Innovation through collaboration

Endress+Hauser has once again demonstrated its commitment to innovation. In 2023, the company launched 20 new products and introduced over 1,100 new device options. The measurement and automation technology specialist’s customers also benefited from new tools and improved processes. The people behind these advances were honored at the annual Innovators’ Meeting at Messe Basel.

Endress+Hauser continues to protect its innovations intensively. In 2023, the company filed 257 patent applications for new inventions for the first time; 723 new patents were granted. The property rights portfolio thus comprises around 8,900 patents and patent applications that protect the intellectual property behind the company’s products, solutions and services.

At the Endress+Hauser Innovators’ Meeting, the brains behind commercially significant inventions are honored, as are particularly active innovators. For the first time, over 400 of the company’s employees were involved in the patent applications.

The teams were honored for developments such as new methods for simpler and safer operation of devices, a function for detecting foam formation in tanks, improved signal generation for ultrasonic flow measurement in gases and new, even more comprehensive diagnostic functions using Endress+Hauser Heartbeat Technology.

“We are driving innovation in all areas of our company,” emphasizes Dr Andreas Mayr, Chief Operating Officer at Endress+Hauser. The patent applications cover all product areas. As measurement technology advances, the importance of software-based solutions and services as well as firmware, connectivity and device integration is growing. Cloud applications and artificial intelligence are also increasingly being used. Another important focus is the analysis and measurement of material properties.

In 2023, Endress+Hauser spent over 267 million euros on research and development – 7.2 percent of turnover and 10.4 percent more than in the previous year. More than 1,300 employees are working on the development of new products, solutions and services. In addition, process improvements in production, logistics, IT and administration play a decisive role in the company's success.

“An important factor in the success of our innovations last year was that many teams of inventors were made up of employees from different divisions and locations,” says Dr Christine Koslowski, director of intellectual property rights at Endress+Hauser. “The fact that more innovations are emerging across company boundaries is also evident in the prizes for process improvements and for the transfer of already developed solutions to corresponding applications in other areas,” Koslowski continues.