Midtier and sustainability
Rooted in the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region: Andreas Baumüller, managing partner at Baumüller, a specialist in electric drive and automation technology, talks about sustainability and the challenges and opportunities it creates for small and medium-sized enterprises.
By Sophie Gruber
Mr. Baumüller, you are the managing director of a company that has been family-owned since its founding in 1930. How does that influence your decisions and innovations in terms of sustainability?
Andreas Baumüller: As a family-owned company with around 1,900 employees worldwide, we take a generation-oriented approach. This mindset also shapes our approach to sustainability: we develop long-term, sustainable innovations that offer our customers real added value. Many of our partners are themselves medium-sized companies and often market leaders in their segments. Together, we develop solutions that give them tangible advantages in global competition. Sustainability is often a decisive lever in this context—for example, when we increase the efficiency of plants.
How do sustainability innovations arise in your company?
Small and medium-sized enterprises develop practical solutions that are tailored precisely to the needs of their customers and create genuine, measurable added value. That is precisely our strength. Market conditions set the goals—as enablers, we ensure that our customers achieve these goals. Small and medium-sized enterprises are responsible for many innovations that make production processes more efficient, conserve resources, and make entire value chains more sustainable. These innovations can include, for example, an intelligent algorithm that adjusts machine settings during operation or an optimized electric motor. For us, sustainability is not just a buzzword, but the driving force behind our continuous improvement at all levels.
What exactly does mechanical engineering do to promote a climate-friendly future?
Mechanical engineering plays a key role here, as machines and systems are used at every stage of the value chain. In almost all industries, there are numerous approaches to saving resources in the manufacturing process, reducing energy consumption in production, or recycling materials and raw materials and converting them into new products. Technologically, there is a great deal of activity in this area, with German and European mechanical engineering companies driving these advances forward at a rapid pace. At the same time, the life cycle of the machines themselves is also becoming increasingly sustainable: high quality standards, modular designs, and well-thought-out service and spare parts concepts optimize the service life of machines and systems.
What role do Baumüller and electric drive technology play in this?
We supply highly efficient, perfectly coordinated systems consisting of servo motors, power electronics, and control systems that offer very high efficiency right from the start. Thanks to additional intelligent design, we avoid oversizing and thus significantly reduce energy consumption during operation. We rely on specially developed drive simulation tools that enable us to precisely design high-performance systems. Individual consultation is an integral part of this process. We consider not only energy efficiency, but also the productivity of the machine and the quality of the end product. As specialists in electric drive and automation technology, we are also driving forward e-mobility: our drive technology is used worldwide in hybrid and fully electric vehicles and ships, helping to reduce CO₂ emissions. For example, we equip recreational and work boats for inland waters and even the high seas with modern electric drive technology and suitable charging systems.
How important do you consider AI to be for success in ecological change?
AI opens up completely new possibilities and will play a decisive role in advancing many sustainability goals. We are already using AI—for example, to analyze and optimize energy consumption in production or to process recycled materials into high-quality products. One major problem in the circular economy is the properties of recycled materials. Depending on the quality of the material supplied, it is possible that the end product may also change. This is exactly where we come in: our intelligent drives continuously collect data on material properties during operation and evaluate it using AI. This creates a self-learning system that not only processes this information but also reacts to it independently. This enables a consistently high quality of the end product.
The Baumüller Group was founded in Nuremberg in 1930 and has been firmly anchored in the Nuremberg metropolitan region ever since. What role does the location play in the company's development?
The Nuremberg Metropolitan Region is characterized by a strong industrial base, a high level of innovation, and its central location in the heart of Europe. It offers a healthy mix of large and numerous medium-sized companies in the mechanical engineering, automation and drive technology, electrical engineering, automotive, and medical technology sectors. In addition, companies benefit from close links between business and science with renowned research facilities, universities, and institutions. This creates an innovation-friendly environment that supports companies in developing new technologies and putting them into practice. At the same time, industrial companies benefit from a very good supply of skilled workers.
About Baumüller
Baumüller, headquartered in Nuremberg, is a leading manufacturer of electric drive and automation systems. At its production sites in Germany, Czechia, Slovenia, India, and China, as well as in over 40 branches worldwide, around 1,900 employees develop and produce intelligent system solutions for mechanical engineering and e-mobility. In addition, the Baumüller Group's range of services includes engineering, assembly, and industrial relocation, thus covering the entire life cycle management. More information: www.baumueller.com
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