Expansion Of The Research & Development Department

July 7th, 2019 - UNION Instruments GmbH: “UNION Instruments not only wants to establish itself as a specialized provider of measurement technology used before the combustion of gases, but afterwards as well. For a hundred years, one of our strengths has been catering to the area prior to the combustion of gases. Now we want to further expand our range of services to cover the post-combustion domain as well. This is why we’re investing in the field of optical sensors (UV, lasers and NDIR). These technologies make it possible to build high-quality, affordable devices which have found a home a high-value market segment. UNION was able to enlist two very highly qualified employees – both specialists in the field – for this purpose.

Development progress

Our order situation is looking good. We have lots of orders in the gas quality measurement area, our core business. We have high hopes for our new ATEX devices – ATEX are European Union explosion protection guidelines. These devices have been specially developed for hazardous areas in Europe, Asia and the US. Measuring and testing devices for pipeline construction (ESS and ISO testers) sold well last year. The handling of services in this area, from acceptance to the offer to order confirmation, will be transitioned over to an online shop over the next few months. By doing so, we’re expecting to be able to optimize processes and reduce costs in this area.

We’ve made a new development in the multi-gas analyzer (INCA) product group and are aiming to replace the INCA product group with a new series of devices. With regard to leak-test devices for pipelines, we’ve had a new hardware version for a month which covers the full scope of functions for the product range.

Positive outlook for the coming years

Internationalization of the ESS and ISO tester product group is planned for this year. We’re very excited to see how the rest of the world will receive this product. So far, we’ve already gotten initial expressions of interest from England and Belgium. The global political situation is also having a positive effect on our core business. Several countries are beginning to modernize steel and chemical plants and even build new ones from the ground up. We see this as a great opportunity with positive effects on our order inflow.

Our goal is to surpass the €7m sales mark significantly in 2019, and we’re expecting EBIT of around 10 to 15% of generated sales.”