"Collecting top performances: This is what happens at the 'Best of Industry Award' in a months-long viewing process. Our team researches important product awards around the world. Only products that have won such an award or were at least on the shortlist are shortlisted," says Hans-Jürgen Kuntze, Publisher MM MaschinenMarkt, emphasizing the importance of the industry award. "This is outstanding proof of the innovative strength of German mechanical engineering."
The winners of the "Best of Industry Award 2017" were determined by an evaluation process based on the results of an online reader vote on maschinenmarkt.de and a jury of experts. The jury of experts from industry and research as well as from the MM editorial team assessed the nominees according to the criteria of technical innovation and benefits for industry, the environment and society. The jury's result accounted for 40% of the assessment, with the majority, namely 60%, coming from the readers' vote. Almost 11,000 votes were cast in just a few weeks.
On the evening of February 16, the winners in eight categories were honored. Here are the winners by category in alphabetical order:
Additive Manufacturing" category
Autodesk (Munich) - Dreamcatcher project. CAD software plays a more active and participative role in design today. The Dreamcatcher project turns designers into real decision-makers.
Drive Technology" category
Kabel.Consult.Ing (Mönchengladbach) - Energy Light drive system. The Energy Light drive system only "consumes" as much energy as is actually needed.
Automation" category
RittalGmbH & Co. KG (Herborn) - Blue e+ generation of cooling units.
Economical, flexible and safe: The cooling units in the Blue e+ series enable savings of up to 75%.
Operating technology" category
SERAPID Deutschland GmbH (Bad Mergentheim) - LinkLift lift chain. The powerful and reliable LinkLift drive system with a rigid push chain gets elevator technology moving.
Category "Industry 4.0"
Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG (Herzogenaurach) - Machine Tool 4.0. From the sensor to the cloud: Development of Machine Tool 4.0 and networking of existing technology with new, digitalized components.
Category "Material Flow"
Jungheinrich AG (Hamburg) - EKX 516 narrow-aisle stacker. The electric order picker can also be used on uneven surfaces and requires little energy.
Robotics" category
Liebherr-Verzahntechnik GmbH (Kempten) - Gear cutting technology and automation systems - Bin picking robot application. More than just a "reach into the box": Bin Picking is an interaction between 3D image recognition software, robot and controller.
Machining" category
Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik WALDRICH COBURG GmbH (Coburg) - Taurus portal milling machine. One machine for all machining tasks: Taurus is the first portal milling machine "in series" for small to medium-sized companies.
"MM MaschinenMarkt" is published weekly in Germany with a circulation of over 40,000 copies. The industry magazine offers business news, management information and practical technical reports for decision-makers in production, automation and construction in the entire manufacturing industry. MM is published internationally in China, India, Thailand, Turkey, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Ukraine, Austria and Switzerland with a total annual circulation of over 6 million copies. The specialist portal maschinenmarkt.de is primarily aimed at managers and specialists in the core sectors of the manufacturing industry in seven topic channels. The parent company Vogel Business Media is Germany's largest trade media company with 100+ trade journals, 100+ web portals, 100+ business events as well as numerous mobile offerings and international activities. Its headquarters are in Würzburg. The company celebrated its 125th birthday in 2016.
