LAUDA booth with visitors, analytica 2022 © Behrend und Rausch
World market leader impresses with innovations and stra-tegic realignment at Munich trade show
Nearly 26,000 visitors and 891 exhibitors from 39 countries came to Munich from June 21 to 24 for analytica 2022, the world's leading trade fair for laboratory technology, analysis and biotechnology. After the trade fair had to be cancelled in 2020 due to the Corona pandemic, the positive mood and the great urge for professional exchange could be felt throughout. After the four days of the 27th edition of the trade fair, LAUDA DR. R. WOBSER GMBH & CO. KG also draws a clearly positive balance. The world market leader for temperature control equipment and systems presented its product portfolio in six thematic application areas and demonstrated how LAUDA's innovative, digital solutions will bring the laboratory of the future into the present. Despite the uncertainty of the still ongoing pandemic, it was possible to build on the trade fair successes from 2018 - in terms of specific inquiries and customer contacts. The 25-strong trade fair team can thus look back on a very successful week. The motto of this year's trade show appearance of the world market leader "EMPOWERING EXCELLENCE. FOR A BETTER FUTURE" was omnipresent through the visual representation of a floating "Impact Cloud" above the entire booth and impressively illustrated the future technologies and application areas in which LAUDA is making its excellent contribution to improving the world bit by bit with exact temperatures.
"It was a great pleasure to be able to exchange ideas with our partners and customers directly and personally. It is precisely these technical discussions and direct contact that provide such important impetus from our industry," says Dr. Gunther Wobser, President and CEO of LAUDA and Deputy Chairman of the Advisory Board of the leading trade fair. "Particularly in 2022, after more than two years of pandemic, analytica was the perfect professional setting to present our innovations and the strategic reorientation of LAUDA to the trade audience. We are more than satisfied with the positive response and the large number of visitors to our stand, and we are very pleased with the many points of contact and the professional expertise that we were able to exchange during the most important leading international trade fair."
Process thermostats with voice control, mobile ultra-low freezers and digital products from LAUDA
The trade visitors were particularly interested in the product innovations on display, especially the world's first mobile ultra-low temperature freezer equipped with modern lithium-ion battery technology for the safe transport of vaccines, samples and pharmaceuticals. Temperature-sensitive active ingredients are stored and transported safely and in a controlled manner, CO₂ emissions are reduced and the occupational safety of logistics staff is significantly increased by dispensing with dry ice.
The new generation of LAUDA Integral process thermostats, which were developed for a comprehensive range of applications from -90 to 320 °C, an innovative temperature control unit with an intelligent interface concept and intuitive control via mobile devices, also impressed the visitors. With the pioneering technology demonstration "Hey LAUDA", the process thermostats can be operated by voice control for the first time. The devices can thus be controlled easily and conveniently via short and simple commands.
With LAUDA.LIVE, all temperature control and laboratory solutions become fully networked and intelligent IIoT devices. © lauda.de
LAUDA presents innovations for temperature control applications in laboratory and industry at analytica trade fair
After a four-year break due to the pandemic, analytica, the world's leading trade fair for laboratory technology, analytics and biotechnology, is a fixed date for LAUDA DR. R. WOBSER GMBH & CO. KG. This year, the world market leader for temperature control equipment and systems is presenting its product portfolio in six thematic application areas and demonstrating how LAUDA's innovative, digital solutions are bringing the laboratory of the future into the present.
Process thermostats with voice control, mobile ultra-low freezers and digital products from LAUDA
With the new generation of LAUDA Integral process thermostats, developed for a comprehensive range of applications from -90 to 320 °C, LAUDA presents an innovative temperature control unit with an intelligent interface concept and intuitive control via mobile devices. With the pioneering technology demonstration "Hey LAUDA", the process thermostats can be operated for the first time by means of intuitive voice control. The devices can thus be controlled easily and conveniently via short and simple commands. The industry-standard voice control with directional microphone characteristics for reliable recognition of voice commands, even in environments with background noise, works by means of a separately connectable voice control box and processes the commands in a GDPR-compliant manner without data transmission to cloud services (Privacy by Design). Speech recognition technology based on Natural Language Understanding (NLU) ensures the best possible speech recognition. The voice control system of an Integral IN 150 XT will be presented in the "Digitalize and Connect" area at the LAUDA booth in Hall B1, Booth 504.
With LAUDA.LIVE, LAUDA temperature control solutions become fully networked and intelligent IIoT devices. The digital platform, which will also be presented live in the "Digitalize and Connect" area, offers users comprehensive asset management functions as well as intelligent analysis and monitoring tools. LAUDA.LIVE provides companies with transparency about their own fleet of temperature control units, as well as their condition and maintenance requirements. The sophisticated control and remote maintenance functions allow highly qualified remote diagnosis and optimize the uptime, reliability and performance of LAUDA equipment.
