Progressively Transitioning Factories: SCIO Automation GmbH, a Global Industrial Automation Conglomerate, Stands for Tailored Integration and Innovation Solutions

“From warehouse management software to graphical project management tools, our software solutions meet all factory needs and can be seamlessly integrated, allowing devices to communicate with each other, and collect and report data, effortlessly.”

The Covid-19 pandemic has uncovered hidden vulnerabilities in global supply chains. Consequently, manufacturers had to find new, radical ways to do the same — or more — with less. No doubt, the last 15 months were some of the most painful months in recent history in terms of balancing supply and demand.

Manufacturers need resiliency, flexibility, and scalability. In other words, they need automation. Indeed, the implementation of automation technologies, techniques, and processes promise improvements in safety, simplification of routine tasks, and higher productivity levels across industries.

In light of the foregoing, we’re pleased to present SCIO Automation GmbH — a system integrator using new digital-age solutions as well as a technical innovator that develops value-adding product solutions tailored to customer-specific needs. In this way, SCIO supports its customers to turn industrial plants into smart factories.

As a global industrial automation conglomerate, SCIO provides the human and technical resources needed, helping its customers to automate production and logistics processes to achieve superior efficiency and a sustainable higher quality level. Throughout the entire process, from planning to implementation and through after-sales support, SCIO Group is there for its customers — everything from a single source.

SCIO’s group structure with eight independent companies enables it to benefit from expertise transfer within the Group and geographical proximity, as SCIO has 30 sites worldwide.

SCIO Automation was a founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Germany.

To highlight and further understand what SCIO Automation GmbH stands for and seeks to explore in this segment, I sat down with Michael Goepfarth, who serves as the company’s Chief Executive Officer. Below is an excerpt.

SCIO’s integration services and product innovations have been developed using its unique expertise out of more than 30 years of experience from its group companies. In many sectors and focused on three main segments, SCIO always takes the customers’ needs first, understands that, and provides tailored solutions.

SCIO Automation GmbH: Synopsis

Leveraging the expertise this group offers through its combined experience of the group companies that operate under the aegis of SCIO Automation helps SCIO to remain at the forefront; develop groundbreaking integration solutions and product innovations.

With that said, SCIO focuses on automated manufacturing and assembly lines for a wide range of applications and end markets as a leading system integrator. SCIO is a manufacturer and automation service provider of special machines that exclusively address its customers’ needs. It also offers a portfolio of complementary value-added services to integrate automation and software solutions and after-sales services to pave the way for its customers’ innovative digital transformation.

Moreover, SCIO offers the entire intralogistics range of solutions, such as automated warehouse integration services from turnkey solutions to retrofitting existing plants. Autonomous mobile robot solutions for flexible and demanding intralogistics tasks that can be fully interconnected via the cloud with MES and ERP systems, and tailored and flexible storage and material handling solutions for food and beverage and semiconductor industries.

“Our automation and intralogistics solutions naturally utilize the latest sensor and robotic technologies, generating a myriad of data points per second. Besides, our platform acts as a software programming specialist for plant manufacturers and production operators, supporting them with our expertise in a variety of high-level language programming that can be seamlessly integrated into the existing plant, making machines run smoothly and profitably,” confirmed Michael Goepfarth, CEO of SCIO Automation GmbH.

Using real-time machine data for tapping the full potential of smart productions in any process is a important need for manufacturers and production operators, to deliver greater transparency, efficiency, and output. SCIO has developed the software products of the SO3 Hiberion product family that have created a digital twin of each production based on machine data reading in real-time; in cooperation with manufacturing customers to optimized production. Smart software products are meant for predictive maintenance, ticketing systems, and machine learning and they can be individually adapted as per each company’s need and customers’ request.

In addition, SCIO-developed “Luka”, an autonomous mobile handling robot, was created to replenish stocks in narrow aisle warehouses and handle heavy loads on long distances. “Luka“ has a patented ball joint that makes it the perfect assistant for handling heavy loads up to 20 kg at the height of up to two meters in narrow aisles.

SCIO serves clients in various sectors, including industrial (automotive, manufacturing, process, and chemicals), ecommerce and cargo, food and beverage, technology (electronics and semiconductor), life science (MedTec, pharma), environment (air, water, energy), to name a few.

Given how competently SCIO supports its customers on their journey to Industry 4.0, automating production and logistics processes for greater efficiency and developing value-adding product solutions, it has seen exponential growth over the last several years. As a result, SCIO has a strong foothold in the US and Europe and is eager to expand its conglomerate of multiple companies by acquiring more companies in other areas, including Asian and Latin American countries.

“SCIO is already a leading platform in automation, but we plan to develop our integration and innovation expertise further and want to be even closer to the customer to understand their needs right from the start to support them even better with our tailored product innovations. Being at the forefront of digitalization combined with providing all services from a single source will help us to remain relevant,” revealed Michael.

Keeping Up With The Ever-Changing Needs Of Customers

As an integrator and innovator, SCIO combines two mutual competencies, having tailored and customized solutions and skills to meet any customer’s demand. The company sees the customer’s needs and provides them with industry-specific solutions as a central point in any business decision as well as the key to success.

The second point is to stay at the forefront of the industrial IoT by leveraging the wealth of data in real-time. SCIO’s automation and intralogistics solutions naturally utilize the latest sensor and robotic technologies, generating a myriad of data points per second. The company acts as a software programming specialist for plant manufacturers and production operators – supporting them with its expertise in a variety of high-level language programming that can be seamlessly integrated into the existing plant, making machines run smoothly and profitably.

“With sophisticated programming language skills, we, at SCIO, pave the way for our customers’ innovative digital transformation.” asserted Michael.

“SCIO is already a leading platform in automation, but we plan to develop our integration and innovation expertise further and want to be even closer to the customer to understand their needs right from the start to support them even better with our tailored product innovations. Being at the forefront of digitalization combined with providing all services from a single source will help us to remain relevant.”