Sensors and Measurement: Revenues Up – Orders Incoming Down

AMA Association Publishes Statistic Evaluation for 3rd Quarter

 

Berlin, 12 November 2019 - The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement polls its 450 members every quarter on their economic development. After a slight increase in revenue during the second quarter, the sensor industry was able to generate a rise in turnover in the third quarter, in fact an increase of two percent.

 

While consumer goods and national budgets increased, export-dependent industries were troubled by the global economic changes. Although automotives and engineering always were reliable for their economic growth, they now experienced a drop and thus a cloudy outlook for the automotive supplier industries – including sensors and measurement.

 

“At a first glance, you could get the impression that we’re dealing with an inconsistent seasonal effect or statistical oscillations,” says Thomas Simmons, the AMA Association’s general manager, about the current sensor industry statistics. “Two lapsing revenue quarters were followed by two slightly rising quarters. The expectation for the last quarter of 2019 is a slight turnover decrease of one percent. This is based on a slump in our three customer industries, automotives, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering. The next important customer market for our members is medical technology. This branch of industry is not as economically vulnerable and thus can partially absorb the negative impact.”

AMA Innovation Award 2020: Apply to Contend Now

AMA Association awards innovations from sensor and measuring technology

 

Berlin, 24 October 2019 - The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement (AMA) calls on researchers and developers to submit their innovative projects and product ideas for sensors and measurement no later than 29 January 2020.

 

Allowed to contend are individuals as well as development teams from enterprises and research facilities with innovative research and development solutions that are clearly market relevant. The renowned AMA Innovation Award is endowed with a prize of 10,000 euros. Also, contenders for the special award Young Enterprises may compete if their enterprise has not been active for more than five years, has less than 50 employees, and an annual turnover of less than ten million euros. The winners of this special award category will receive a trade-fair stand at the SENSOR+TEST 2020 in Nuremberg free of charge.

 

 

The AMA Innovation Award has been presented for 20 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.

 

“Digital innovations permeate practically all facets of life, they change how we work and communicate as well as enable new products and services. What they all have in common is that they are based on data that is collected and evaluated by sensors. The AMA Innovation Award offers innovative minds from all over the globe the opportunity to present their developments to an international audience of trade professionals,” said jury chairman Andreas Schütze from the Saarland University. “We look forward to the developments from innovative enterprises and institutes, whether long established or just starting up. The latter can also compete for the special category Young Enterprises. The winning team of this category will receive a free stand at the SENSOR+TEST 2020 trade fair.”

 

The conditions for participation and submission forms for the AMA Innovation Award 2020 and the special category Young Enterprises as well as brochures of submissions from previous years can be obtained free of charge at AMA Innovation Award 2020.


The deadline for submissions is 29 January 2020. The nominations and winner of the special award will be made known at the AMA Press Conference on 12 March 2020. The winners of the AMA Innovation Award 2020 will be presented at the opening ceremony of the Sensor and Measurement Science International (SMSI) 2020 on 22 June 2020 in Nuremberg. 

Competence Center for Sensors and Measurement at the SPS

Everything on sensor, measuring, and testing technology in Hall 4A

 

Berlin, 8 October 2019—The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement presents itself and its members at the SPS – smart production solutions – in the AMA Center from 26 to 28 November in Nuremberg, Germany.

 

The SPS – smart production solutions – represents the complete spectrum of smart and digital automation. The AMA Center in Hall 4A is the competence center for sensors and measurement. It provides visitors to the fair not only an overview, but also a technical exchange of ideas on the basic elements in automation. Interested parties will find exhibitors with a broad pallet of offers from single components to turnkey measuring and testing systems.

 

The AMA Association complements the offerings with its AMA Sensor Directory that includes 1,000 product and service categories from the 450 AMA members in industry and research. The brochure can be obtained free of charge at the AMA Center in Hall 4A or online at www.ama-sensorik.de/en/directory-of-suppliers/.

