Weidmüller celebrates half a century in Australia

This year, Weidmüller has been celebrating its 50th year in business in Australia. The company has been operating in Australia since 1972 and celebrated the anniversary in mid-June with a large group of guests at the Taronga Zoo Function Centre in Sydney. Process Technology caught up with managing director Rafael Koenig to ask some questions about the anniversary.

Can you tell us how Weidmüller got its start in Australia and what it was like in the beginning?

Weidmueller’s parent Company is part of the German ‘Mittelstand’, founded in 1850, family-owned and invested in the Australian electrical engineering industry since 1972. The local operations include R&D, production and assembly, sales and marketing. Weidmüller today is an expert in connectivity solutions for power, signal and data in manufacturing, process control and new and existing energy industries. Enabling technologies such as IIoT, condition monitoring, analytics and ‘Sensor to the Cloud’ connectivity are fast becoming core to our contribution to the sustainable development of the industries we serve.

Briefly what is the history of the global Weidmüller organisation?

When founded in 1850, Weidmüller originally manufactured press studs for the textile industry. Since 1948 the company has been active in the electrical industry and known as a pioneer in rail-mounted terminal blocks. With well over 30 fully owned group companies, 10 production locations and multiple representations in many countries, Weidmüller today is on the forefront of digitalisation.

What is the Australian company’s place in the larger global organisation?

The Australian business is an integral part of the global Weidmüller network. Apart from close collaboration with its local distribution partners to ensure coverage in the unique Australian geographical challenges, the business produces specialist products for the global company network and consider engineering and R&D as key components in contributing to the local industry. In particular, in the field of renewable energy, hydrogen and decarbonisation, the Australian Engineering and R&D competence centre is a vital part of Weidmüller’s global focus on green energy and sustainability. Klippon Engineering as a Weidmüller brand is in addition servicing the process industry and is a contributor to the successful transition to low emissions technologies.

What have been some major milestones and successes for Weidmüller Australia over the last 50 years?

Soon after Weidmüller commenced operation in Australia in 1972 the company grew rapidly, building on its international reputation. Quickly achieving industry-wide specification for many of its terminal and connector products was due to Weidmüller’s values placed on the highest quality, reliability and adherence to international standards.

Over the years Weidmüller’s products have been ‘designed in’ to critical applications in many power stations, water supply and treatment, rail and traffic signaling as well as countless other applications where absolute reliability is paramount.

By the mid eighties the ability to provide locally designed and manufactured custom specific interface solutions was established. This led to developing many products in conjunction with specific customers and industry partners.

Today our vast portfolio of locally made electronic and electrotechnical products include many innovative solutions that are unique to Weidmüller.

Some of these products interconnect millions of solar panels or monitor the blades of wind turbines, enabling reliable cost effective renewable energy. Weidmüller even designed and patented the first LED headlights that today light the way for Australia’s trains such as the Indian Pacific and the Ghan.

For fifty years almost everywhere you look, in all areas of industry, a Weidmüller product is inside doing the job it was very well engineered to do.