Mobile automation
Wika takes over Hirschmann MCS
The Wika Group acquired Hirschmann Mobile Machine Control Solutions (MCS) from the US company Belden on January 1, 2018.
The business unit previously managed by the Belden subsidiary Hirschmann Automation and Control GmbH, headquartered in Ettlingen, is to expand the Wika Group's portfolio for applications in mobile machinery. Hirschmann MCS is currently being separated from Hirschmann Automation and Control GmbH and has been operating as Wika Mobile Control GmbH & Co. KG since January 1.
The Wika Mobile Control business unit will comprise Hirschmann MCS in Ettlingen (Germany) and Chambersburg (USA) as well as a 50 percent stake in a joint venture in Xuzhou (China). All sites and production facilities are to be retained, as are all 373 jobs (98 in Ettlingen, 29 in Chambersburg, 246 in China).
By establishing Wika Mobile Control, Wika sees itself in a position to offer a much wider and more flexible range of customized application solutions for mobile machinery from a single source in the future. Wika's product and application expertise in the field of pressure, temperature and force measurement will be complemented by Hirschmann MCS's expertise in system integration and application know-how for safety applications in mobile machinery. "As part of the repositioning, we will use the synergies of the solutions and components business to further expand our systems business in the long term," explains Axel Kaltofen, Executive Vice President of Wika.
Wika Mobile Control will be set up as an independent organization within the Wika Group. "Our vision is to offer our customers an automation platform for mobile machinery with the combined expertise of both organizations," emphasizes Wika Managing Director Alexander Wiegand. "Customers can receive a complete safety system that is individually adapted to customer-specific requirements."
Founded in 1946, the Wika Group is a globally active family business with over 9300 employees and is primarily involved in pressure, temperature, level and flow measurement technology as well as calibration technology.