 

Visitors to the fair will find the AMA Center for Sensors and Measurement at the SPS – smart production solutions – from 26 to 28 November 2019 in Hall 4A. A list of the exhibitors including information on their core activities can be found at AMA Center for Sensors and Measurement .
 
 

Sensor and Measurement Science International: Call for Papers Is Now Online

New International Conference on Sensors, Measurement, and Metrology

 

Berlin, 26 September 2019 - The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement is commencing a Call for Papers for the Sensor and Measurement Science International 2020 (SMSI). This international conference is going to take place parallel to the SENSOR+TEST 2020 trade fair from 22 to 25 June 2020 in Nuremberg, Germany. The submission deadline for contributions and poster presentations is 31 January 2020.

 

The new conference replaces the previous AMA conferences as of 2020. The former thematic focus on sensors and instrumentation will be complemented in the new format by measuring technology and metrology.

 

The SMSI 2020 links national and international representatives from research, science, and industry. One pillar of the conference, sensor technology, will deal with sensor principles, materials, technology, and application and is to integrate the satellite conference IRS² 2020. Another pillar, measuring technology, is to include its technological foundations, advanced methods, networked systems, and new AI approaches in measuring. The area of metrology deals with traceability, advanced calibration, and testing methods as well as with new measuring regulations and standards.

 

The parallel SENSOR+TEST 2020 trade fair, as an information platform for sensor, measuring, and testing technology, also serves to expand the innovation dialog among the conference participants beyond the SMSI 2020 itself.

 

 

All interested parties are invited to submit a brief description of their contribution as a lecture or poster presentation in English no later than 31 January 2020. Further information on the SMSI 2020, the pillars of the conference, and a document template can be found at SMSI 2020.

Sensors and Measurement Revenue Boost in Second Quarter

AMA Association reports rise in turnover at almost stable orders incoming development

 

Berlin, 10 September 2019 - The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement polls its 450 members every quarter on the economic development. After a slight drop in revenue in the first quarter, the sensor industry generated a growth of two percent. Orders incoming proved to be practically stable with a minus of one percent compared to the previous quarter.

 

The demand for sensor and measuring technology as a key industry of digitalization, electronics, and mechanical engineering continues at a high level. However, some of these user industry branches are suffering from an increasingly precarious world-trade climate – especially the export-oriented branches are losing their momentum. This trend was defied by the sensor and measuring industry in the second quarter with a growth in turnover of two percent compared to the previous quarter.

 

“We’re proceeding on the assumption that sensor manufacturers have the advantage of supplying practically all user industries. Thus, if the one or the other export-oriented user branch was weakened, other branches, such as robotics or automation, have gained in strength,” said Thomas Simmons, the AMA’s general manager, about the Association’s statistics. “Many of our members are expecting further growth in their branch this year and anticipate a rise in revenue of five percent for the third quarter.”

Sensor and Measurement Directory 2019/20

AMA Association publishes updated supplier overview

 

Berlin, 28 August 2019—The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement (AMA) publishes its new AMA Sensor and Measurement Directory 2019/20. The brochure provides information on suppliers of sensors, measuring technology, and services for user branches on 135 pages. The AMA Directory 2019/20 can be downloaded from the AMA website, queried online, or ordered from the AMA Association.

 

The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement lists approximately 1,000 product and service categories provided by its 450 members from industry and research. The Association’s Directory enables interested parties to search measuring parameters, key words, or specific AMA members, which are listed alphabetically with contact data and their product range. The Directory is an  English-German publication.

 

“Users in industry and research will obtain an overview in the AMA Directory on about 1,000 product groups from our 450 members from industry, research, and science,” said Thomas Simmons, AMA General Manager. “The AMA Sensor and Measurement Industry Directory offers design engineers and developers a compact overview on sensors, measuring technology, and potential partners for development projects.” 

