In 1975, Renate Pilz continued to run the automation company based in Ostfildern with her husband Peter's technological vision after his death. The housewife at the time hired an external management team for the company, which employed 200 people at the time. At the same time, she worked her way deeper and deeper into the subject matter: "It's wonderful for me how you can learn something if you really want to - and how it gives you pleasure," she explained at the award ceremony in Berlin.

In 1994, Renate Pilz herself took over the management of the company and drove its international expansion forward. With solutions for safe automation technology, she made Pilz a leading company in the field of safety relays. Pilz technology ensures the protection of man and machine and monitors plant and machinery, cable cars, ski lifts and amusement rides. Today, the company has 42 subsidiaries worldwide. With around 2,400 employees, it generated a turnover of 338 million euros last year. At the end of 2017, Renate Pilz handed over the management of the company to her children Susanne Kunschert and Thomas Pilz.

Respect and innovation

According to the jury, Renate Pilz shaped the corporate culture with her humanistic-Christian values. In addition to treating each other with respect, she focused on driving innovation. For example, 20% of turnover is continuously invested in research and development. "They have created an extremely versatile company, the latest highlight being the construction of their own robot. Some say that Industry 4.0 already existed at your company before the term was even coined," said Claus Wilk, Editor-in-Chief of Produktion, in his laudatory speech.

The German Mechanical Engineering Award is presented once a year by the trade journal Produktion to an entrepreneur selected by a jury of experts as part of the Mechanical Engineering Summit in Berlin. It aims to honor a life's work rather than individual achievements.