Sensors and Measurement Show Moderate Growth for Third Quarter
AMA Association Publishes New Sensor Industry Figures
Compared to the previous quarter, the sensor and measurement industry generated two percent more revenue and recorded a growth of two percent in orders incoming for the third quarter.
Berlin, 3 December 2018 - The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement polls its 460 members every quarter in regard to the economic development. The sensor branch boasts a stable economic development and reports two percent more revenue as well as two percent more orders incoming for the third quarter.
Among the factors for the continual growth of the market is AI (artificial intelligence) besides the digitalization, which will not only affect the economy, but our lives as well. The German government is at present working on an AI strategy, which cannot be implemented without sensor and measuring technology.
“Although the mood in the manufacturing industry has been cautious over the last few months, our member enterprises showed a moderate growth in revenue of two percent compared to the previous quarter,” says Thomas Simmons, AMA general manager. “However, if we compare the results of the third quarter of 2018 with that of the third quarter of 2017, the sensor industry generated a plus of 17 percent.”
According to the AMA Association, the sensor industry looks forward confidently to the fourth quarter, expecting a further growth in turnover of four percent. Thus, the sensors and measurement branch of industry can be considered a stable quantity on the market. The AMA members are banking on the continued digitalization and AI, which will provide new opportunities for the sensor industry.
AMA Innovation Award 2019: Submit Projects Now
AMA Association Calls for Innovations in Sensor and Measuring Technology
Berlin, 7 November 2018—The Association for Sensors and Measurement (AMA) invites researchers and developers to compete for the renowned AMA Innovation Award for 2019. The AMA is looking for research and development results in sensor and measuring technology. The submission deadline is 31 January 2019.
Individuals or developer teams may submit innovative research and development projects that have a clear market relevance. The renowned AMA Innovation Award is endowed with 10,000 euros. Young enterprises that have been on the market no longer than five years, have no more than 50 employees, and an annual turnover of less than 10 million euros, may compete for the special Young Enterprise Award. The winner in this category will receive a trade-fair stand at the SENSOR+TEST 2019 free of charge.
The AMA Innovation Award has been presented for 19 years to innovative individuals in sensors and measurement. It goes to the developers themselves, not their institutes or enterprises. The jury comprises representatives from universities, institutes, and enterprises. The jury members especially consider novel approaches, the general scientific achievement, as well as the project’s chances on the market.
“The importance of sensors and measurement is growing rapidly and is playing an ever greater role in all facets of society – often in obscurity,” stated jury chairman Andreas Schütze from the Saarland University.“ With the AMA Innovation Award we’re offering creative brains the opportunity to present their innovative projects to an international audience of peers at the SENSOR+TEST. We’re looking forward to the coming year with interesting developments from established enterprises and institutes as well as the developments of young businesses. And to motivate the later, we have the special category Young Enterprises. The winning team in this category will then be invited by the AMA Association to present their awarded project free of charge at the Association’s trade fair, the SENSOR+TEST 2019.”
The conditions for participation and submission forms for the AMA Innovation Award 2019 and the special category Young Enterprises as well as brochures of submissions from previous years can be obtained free of charge at: http://www.ama-sensorik.de/wissenschaft/ama-innovationspreis/.
The deadline for submissions is 31 January 2019. The nominations and winner of the special award will be made known at the AMA Press Conference on 14 March 2019. The winners of the AMA Innovation Award 2019 will be presented at the opening ceremony of the SENSOR+TEST on 25 June 2019 in Nuremberg.
Center for Sensors and Measurement at the SPS IPC Drives
The Center for Sensors and Measurement offers visitors to the fair an overview as well as technical discussions about the basic elements of automation. Nine exhibitors and the AMA industry directory provide a current cross-section of suppliers for sensor and measuring technology as well as services.
The AMA Sensor Directory lists just about 1,000 product and services categories allocated to its 460 members from industry and research. This directory is available as a brochure free of charge at the AMA Center in Hall 4A or online at https://www.ama-sensorik.de/en/directory-of-suppliers/.