 

The online version can be found at: <link en directory-of-suppliers>www.ama-sensorik.de/en/directory-of-suppliers/

 

Dual Victory for Compact ‘Plan B’ Analysis Device

AMA Innovation Award 2019 and Special Award for a young developer team from Dresden

 

Berlin, 25 June 2019 - The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement (AMA) presents the AMA Innovation Award 2019 to the founding team of Senorics GmbH on 25 June at the SENSOR+TEST in Nuremberg. The newly developed, compact ‘Plan B’ analysis device convinced the jury on both counts.

 

 

‘Plan B’ is already the winner of the AMA ‘Young Enterprises’ Special Award, also takes the AMA Innovation Award 2019. The developer team comprising Robert Brückner, Matthias Jahnel, Robert Langer, and Ronny Timmreck from Senorics GmbH will receive a free trade-fair stand at the SENSOR+TEST as well as the 10,000-euro prize for the AMA Innovation Award 2019.

 

 

The dually bestowed analysis device enables identification and verification of the quantities of contents in liquid or solid material by passing a light beam through a certain spectral range. This approach convinced the jury. “The scientifically compelling solution of ‘Plan B’ provides mobile quality assurance by the detection of contents in industrial materials and ingredients in foods – including those of beer. The jury has agreed that this project clearly stands out among the 38 submissions,” said jury chair Professor Andreas Schütze from the Saarland University, commenting on this year’s competition.

 

 

Senorics ‘Plan B’ is a compact analysis device especially designed for craft breweries with the objective of optimization and quality improvement. It provides a quick and contactless method of determining the beer’s sugar and alcohol content during the entire brewing process. Senorics’ technology is based on a novel spectrally selective and miniaturized detectors, which transfers the methods of near-infrared spectroscopy from the lab to mass application. Thus, the technology provides a platform to detect contents and compounds in industrial raw materials, agricultural products, or foodstuffs for mobile quality assurance. The winning team is to present its dually awarded development at the SENSOR+TEST 2019 at Stand 5-111.

 

 

The AMA Association presents the AMA Innovation Award for 19 years now and has published the brochure ‘AMA Innovation 2019 – the Contenders’ an overview of all projects submitted in 2019. This year, three further outstanding projects were nominated from the 38 international submissions:

 

 

HoloPort – Interferometer for Machine Tools 

Tobias Seyler, Johannes Engler from the Fraunhofer Institute IPM in Freiburg, Germay (Stand 5-248).

 

 

Core CPU for Machine Learning Embedded in a 6-Axis Inertial Measuring Uni

Marco Leo, Alessandra Rizzo, Andrea Donadel, Marco Castellano, Rossella Bassoli, Alessia Cagidiaco, Alessandro Locardi, Paolo Rosingana, Carlo Crippa from STMicroelectronics in Cornaredo, Italy (Stand 1-351).

 

 

XperYenZ™ - Fiber-Optic Sensor for Absolute Distance Measurement

Celal Mohan Ögün, Robert Send, Christopher Hahne, Bernd Scherwath, Michael Eberspach, Jonas Rahlf, Michael Uptmoor from trinamiX GmbH in Ludwigshafen, Germany (Stand 1-364).

 

 

The AMA Innovation Award 2020 will announced in October 2019. Projects can be submitted by individuals or developer teams from enterprises and institutes from Germany or abroad. The brochure with the submissions for 2019 and further information

Sensors and Measurement: Diminished Revenue in First Quarter

AMA Association Reports Decreased Turnover While Orders Incoming Are Stable

Berlin, 18th of June, 2019—The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement polls its 450 members every quarter on the economic development. After a successful result for the previous year with ten percent growth in revenue, the sensor industry falters somewhat in the first quarter of 2019, showing a decrease of one percent, as compared to the previous quarter. Orders incoming, however, are stable, showing a rise of one percent, compared to the last quarter. 