The freezers of the Versafreeze line with "GFL Technology" are the center of the application field "ultra-low temperature storage". LAUDA Versafreeze ultra-low temperature freezers for laboratories and pharmaceuticals guarantee safe storage of pharmaceuticals and valuable samples in the temperature range down to -85 °C. At this year's analytica, LAUDA will present a world first: The mobile Versafreeze ultra-low freezer - the world's first mobile ultra-low freezer with modern Li-ion battery technology for the safe transport of vaccines, samples or pharmaceuticals - makes the use of dry ice in the storage and transport of pharmaceuticals obsolete and exact temperatures in the cold chain a reality. Temperature-sensitive active ingredients are stored and transported safely and in a controlled manner, CO2 emissions are reduced, and the occupational safety of logisticians is significantly increased by dispensing with dry ice.
Water baths, shakers and space-saving temperature control units for daily work in the laboratory
Reliable solutions for numerous requirements in daily laboratory work have been part of LAUDA's core competence for over 65 years. With the acquisition of laboratory technology manufacturer GFL Gesellschaft für Labortechnik at the end of 2018, LAUDA has expanded its portfolio to include first-class laboratory equipment. To highlight the branch's more than 50 years of experience and expertise accordingly, all LAUDA laboratory equipment is given the "GFL Technology" suffix as a seal of approval for quality, reliability and convincing performance data. In the application areas "Preparation" and "Temperature Control in the Laboratory", LAUDA presents practical examples for various laboratory applications, from LAUDA Hydro water baths to LAUDA Varioshake shakers and shaking incubators to LAUDA ECO thermostats for economical temperature control in the laboratory. The application area "process temperature control" includes the successful line of Integral IN process thermostats for professional temperature control from -90 to 320 °C, the versatile LAUDA PRO circulation chillers and the variable process thermostats LAUDA Variocool from 1200 W to 10 kW from -20 to 80 °C for the dissipation of process heat in laboratory, miniplant and production.
Improving the world together with precise temperatures
Dr. Gunther Wobser, President and CEO of LAUDA as well as Vice Chairman of the analytica Advisory Board, is looking forward to the first major trade show participation in four years: "As the world's leading trade show for laboratory technology, analytica is a first-class opportunity to present our solutions for the digital transformation of temperature control technology to trade visitors. I am very much looking forward to the personal discussions with our worldwide customers and partners. Our ambition is to improve the world together with precise temperatures. How we intend to implement this vision is impressively demonstrated by the high-growth application fields at our trade show booth."
Group picture of the enlarged LAUDA management team: from left to right The President and CEO, Dr. Gun-ther Wobser, together with Dr. Marc Stricker, Dr. Mario Englert and Dr. Ralf Hermann. / © Christoph Weiß/lauda.de
Dr. Ralf Hermann appointed new Managing Director at LAUDA
LAUDA DR. R. WOBSER GMBH & CO. KG is reinforcing the management of the successful family-owned company as of April 01, 2022. The previous general manager and authorized signatory, Dr. Ralf Hermann will manage the world market leader in temperature control equipment and systems together with the President and CEO, Dr. Gunther Wobser, Dr. Marc Stricker (COO) and Dr. Mario Englert (CFO). As Chief Sales Officer, Dr. Ralf Hermann will consolidate the company's customer-oriented activities with the departments of Area Sales International, Key Account Management, Project Management Plant Engineering, E-Commerce & Inside Sales, Service and Product Management, thereby making a contribution to achieving the ambitious goals. In addition, he will assume responsibility for the company’s distribution companies in the management team.
The appointment of Dr. Hermann is an important measure of the comprehensive Drive250 strategy project, which will enable LAUDA to position itself for the future. The family-owned company is aiming to meet the requirements of a modern, agile industrial company with an offensive growth strategy, a clear, comprehensible structure and a significant reduction in the complexity of processes and products.
Dr. Ralf Hermann has been General Manager for Constant Temperature Equipment since 2017. In this role, the Doctor of Biology is responsible for the most important constant temperature equipment division, the service division and the management of the company's distribution companies. Before joining LAUDA, Dr. Ralf Hermann worked for Eppendorf AG in Hamburg, most recently as a member of the Managing Board.
“Dr. Ralf Hermann has managed LAUDA’s largest business unit with great professionalism for a long time and has played a decisive role in shaping our market success in recent years. As Managing Director for Sales, Service and Product Management, he will drive forward the further development of our product portfolio, international sales and business development,” says President and CEO, Dr. Gunther Wobser.
Dr. Ralf Hermann is very conscious of his responsibility: “I’m looking forward to the new challenge and the opportunity to play a key role in the implementation of our Drive250 strategy project. The new structure and the process optimizations already underway will help us achieve our ambitious growth targets."
