Right to left: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Prime Minister of Poland, Beata Szydlo, listen as Thomas Kaeser, Chairman of the Board at Kaeser Kompressoren, presents the latest innovations in the field of compressed air technology (left of Thomas Kaeser are Alexander Jan Kaeser and Tina-Maria Vlantoussi-Kaeser).

 

　　German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised the Industrie 4.0 products and services offered by Kaeser as “very nice” while Thomas Kaeser, Chairman of the Board at Kaeser Kompressoren, explained these to her in just a few minutes. In her speech opening this year’s Hannover Messe on Sunday, the Chancellor had expressed concern that although there are currently many concepts related to Industrie 4.0, at this point relatively few concrete products and services are actually available. Thomas Kaeser emphasized that Kaeser is different in this regard, mentioning how as a compressed air system provider, Kaeser already offers innovative Industrie 4.0 products and services, and is showcasing them at Hannover Messe. Merkel showed great interest in the company’s background and history, asking about the company’s size and number of employees, and praising the family company.

 

　　In conclusion and as a token of thanks, the Kaeser Board presented the Chancellor with a model of a compressor, which she then wanted to “have explained” by her staff.

 

　　When it comes to keeping production rolling, industrial manufacturing plants require compressed air as much as electricity: it’s simply indispensable and has to be available, otherwise production grinds to a halt. It is therefore vital to remain abreast of current developments in compressed air production technology – especially when it comes to solutions for enhancing the reliability and maximizing the cost-effectiveness of the compressed air supply. And thanks to its latest digitization strategy, this is precisely what Kaeser does. Thomas Kaeser explained to the two top-level politicians just how Kaeser does it. The company’s “Smart Air” concept encompasses innovative, networked compressors with “digital twins” in the form of intelligent controllers, real-time data transfer and monitoring, as well as valuable access to Kaeser’s world of expertise. All of these recent developments enable Kaeser to track the “health status” of a compressed air system at all times, which means the company can initiate predictive maintenance before a problem occurs. Moreover, digital system management ensures optimized compressed air costs and sufficient compressed air supply at all times.