Interested parties will find the AMA Center for Sensors and Measurement at the SPS IPC Drives from 27 to 29 November 2018 in Hall 4A, Stands 221 & 223. A List of the exhibitors at the AMA Center and a brief description of their core activities are online at: https://www.ama-zentren.de/welcome-to-the-ama-centers-for-sensors-and-measurement/.
AMA Center for Sensors and Measurement at the electronica
Competence Center with 14 Exhibitors Welcomes Technical Exchange
Berlin, 25 September 2018—The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement presents 14 exhibitors at a community stand of the electronica trade fair, to be held from 13 to 16 November 2018 in Munich. The exhibiting enterprises and institutes are to show new products and approaches to solutions dealing with sensor, measuring, and testing technology.
Visitors to the electronica 2018 can expect international expert knowledge from buyer and user branches, ranging from automotives and industrial electronics to embedded and wireless technology as well as medical electronics and MEMS. Sensors and measurement have a key role in electronics, as they detect and identify information and provide this data reliably and precisely for the user.
The AMA Competence Center for Sensors and Measurement invites the visitors to a technical exchange. The AMA Center provides expert knowledge to professionals in purchasing segments and user branches. Interested parties can obtain information on individual sensor elements, entire sensors, measuring technology, or system and turnkey solutions. Moreover, the AMA Association offers the free, up-to-date Sensor Industry Directory 2018/2019. This directory lists about 1,000 product and service categories provided by the 460 AMA members from industry and research.
Visitors will find the AMA Center for Sensors and Measurement at the electronica from 13 to 16 November 2018 in Hall B3. A list of the exhibitors at the AMA Center including a brief description of their core activities can be found at:
Sensor and Measurement Revenue Slump in 2nd Quarter
Orders incoming continue to rise, positive expectations for 3rd quarter
The sensor and measurement industry recorded a decline in turnover of four percent for the second quarter. Nevertheless, orders incoming increased by five percent during the same period. The sensor branch expects an upsurge during the third quarter of seven percent.
Berlin, 10 September 2018 - The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement polls its 460 members every quarter as to their economic development. In the second quarter, the AMA members reported a decrease in turnover of four percent compared to the previous quarter. A comparison of the revenue development of the second quarter of 2018 with that of the second quarter of 2017 shows that the sensor industry generated a marked increase in turnover of 13 percent.
Other parameters confirm the overall positive development in sensors and measurement. The AMA members recorded a rise of five percent in orders incoming for the second quarter compared with the results of the previous quarter. This reinforces the expectations in the sector, projecting an upsurge of seven percent for the current third quarter.
“The sensor and measurement sector is doing very well. Such oscillations from one quarter to the next are not unusual. And that’s why this sector expects that the long-term trend of 6.5 percent growth per year will continue,” said AMA general manager Simmons, commenting on the current results. “Digitalization and automation are the topics in industry. Technical systems have to interact more and more with their environments. The solutions are based on innovative developments in sensor, measuring, and testing technology. And that is a good reason for our members to have a positive outlook on the development of the sales markets.”
AMA Sensor and Measurement Directory Published
Overview of Sensor and Measurement Technology
Berlin, 31 August 2018 - The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement (AMA) has published a completely revised and updated edition of its Directory. On 128 pages the Association’s publication provides information on suppliers of sensors and measuring technology as well as on service providers for the most diverse areas of application. The AMA Directory for 2018/2019 can now be obtained free of charge from the AMA Association or be used online.
The sensor industry is booming and new technologies, such as the Industrial Internet and Industry 4.0 promise greater efficiency, performance, security, and quality. The key to all these aspects lies in networking and analysis of the machine, system, and process operating data. And this data is made available reliably, safely, and precisely from sensors and measuring systems. It assumes a key role in the digitalization of our future industries.
