Bietigheim-Bissingen, February 17, 2021 – The Dürr Group is expanding its range of products and services for the digitalization of production processes through the acquisition of the technology provider Cogiscan Inc. The Canadian IT company with approximately 50 employees specializes in connectivity solutions for digitally connecting machines. This allows machine data from different parts of a production to be recorded, exchanged and passed on to higher-level Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) for factory control. With this acquisition, the Dürr Group intends to expand further in the MES business and strengthen its position in the North American market for digital solutions.
The core products of Cogiscan include, for example, the Co-NECT interface technology and the TTC server platform. They serve as a link between the machines in production – the so-called shop floor – and the higher-level manufacturing execution system. As such, they play an important role in the digitalized smart factory. Cogiscan was founded in 1999 in Bromont, Quebec, and has so far mainly supplied manufacturers of electronic products. Worldwide, more than 450 factories in 50 countries work with Cogiscan technologies.
“The acquisition of Cogiscan is an important step in expanding our MES business,” says Dr. Jochen Weyrauch, Deputy CEO of Dürr AG. “This will help us become even more flexible in marketing and better able to establish connectivity between a customer’s machinery and our MES applications. This increases the attractiveness of our MES range. In addition, we can significantly strengthen our market presence in North America.” Dürr and its subsidiary iTAC have so far equipped over 500 factories worldwide with MES applications. iTAC was acquired in 2015 and represents an important center of competence for MES technology within the Dürr Group.
iTAC has been cooperating with Cogiscan for many years and has now acquired 100% of the shares in the Canadian partner. “The acquisition of all Cogiscan shares was the next logical step,” says Peter Bollinger, CEO of iTAC Software AG. “This allows us to join forces, offer customers end-to-end solutions and benefit from synergies.” Within the Dürr Group, iTAC and Cogiscan are part of the Digital Factory. This virtual organization bundles activities in the areas of digitalization and software in order to develop and bring to market new solutions faster and more efficiently. The HOMAG and Schenck subgroups, which belong to the Dürr Group, are also involved in the Digital Factory.