 

Thus, the sensor and measuring industry, it seems, is smarting due to the somewhat weak start of the German industry. As the world export champion, the German engineering and automotive industries have been adversely impacted by the recent trade conflicts. The German Ministry of Economics predicts a continued decrease in orders incoming for the next months.

 

“In rocky times, the economy is susceptible to fluctuations,” says Thomas Simmons, general manager of the AMA Association, commenting on the current quarterly figures. “The economy slackens, the engineering and automotive industry suffer from a decrease in orders. That, in turn, affects our sensor industry. Whenever, orders incoming in construction and mechanical engineering slump, sensors and measurement are impacted, albeit with a certain delay. A large majority of the AMA member enterprises supply the engineering industry as well as thirty percent for automotive, according to their own figures.”

 

The AMA members continue to be cautiously optimistic and expect a four percent growth in turnover in the second quarter, as the sensor industry enables innovations in practically all application branches. An overview of current trends and developments can be obtained at the SENSOR+TEST trade fair from the 25th to the 27th of June, 2019, in Nuremberg. About 560 national and international exhibitors will present their solutions in measuring, testing, and control technology.

 

 

Four Innovative Teams Nominated for AMA Innovation Award

Special Award “Young Enterprises” for the Senorics GmbH Team

The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement nominates four contenders for the AMA Innovation Award 2019. Among the nominees this year are four teams including that of Ronny Timmreck from Senorics GmbH in Dresden that is also to receive the Special Award for “Young Enterprises.”

 

Berlin, 20 March 2019 - The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement nominates four innovative submissions for the renowned 10,000-euro AMA Innovation Award. This year 38 research and development teams from Germany and abroad submitted projects for the contest.

 

Eleven startups contended as well for the “Young Enterprises” special award. They complied with the requirements to less than 50 employees and to have a turnover of less than ten million euros. This year, the project submitted by the Senorics GmbH team won the special award for “PLAN B,” a compact analysis device for small breweries. The winning team receives a free trade-fair presence at the SENSOR+TEST 2019 in Nuremberg and remains among the nominees for the AMA Innovation Award 2019. 

 

“The jury has again very interesting solutions to evaluate. We all agree that many of these innovations are the basis for tomorrow’s challenges,” says jury chair Andreas Schütze from the Saarland University. “This year we’re nominating four developments from different areas of application. However, there’s one thing all four submissions have in common and that’s their compelling scientific achievement and clearly discernible market relevance.”

The following teams (in alphabetical order) have been nominated for the AMA Innovation Award 2019:

 

HoloPort – Interferometer for Machine Tools

Tobias Seyler, Johannes Engler 

 

 

Plan B – Compact Analysis Device for Small Breweries

Dr. Ronny Timmreck, Dr. Robert Brückner, Dr. Matthias Jahnel, Robert Langer (Senorics GmbH, Dresden), brochure, p. 7

 

Core CPU for Machine Learning Embedded in a 6-Axis Inertial Measuring Unit

Marco Leo, Alessandra Rizzo, Andrea Donadel, Marco Castellano, Rossella Bassoli, Alessia Cagidiaco, Alessandro Locardi, Paolo Rosingana, Carlo Crippa

 

XperYenZ™ - Fiber-Optic Sensor for Absolute Distance Measurement

Dr. Celal Mohan Ögün, Dr. Robert Send, Dr. Christopher Hahne, Bernd Scherwath, Michael Eberspach, Jonas Rahlf, Michael Uptmoor

(trinamiX GmbH, Ludwigshafen), brochure, p. 7

 

The winners of the AMA Innovation Award 2019 will be made known on 25 June 2019 at the opening ceremony of the SENSOR+TEST 2019 trade fair in Nuremberg.

 

An overview of all submissions for the AMA Innovation Award 2019 can be found at: https://ama-sensorik.de/fileadmin/Innovationspreis/Booklet/2019_AMA_Booklet_w.pdf

Sensor and Measurement at All-Time High: Turnover and Export Quota Soared

AMA Association reports positive overall economic development for 2018

Sensors and measurement generated a significant rise in revenue for 2018 of ten percent. A further increase of five percent is expected for the current fiscal year. The AMA members’ export quota rose by a total of four percent.