The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement lists roughly 1,000 categories for products and services from its 460 members from industry and science. In the first section of the brochure, users will find a table of contents according measurement parameters. The middle section lists the AMA members in alphabetical order, and the last section comprises an index of headwords. The AMA Directory is a bilingual English and German publication.
“Our current Sensor Industry Directory gives users and other interested parties an overview of our 460 members’ products and services,” says Thomas Simmons, AMA’s general manager. “And the AMA Directory can of course also be used online. You just enter a search term or call up a parameter and get a list of all relevant AMA members.”
The print version can be ordered from the AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement at info@ama-sensorik.de.
The online version at AMA Directory for 2018/2019.
AMA Innovation Award 2018 with two Winning Teams
A miniaturized, highly integrated gas sensor and a thermometer with automatic in-situ calibration function win the AMA Innovation Award 2018.
Berlin, 26 June 2018—The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement (AMA) conferred the AMA Innovation Award 2018 on two developer teams at the SENSOR+TEST 2018 at Nuremberg. The jury, comprising representatives from science and industry, declared that both submissions were highly innovative approaches with clearly discernible market relevance. The prize money of 10,000 euros went to the miniaturized and highly integrated environmental sensor BME680 from Bosch Sensortec and to the thermometer itherm TrustSens TM37x with an automatic in-situ calibration function from Endress+Hauser and the Ilmenau Technical University in equal parts.
Bosch BME680 – First Miniaturized Chemical Gas Sensor
The Bosch BME680 is the first integrated 4-in-1 sensor module that combines pressure, temperature, and humidity sensors with a MEMS gas sensor. Thus, a new measuring parameter was developed for CE & IoT applications. The basis for the innovation were the high requirements in the CE & IoT market as opposed to the state of the art, especially in regard to system intelligence, device size, power consumption, reliability, as well as industrialization and scalability in production volume. Up to now these were major hurdles in establishing a chemical parameter for gas on an industrial scale and for mass production. Today, the first devices in the area of IoT and smart homes are available on the market.
The jury and the AMA Association extend their congratulations to the developer team: Dr. Richard Fix, Dr. Thomas Block, Dr. Herbert Verhoeven and their colleagues (Bosch Sensortec GmbH, Reutlingen)
Thermometer with Automatic In-Situ Calibration Function in Process
The other innovation to win the award is the itherm TrustSens TM37x, a thermometer with automatic in-situ calibration function during processing. Parallel to the resistor sensor, a ferro-electric reference element with a known Curie temperature as a temperature etalon is integrated for its measuring function. If the process temperature causes a phase transformation, the measurement deviation of the digital temperature value from the Curie temperature is determined and the thermometer is calibrated anew. This automatic, nonreactive calibration is performed without extension of the thermometer directly in the process. Thus, cost and effort for calibrations are considerably reduced.
The jury and the AMA Association congratulate the developer team: Dr. Pavo Vrdoljak, Christian Stöger, Michael Korn, Harald Bründl, Alfred Umkehrer (Endress+Hauser, Nesselwang) and Dr. Marc Schalles (Ilmenau Technical University).
Two Special Awards for “Young Enterprises”
The special award in the category “Young Enterprises 2018” also went to two developer teams. The team with Dr. Matthäus Langosch (CeLaGo Sensors, Saarbrücken) convinced the jury with a thinfilm strain gauge. The team with Houssam El Moutaouaki (SENVISYS, Saarbrücken) wins with the development of an efficient and safe railroad level crossing by means of vibration analysis. Both developer teams received a free-of-charge trade fair presence at the SENSOR+TEST 2018.
Sensors and Measuring as Innovation Drivers of Technology
“This year 34 projects were submitted from Germany and abroad. The developments were innovative, original, and mostly market relevant. The two winning projects convinced the jury with scientifically outstanding solutions and clearly identifiable utility,” explained jury chair Professor Andreas Schütze from the Saarland University. “From my perspective, the overall winners are always the user industries, since many of the submissions are approaches from sensor and measuring technology to solutions that are the innovation drivers for technical advance,” added Schütze.