LAUDA has tailored the SUK 350 process cooling units specifically to the requirements of the hydrogen market. / © lauda.de
World market leader receives major order for cooling hydrogen filling stations
LAUDA DR. R. WOBSER GMBH & CO. KG has received a major order for hydrogen technology. The world market leader will provide around 20 process cooling units for a French manufacturer of hydrogen filling stations. These will be responsible for an essential part of the refueling process – cooling the hydrogen to -40 °C – as part of the application. The filling stations will be used throughout Europe. LAUDA is stepping up its activities in the field of hydrogen technology in order to provide customers with urgently needed temperature control expertise and to make an active contribution to environmental protection. The production of green hydrogen is one of the key technologies for a successful energy turnaround.
LAUDA will manufacture industrial process cooling units of the type SUK 350 as well as industrial circulation chillers from the LAUDA Ultracool product line for the French customer. Delivery of the systems will be completed by the end of June 2022. The process cooling units will be used to cool the hydrogen pumped into the vehicle tank under high pressure with a short-term high cooling capacity. The process cooling unit provides a peak cooling capacity of 40 kW at -40 °C and was especially designed for use in hydrogen filling stations. The LAUDA Ultracool circulation chillers, which have been specially optimized for this application, are used simultaneously for cooling a high-pressure hydrogen compressor to a constant temperature of -18 °C.
The demand for professional hydrogen cooling is growing
“The order from our French partner is a clear indication for us that temperature control solutions from LAUDA are a critical high technology in the development of a functional and safe hydrogen logistics system,” says Dr. Gunther Wobser, President and CEO of LAUDA. “We have significantly increased our activities in this area in recent years and see a lot of potential for precise temperature control technology from LAUDA there.”
“We can offer the experience gained from more than 60 years of system engineering, and many customers appreciate that,” adds Alfred Semrau, managing director for Heating and Cooling Systems. “In addition to electrolysis and hydrogen refueling – two fields in which equipment and systems from us are already in operation – there are many other applications for energy-efficient cooling in the hydrogen sector. We are very much looking forward to working with our customers to develop many other exciting solutions.”
The 4,000 m² of new production space and the offices in LAUDA Ultracool's prestigious new building in Terrassa, Spain, will soon be ready for occupancy. In the picture (from left to right): Xavier Armengol (General Manager LAUDA Ultracool), Lluís Roig Garrido (Production Manager LAUDA Ultracool), Oriol Bach (Project Manager), Managing Director Daniel Puente, both from the regional general contractor DSL, Dr. Marc Stricker (COO LAUDA), Artur Gispert (Site Manager DSL) and the President and CEO, Dr. Gunther Wobser.
Completion of a new LAUDA production facility in Spain at the beginning of 2022
Construction of the LAUDA Group’s new production facility in Terrassa, Spain, is progressing. The temperature control specialist is building a state-of-the-art production facility in the immediate vicinity of Barcelona for the Spanish company LAUDA Ultracool S.L., which was acquired ten years ago for the development and production of circulation chillers. After the laying of the foundation stone in January 2021, LAUDA expects the building to be completed and LAUDA Ultracool S.L. and its sales subsidiary LAUDA Ibérica Soluciones Técnicas S.L. to move in during the first quarter of 2022. LAUDA is investing around 7 million euros in the new building in Spain.
The new production facility means that LAUDA will double its production and storage area for industrial circulation chillers, which are used e.g. for cooling in the field of mechanical and system engineering. LAUDA is therefore continuing to drive forward the continuously positive development of its Spanish subsidiary and is meeting the growing global demand for energy-efficient temperature control solutions. Approximately 4,000 m² of new production space and more than 850 m² of office space will be created on the 9,000 m² site. "With the new building, LAUDA Ultracool is consistently gearing up for growth," explains Dr. Marc Stricker, COO at LAUDA and responsible for Development and Production. "We are not only increasing the production capacities of our Spanish subsidiary but have also deliberately created new office space to further expand the operational and technical capacities of LAUDA Ultracool," continues Dr. Stricker.
Sustainability and energy efficiency were important factors in the construction of the new complex. For example, concrete slabs with enhanced thermal insulation were used to minimize energy losses. Photovoltaic systems with a peak output of 310 kWp will be installed on the roof to generate electricity for the company’s internal consumption. As a result, LAUDA Ultracool will cover 65 percent of its internal electricity consumption and save emissions amounting to 104 tons of CO₂ per year.
Representatives of the parent company's management team were able to see the progress for themselves during a site visit. “We are delighted that the new building is progressing well despite the difficult pandemic situation and the global resource bottlenecks,” said President and CEO, Dr. Gunther Wobser. "The expansion of the site in Spain is of enormous importance for the strategic growth of the LAUDA Group. Not only are we meeting the demand for industrial circulation chillers by increasing production capacity, but overall we are strengthening the future viability of industrial temperature control technology."
