Masterflex Group digitizes the hose & connection business
The hose of the future is intelligent. It communicates proactively, signalling whether it was correctly installed, requires servicing, or is on the verge of wearing out.
"As the very first company on the market, we're looking to integrate future variations and options that are network-compatible and intelligent / smart across our entire Group product portfolio," says Dr Andreas Bastin, CEO of the Masterflex Group. "At the same time, the digitization possibilities will not be limited to a specific line of hoses, such as spiral, heated, or tubing, or even to specific markets, such as for medical, laboratory or industrial applications - they will instead be customized specifically to meet our customer's exact requirements."
Under the new name of AMPIUS, Masterflex Group will in future bundle products and product groups, which perform intelligent functions and are developed together with the customers to meet their latest digital requirements.
This impressively underlines the group's status as technological and global market leaders, which has over the last few years been acknowledged and commended time and again by a wealth of external and independent sources.
Alerts signalling wear and tear are only one way of integrating intelligent hoses: "In principle, we want to give all types of hoses one or several intelligent functions that can then be digitally read and used," explains Rita Krossa, Global Head of Development at Masterflex Group. "They could also include functions, which only result from specific questions or requests from our customers."
Until now, only rather complex components, such as pumps, drives or valves have undergone digitization. However, in many applications even the hoses and the connecting systems are key to the productivity, functionality, quality and safety of machine, laboratory or system operators. The interest in smart functions in this segment is considerable - and growing fast.
Masterflex Group is already involved in creating highly digitized and automated solutions in cooperation with a range of different companies. "We will soon be starting with the market launch of the first smart products based on thermoplastic and vulcanized hoses," says Bastin. The idea is to gradually develop these in the coming years as an independent product line and to market them worldwide for diverse fields of application using the name AMPIUS.
The Masterflex Group with its headquarters in Gelsenkirchen, has for a long time no longer been considered as a mere producer of standard hoses, because it offers an entire system of solutions for very different connection technologies across the board - and across the globe.
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