Brochure with All Submissions 2018
The AMA Innovation Award is among the most renowned awards in sensors and measurement for many years and is conferred annually by the AMA Association. All accepted submissions are published with a brief description of the innovation in the brochure “AMA Innovation Award 2018 – the Contenders,” which can be downloaded online.
Competition for the Innovation Award 2019
Application forms for the AMA Innovation Award 2019 are available online as of October 2018. Individuals or developer teams from enterprises and institutes may apply. Further information at: www.ama-sensorik.de.
An overview of all submissions for the AMA Innovation Award 2018
Sensor and Meaurement with a Clear Increase in Turnover
The AMA Association’s statistics for the first quarter show an appreciably increasing turnover and a greater amount of orders incoming
The sensor industry generated nine percent more turnover and five percent more orders incoming in the first quarter compared to the previous quarter.
Berlin, 7 June 2018 - The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement polls its 460 members every quarter on the economic development. After a successful result in the previous year with an overall growth of nine percent turnover, the sensor industry again generated a revenue plus of nine percent. Orders incoming for the first quarter were reported to amount to an increase of five percent compared to the results of the previous quarter.
Sensor, measuring, and testing technology thus reflects the development of the German economy, which is presently in a continuous and broad upswing. Full order books, work to capacity, and a record employment rate are to be found in many sectors. Sensors are the brokers between the digital and real world. The intelligent utilization of sensors enables the digitalization and automation of industry – today the most important driver for growth.
“When the industry at large is doing well, sensors and measurement boom. The German economy is growing, that is reflected in the economic development in our branch of industry, which attained an increase in turnover of nine percent in the first quarter of this year,” stated Thomas Simmons, the AMA General Manager, commenting on the Association’s current poll. “It’s only the intelligent application of sensor and measuring technology that enables technical industrial innovation. That’s why we can look forward to a further, continued growth of our sensor industry in this year.”
Interested parties can obtain a closer look at the trends and latest developments in sensor, measuring, and testing technology at the SENSOR+TEST trade fair in Nuremberg from the 26th to the 28th of June, 2018. About 600 national and international exhibitors will be presenting their technical solutions in measuring, testing, and control technologies.
Center for Sensors and Measurement at the Hanover Fair
AMA Association presents Competence Center with 19 Exhibitors
Berlin, 27 March 2018—The AMA Association is to appear at the Hanover Fair from 23 to 27 April, 2018 with 19 exhibitors at the AMA Center for Sensors and Measurement. Visitors will obtain compact and concentrated information on new products and solutions for sensor and measuring technology in the area of Industrial Automation.
The AMA’s Competence Center for Sensors and Measurement provides its own platform within the IAMD trade fair, Integrated Automation, Motion, & Drives. At this “fair within a fair,” interested parties can quickly target customer-specific information from specialist to specialist.
The exhibiting enterprises and institutes will provide information on sensor elements, special sensors, complex sensor systems, specific measuring techniques, as well as on system and turnkey solutions. The AMA Association’s sensor industry directory will provide an overview of the products and services offered by its members.
The AMA Association is also a partner of the Automation Forum in Hall 14. Here, visitors can obtain information on measuring technology in automation and on related subjects in numerous lectures. Experts are to present trend topics and are available for discussions.
The venue for AMA Center for Sensors and Measuring Technology is the Hanover Fair from 23 to 27 April, 2018 in Hall 11. A list of the exhibitors with a brief description of their core activities. Program for the Automation Forum in Hall 14
Sensors and Measurement Shows Significant Turnover Growth
AMA members expect continued positive development for current year
The sensor and measuring industry generated revenues of nine percent in the previous fiscal year, while investments increased by 18 percent. During the same period, the export quota decreased by seven percent. For the current year, the sensor industry expects a continued increase in revenue, plans to make greater investments, and banks on further expansion of the workforce.