 

Berlin, 19 March 2019 - The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement (AMA) polled its members in January regarding the economic development in 2018. According to their statements, they generated an increase in revenue of ten percent last year and anticipate a further rise of five percent for 2019.

 

Thus, the sensor and measuring industry is ahead of the overall trend in Germany, as the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) declared a slight rise for the German economy in 2018, but stated that some of the impetus during nine successive years was lost. However, the sensor and measuring industry had predicted eight percent for 2018, but achieved a ten percent increase in turnover. Impulses for this growth, says the Association came from domestic as well as foreign demand. This is corroborated by an increased export quota of four percentage points to 55 percent. Exports outside of the EU particularly rose, while the exports to central Europe dropped by two percentage points.

 

Economic Effect on the Sensor Industry by the Brexit

The positive export development to countries outside of Europe is reflected by the fact that about one third of the AMA members fear that a Brexit may have a great impact on the economic development of their own enterprises. Just about seventy percent of the members see a Brexit serenely and assume a rather lesser impact on their business activities.

 

“The AMA statistics show that the products and services of our members are in greater demand than ever and with an expectation of plus five percent for the current year this will surely not change,” says Thomas Simmons, general manager of the AMA Association, commenting on the development of the sensor and measurement industry. “Sensors are the basic elements of technical advance. The positive development is pushed by the 2025 high-tech strategy of the German federal government, formulating interdepartmental objectives and attacking social challenges.”

 

Quantum-Leap Innovations from Sensors and Measurement 

The AMA Association finds the foundation of an Agency for the Advancement of Quantum-Leap Innovation (Agentur zur Förderung von Sprunginnovationen) particularly positive. Groundbreaking ideas are to be turned into market successes. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Ministerium für Bildung und Forschung) states areas in medical research, new mobility concepts, and artificial intelligence as examples. “These three examples let us conjecture that many of the projects will involve the application of sensor and measuring technology. In fact, I can imagine that one or another of the AMA Innovation Award winners could be among the sponsored quantum-leap innovators,” muses Simmons in view of the positive outlook for the sensor and measurement industry.

AMA Center for Sensors and Measurement at the Hanover Fair

Specialized Technical Platform for Basic Elements in Automation

 

Berlin, 26 February 2019—The AMA Association represents its 460 members from industry and science from 1 – 5 April 2019 at the Hanover Fair. A number of AMA members are presenting new products and approaches to solutions directly at the AMA Center for Sensors and Measurement in Hall 11.

 

The AMA Center allows interested parties to enter into professional discussions with the exhibiting experts and provides and overview of the basic elements in automation by way of the AMA Directory of Products and Services. This Directory comprises an up-to-date cross-section of suppliers and service providers. The AMA Sensor Directory contains about 1,000 product and service categories as well as all AMA members from industry and research. It is available as a printed brochure at the AMA Center or online at: www.ama-sensorik.de/en/directory-of-suppliers/

 

A list of the exhibitors at the AMA Center in Hall 11 with a short-form description of their core activities can be found at: www.ama-zentren.de/hannover-messe-en/&nbsp;

The AMA Center for Sensors and Measurement offers a specialized technical platform: Integrated Automation, Motion, and Drives. Here the exhibitors present developments dealing with Industry 4.0 and reflect the entire spectrum of industrial automation, drives, and fluids technology. Visitors will find suppliers of machinery, plant construction, and engineering from robotics to process automation.

 

Moreover, there is also an Automation Forum in Hall 14, supported by the AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement. Here, specialists deal in 30-minute talks with current solutions from production and process automation, robotics, image processing, digitalization, and energy-efficient drive technology. Thus the forum presents and explores today’s trends in industrial production. It is free of charge for all trade-fair participants.