HMI family (Human Machine Interface). What are the characteristics of this innovation?

Wolf: The first model of our new HMI series, the VT250, offers not just visualization and control functions, but also – as the customers expect from us – exceptional communication capabilities between the fieldbusses and real-time Ethernet. The devices can be configured both as a master as well as a slave in every direction. With its two real-time Ethernet ports on the bottom, the VT250 is one of the few devices on the market with the capability and offers the option of installing the system in a linear topology. Open standards such as CoDeSys guarantee our customers a high level of future-proofing – made in Germany.