Berlin, 15 March 2018—The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement (AMA) polled its members on the economic development in January on the economic development in 2017. The responses of the AMA members show a significant positive overall development. For the current year, the sensor industry projects a further growth in turnover of eight percent. The AMA members are planning to increase their investments by 13 percent, compared the results of the previous year. Thanks to the positive outlook, 80 percent of the enterprises state that they want to hire more engineers.
The prevailing mood is based on a very positive development in revenue during the previous year, in which the sensor industry generated an cumulative rise in turnover of nine percent compared to the previous year. Thus, the AMA members significantly exceeded the previous average of six percent growth in turnover.
The overall good economic development reflects the high investment readiness in the sensor industry. Last year the AMA members invested 18 percent more than in the previous year. For the current fiscal year, the sector counts on a further increase in investments of 13 percent.
Only the sensor industry’s export quota was retrogressive during last year, declining by seven percent compared to the previous year. Particularly affected are the foreign central European countries with a drop of six percent. It seems that the AMA members are generating a considerable part of the increasing revenue in the booming German market.
Tax Funding in the German Federal Republic for Research
For a number of years now, the sensor sector has shown great investment readiness. In the era of digitization, sensors and sensor systems are considered to be the key industries for the highly industrialized German republic. The sector, characterized by medium-sized enterprises, has already invested heavily in research and development, but is nevertheless ready to invest even more if tax funding measures were to be implemented for research and development in Germany, according to the AMA poll.
“The good economic development of the sensor industry shows that sensors and measurement are still gaining in significance and continue to be the key for innovative technical products,” says Thomas Simmons, general manager of the AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement, commenting on the annual statistics in the sector. “Complementing this development, the AMA Association has recently published the study Sensor Technologies 2022, which illustrates the opportunities in new fields of technology for sensor development. These trends reflect the increasing importance of sensors and measurement for the industrial site Germany. The resulting increase in demand is reflected in the significantly growing statistics on our sector.”
AMA Innovation Award 2018: Association Nominates Four Teams
Three special awards for Young Enterprises in sensor and measuring technology
The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement nominated four contenders for the AMA Innovation Award 2018. The Special Award for Young Enterprises goes to three outstanding developer teams for the first time.
Berlin, 14 March 2018—This year, 35 research and development teams from Germany and abroad contended for the renown AMA Innovation Award. The 10,000-euro award can also be split by the jury. The jury comprises representatives from science and industry. In their evaluation, the jurors place special emphasis on the degree of innovation, the originality of the solution, and the market relevance of the submitted R&D projects.
Nominations for the AMA Innovation Award 2018
Nominated for the AMA Innovation Award 2018 (in alphabetical order):
Bosch BME680, First Miniaturized Chemical Gas Sensor
Dr. Richard Fix, Dr. Thomas Block, Dr. Herbert Verhoeven, Dr. Tarek Zaki, Dr. Patrick Sonstroem, Dr. Andreas Menzel, Dr. Frank Rettig, Dr. Stefan Zehringer, Dr. Isolde Simon, Dr. Pascal Gieschke, Dr. Tobias Frey, Aibin Paul Lazar, Dr. Christoph Brueser, Alexandros Ninos, Thomas Claus, Lu Ye, Dr. Michael Knauss, Jonathan Balewski, Bassem Baffoun, Jochen Eitel, Dr. Uwe Bolz, (Bosch Sensortec GmbH, Reutlingen)
