Endress+Hauser and Rockwell Automation open first joint European test centre

Rockwell Automation and Endress+Hauser have opened their first joint test plant for validation purposes in Europe.

Core elements of the test plant at Endress+Hauser’s site in Maulburg, Germany, are three massive tanks, each one containing between 2000 and 26,000 litres of oil. On the tanks, more than 20 instruments from Endress+Hauser with different measuring methods have been installed, all of them communicating with Rockwell Automation’s PlantPAx control system. In this way, all personnel at the test centre obtain specific information and diagnostics relating to the tank contents at a glance.

The original idea for a joint installation came from training centres established by Endress+Hauser with the support of Rockwell Automation in recent years: so-called Process Training Units. At 10 facilities in the USA, Colombia, China and Canada, sales representatives and product specialists from both companies host practical training sessions for their customers. These courses comprise installation training, simulations under real conditions, diagnostics and comparisons of different technologies.

With an investment of several hundred thousand euros, the first joint test centre for Europe in Maulburg takes this concept a few steps further and establishes new standards: it is surrounded by the Endress+Hauser production site for level and pressure measurement technology and focuses on product validation.

Research and development take centre stage to align new products to customer requirements at an early phase under real application and environmental conditions.

“All of our products must pass testing at the validation centre and prove that they create a sustainable added value for customers. They are exposed to extreme endurance tests,” emphasised Gerd Gritsch, division manager quality management with Endress+Hauser Maulburg.

Increasing customer benefit was the trigger for a strategic alliance between Rockwell Automation and Endress+Hauser more than 10 years ago. The former CEOs, Keith Nosbusch and Klaus Endress, promised to combine their strengths for the benefit of customers and to create systems which communicate flawlessly with each other.

In Maulburg this includes, as well as research and development, training employees and customers at the validation centre and offering hands-on learning for students. Last year, 2600 external visitors trained on the test plant’s tanks and systems. Now additional trainees will come from Rockwell Automation.

Image: Frank Kulaszewicz, Senior Vice President of Architecture and Software at Rockwell Automation, and Michael Ziesemer, Vice President of Endress+Hauser’s Supervisory Board, open the new test facility in Maulburg, Germany.