Mr. Wischnewski, first of all, congratulations on 60 years of Siko! Looking back: What was your company's most significant technological development?

A milestone in the company's history was the development of mechanical digital position indicators for spindle positioning at the end of the 1970s. These position indicators, commonly known as Siko counters, are still used today in many basic woodworking and packaging machines as equipment for manual format adjustment. This pioneering product idea developed into our company's current position as a leading supplier of mechanical, electronic and fully automated solutions for format adjustment on production machines.

The bus-compatible position indicators AP05

© Siko

What is Siko's roadmap for the next ten to 15 years?

We are currently active in the growth markets of automation technology with our three business areas of format adjustment, mobile automation and motor feedback solutions. The respective industry trends, such as Industry 4.0 solutions or functional safety, are therefore decisive for developments in the coming years. In addition, it has always been a particular strength of Siko to realize customer-specific and highly integrated sensor solutions.

What technological trends do you see that are or will be important for Siko?

Data acquisition, data interpretation and data transmission are the major trends for us in the field of sensor and positioning technology. An exciting specific field in this context is the development of multi-sensor solutions. In addition to the original main task of the sensor, such as recording position values, these can also record other physical data. Such multi-sensor solutions enable compact solutions with direct data interpretation in order to provide the user with additional functions and evaluation options.

What do you think will be the biggest business and/or technical challenge in the coming years?

One very exciting challenge is the transformation of the entire industrial production process from hardware-based machine technology to data- and software-based production in an Industry 4.0 environment. In many cases, this requires new skills, a new way of thinking and working in networks and partnerships. However, this transformation also creates a great deal of scope for innovative ideas, particularly in our field of sensor and positioning technology.

What special events are you planning to celebrate your anniversary - and do you have a particular favorite among them?

We are celebrating our 60th anniversary with various events throughout the year. The focus will be on a big staff party. At the end of the day, it's always the people and their cooperation with each other that make a company vibrant and efficient. That's why recognizing and appreciating the 'Sikorians' at a special anniversary summer party is so important to me.