The Bosch BME680 is worldwide the first integrated 4-in-1 sensor module with a MEMS gas sensor. A new measuring parameter was developed for CE & IoT applications. The basis for the innovation were the high requirements in the CE & IoT market as opposed to the state of the art, especially in regard to system intelligence, device size, power consumption, reliability, as well as industrialization and scalability in production volume. (brochure, p. 7)
Coriolis Flow Meter – Promass Q with Multi-Frequency Technology
Dr. Hao Zhu, Dr. Alfred Rieder, Gerhard Eckert, Ennio Bitto, Dr. Wolfgang Drahm, Dr. Martin Anklin (Endress + Hauser Flowtec AG, Reinach)
Multifrequency technology (MFT) expands the application spectrum of Coriolis flow meters to include currents with gas inclusions. This MFT determines mass currents and density for two different vibration frequencies of the measuring tubes and compensates interference of measuring results by bubble currents. (brochure, p. 6)
Siloxane-Resistant Multipixel-Gas Sensor
Dr. Johannes Bühler, Dr. Matthias Merz, Dr. Roman Pavelko, Pernilla Andersson, Dr. Mirjana Banjevic, Dr. Cyrill Kuemin, Dr. Werner Hunziker, Dr. Felix Hoehne (Sensirion AG, Stäfa)
With the SGP multipixel gas sensor, Sensirion brings multiple key innovations to market. The core technology of the ‘SGP-MOXSens® makes the sensor extremely resistant to contamination by siloxane and thus enables long-term stability and accuracy, as has never before been possible. (brochure, p. 7)
Thermometer with Automatic In-Situ Calibration Function During the Process
Harald Bründl, Torsten Iselt, Michael Korn, Christian Peuker, Christian Stöger, Alfred Umkehrer, Michael Völkl, Dr. Pavo Vrodljak, Peter Wiedemann (Endress+Hauser Wetzer GmbH + Co KG, Nesselwang); Patrick Grob, Jiri Holoubek, Fredy Klammsteiner, Dr. Jiri Polak, Dr. Florian Krogmann (Innovative Sensor Technology IST AG, Ebnat-Kappeln); Dr. Marc Schalles, Michael Pufke (Technische Universität Ilmenau)
The itherm TrustSens TM37x is a thermometer with an automatic calibration function. Integrated in its measuring head is a ferro-electric reference element with a known Curie temperature, parallel to the resistor sensor. (brochure, p. 6)
Special Award for Young Enterprises
In the special category Young Enterprises, startups can compete that have not been on the market over five years, have less than 50 employees, and an annual turnover of less than 10 million euros. The winners of the special award get a trade-fair stand at the SENSOR+TEST 2018 free of charge. This year, three developer teams in this category convinced the jury.
One Special Award goes to the developer team of Dr. Matthäus Langosch (CeLaGo Sensors GmbH, Saarbrücken, und Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft des Saarlandes), for the development of a thinfilm strain gauge. It enables manufacturers to apply sensitive, low-energy, and robust sensor systems for flexible, highly sensitive, application-specific strain gauges.
The developer team of Houssam El Moutaouakil (SENVISYS, Saarbrucken) is to receive a Special Award for “efficiently securing a railroad level crossing by means of vibration analysis.” Supported by artificial intelligence, the vibration sensor system provides an efficient, wireless railroad level crossing.
Theresa Ebeling’s team (HygNova GmbH, Berlin) is also to receive a trade-fair stand free of charge in the special category for the development of the HygNova Advance. This device helps medical institutions to reduce hospital infections by increasing the hand disinfection rate.
“We were again very glad this year to see the many, high-quality projects submitted by the contenders for the AMA Innovation Award as well as those for the Young Enterprise category. Especially the three startups outdistanced the rest of the field in this category. Therefore, we are inviting three teams for the first time to a free-of-charge trade-fair stand at the SENSOR+TEST 2018,” says Professor Andreas Schütze, the jury chair from the University of Saarland. “The four nominated teams for the AMA Innovation Award 2018 show the plethora of developments and solutions in which innovative sensor and measuring technology set the pace for technical advance. Nevertheless, they also represent the current trends, especially for smartphones and the Internet of Things: Two nominated innovations are direct competitors in this highly dynamic market.”
The winners of the AMA Innovation Award 2018 will be made known at the opening ceremony of the SENSOR+TEST 2018 trade fair in Nuremberg.
An overview of all competitors and projects for the AMA Innovation Award 2018
