Mr. Paulus, what is behind Credemus and Ubito?
Behind them are around 20 years in which we have been very intensively involved in digital transformation on our own behalf. In 2001, we gave the go-ahead for a real departure, with which we wanted to make the traditional company Fraba, founded in 1918, fit for the future with new products and processes: We wanted to turn a regional encoder manufacturer with manual production and a classic catalog into a global company with a modular portfolio and scalable digital production.

In 2005, we replaced optical multiturn encoders with cumbersome backup batteries with magnetic precision encoders. 'Mass customization' and 'batch size 1' were key parameters of the transformation that led to the opening of our digital factory in Slubice, Poland, in 2007. Here, production is exclusively order-based, with customers being able to specify and order 'their' encoder using an online product finder. Production is controlled via a company cloud, which we had to initiate and develop ourselves. And it is precisely this expertise that we now offer to SMEs via our consulting start-up Credemus.

Our second start-up, the technology platform Ubito, is dedicated to Wiegand technology, which we have made usable for the battery-free operation of multiturn encoders for the first time. With Ubito, we want to establish Wiegand technology even more strongly in the pool of classic energy harvesting systems such as solar, piezo or thermoelectronics.

What is special about Credemus - at a time when transformation software and cloud systems are widely available?
In 2004 - three years before the kick-off in Slubice - we gave the go-ahead for the digital transformation and a functional company cloud and put all processes and products to the test in order to digitalize them. As there were no ready-made solutions, the cloud architecture had to be created using on-board resources. An open source ERP served as the basis, which was developed by our IT department into a workflow engine for production - including an online configurator and CRM. Even back then, this gave us access to a transparent factory in which we could record all performance data in real time. Since then, we have been relying on our digital transformation platform called 'Flow' - and we now offer it to SMEs as a software package with accompanying consulting via Credemus.

Ubito is now introducing itself to the public ...
We dedicated ourselves to energy harvesting using the Wiegand effect a good 15 years ago: Using a wire made of Vicalloy specially conditioned according to a patent held by inventor John Wiegand, we succeeded in building multiturn encoders that detect the movements of the rotating shaft without batteries, even when de-energized.

At the beginning of 2014, the Wiegand Technology Center, where we manufacture the special wire and further develop the technology, went online at our R&D center. In addition to rotary encoders, Wiegand sensors have long been a fixture in gas and water flow meters. Ubito aims to find completely new applications for the 'magic wire': in addition to energy generation, the focus is also on signal generation and wireless transmission of electrical energy. Our commitment is supported by two research initiatives - both funded with 1 million euros each by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. One of the aims of the first project is to make Wiegand sensors even more robust and cost-effective. The second project focuses on significantly increasing the energy yield. The aim is to generate sufficient energy for the wireless communication of sensors. The aim is to present concrete prototypes of self-sufficient wireless IIoT sensors.