„Decoupled from the economic situation“

Dr Bünz, how is EXPRESSO currently developing and what do you expect for 2025?

Bünz: We have coped well with the coronavirus years and all their aftermath and currently see ourselves in an excellent position in terms of products and development in all six of our business units. We are expecting a moderate increase in turnover this year and aim to increase turnover by a double-digit percentage in 2025. We are currently holding back on major investments in our own production. But as soon as the general economic climate in Europe brightens up, we’ll get started here.

Does this also mean that you have scaled back your innovation plans at product level?

Bünz: No, by no means. Our innovation management has always been decoupled from economic developments. In the short and medium term, for example, our Service & Digital Solutions and Smart Retail units, as well as the two units Manual Handling Equipment and Powered Handling and Transport Systems, will be launching new developments on the market.

Not all of our readers know your portfolio in detail ¬¬– so could you please specify which innovations users in industry and retail can expect?

Bünz: We will soon be presenting a lean retail solution for retailers, which we have named Independent Payment Process – IPP for short. This is a lite version of our intelligent shopping cart SmartShopper, which works independently of any system and can be easily integrated into a store’s sales processes. It combines scanner, Internet and Bluetooth technology, requires only a minimal investment from the store operator and can be operated with shopping carts and shopping baskets. It is a flexible, low-threshold digital solution that is likely to find rapid acceptance.

Will this smart solution replace the SmartShopper system?

Bünz: Of course not! We only presented the new model range of our SmartShopper family at EuroCIS in Düsseldorf/Germany in February. It includes customised versions for food retailers, beverage and drugstore chains, DIY and cash & carry stores and other retail segments. These are always complete mobile solutions with a hand scanner, colour display and a mobile platform with several load cells, which check the inserted goods for plausibility to the gram and thus significantly reduce inventory differences for the retailer. Everything is linked via network-compatible user and analysis software.

How are store operators reacting to the introduction of the new variants?

Bünz: The first stores have installed the SmartShopper system and well-known retail chains see it as the ideal way to modernise the purchasing and sales processes in their stores. In cooperation with a start-up from the field of artificial intelligence, our retail specialists are also currently developing a systemic long-term perspective. The long-term goal is an AI-supported shopping cart that represents the next generation of the SmartShopper. I don’t want to reveal any more about this yet. It will also be interesting to see what insights our Service & Digital Solutions unit comes up with in the next development stage of EXPRESSO Connect.

What is behind this product name?

Bünz: EXPRESSO Connect is a flexible IoT solution that provides small and medium-sized companies with a cost-effective path to digitalisation. It is a modular gateway that is ready for use at short notice and can be adapted to specific tasks, making the savings potential of intralogistics processes transparent across plants. For example, one customer was able to put the monitoring of 12 systems into operation in just one day. In principle, EXPRESSO Connect is based on the collection and transmission of digital and analogue information from all technical units to a central data portal and their analysis, documentation and visualisation on a dashboard. The system can work independently of existing networks, regardless of the manufacturer and across all plants. It can be used to monitor the status of devices and systems as part of condition monitoring as well as for predictive maintenance.

What is happening in the manual transport equipment sector – for example in the field of hand trucks?

Bünz: We are currently developing a cost-effective e-mobility hand truck. It combines the aspects of efficiency and ergonomics, will speed up the transport of loads and, thanks to an integrated braking system, will enable goods to be transported safely even on inclines. In the spirit of modularity, this e-drive solution will also be designed to allow older hand trucks to be retrofitted. The day-to-day business in this area is also characterised by the constant demand for customised and industry-specific versions. This also applies to the Powered Handling and Transport Systems unit, in which our flexible lifting aid lift2move sets the tone.

Can you be more specific at this point?

Bünz: Our mobile lifting and transport aid lift2move – now one of the German standards – is at the centre of operational material flow processes in many industries. It is available in various basic versions, can be configured and adapted almost indefinitely thanks to its modular design and is the central starting point for many solutions. It can also be adapted to many different load handling systems and is constantly being developed further. In the lift2move solution version, for example, it has integrated fault diagnostics with visual signalling, lockable front rollers and sensor-based safety equipment. If it is also equipped with the Vertical Position Control (VPC) control module for the lift mast, it enables the automatic and repeatable approach of up to eight programmable heights – for example for accurate rack loading, the exact approach of workbenches or the precise operation of workpiece carriers. Under the motto ‘Next Big Thing – NBT’, the Powered Handling and Transport Systems unit is also already working on future prospects that go far beyond the possibilities of today’s lift2move.

That sounds exciting. Can you give us a deeper insight here?

Bünz: We are thinking here of a new type of intelligent industrial system whose functionality combines several technologies and disciplines. It will probably integrate elements and components of modularity, digitalisation, robotics, mechatronics, autonomous mobility and handling technology. It should also be suitable for both stationary and mobile use. Another approach combines the expertise of our two business units Manual Handling Equipment and Powered Handling and Transport Systems to develop autonomous catering and service systems – for use on trains, passenger ships or aircraft, for example.

It seems that there are hardly any barriers to innovation management in your company?

Bünz: For a modern company like ours, I can hardly imagine it any other way. That’s why our innovation management is not channelled according to rigid grids, but instead thrives on the agile cooperation of our employees. I have now realised that this day-to-day interaction sometimes leads to results faster than structures imposed from above. It is not orientated towards formal standards, does not require a learning phase and hardly raises any internal resistance within the company.

Mr Bünz, thank you for this interview.