Lothar Späth awards the "Top 100" seal of approval to Bavarian automation engineering company for its outstanding innovations management.

It's official: VIPA Gesellschaft für Visualisierung und Prozessautomatisierung mbH is one of the 100 most innovative small and medium-sized companies in Germany. So say the results of this year's "Top 100" corporate benchmarking competition - a cross-sectoral business initiative covering the entire country. One key element of the firm's success in this, the 17th year of the renowned contest, was its finely-tuned innovations management. Lothar Späth, former state premier of Baden-Württemberg, will present the prestigious "Top 100" seal of approval to VIPA at an official ceremony in Königswinter's "Gästehaus Petersberg" this Friday evening.

As patron of the SME initiative, he will be recognising the company's achievements in the five key categories of "Innovation-friendly Senior Management", "Climate of Innovation", "Innovative Processes and Organisation", "Innovations Marketing" and "Successful Innovations". This is the second time that VIPA has been recognised as one of Germany's top 100 most innovative SMEs.
The company, which employs 130 people and generated sales of around €35.5 million in 2008, specialises in the development and sale of programmable local control (PLC) systems and add-ons for the engineering sector. Since the foundation of VIPA (short for: Visualisation and Process Automation) in 1985, the company has evolved from a specialist in Siemens-compatible modules into a supplier of fully-fledged PLC systems, with a workforce largely focused on development, quality assurance and marketing. According to the Top 100 analysis, VIPA enjoys an excellent climate of innovation which has led to numerous successful new developments. One contributing factor here is the ring-fenced budget to fund "blue sky thinking"™ on the part of employees. In 2008, 70 per cent of suggestions put forward were implemented. The innovative climate is further fostered by links with the University of Applied Sciences in Nuremberg. This free flow of knowledge into the firm has proved to be a tremendous asset leading, for example, to the introduction of modern design tools into the internal development process.

To qualify for the award, VIPA had to undergo a stringent, two-stage process devised by the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. "Our results show that the 100 top innovators generally tackle challenges head on and are thus well-equipped to deal with the current economic situation, for example. Innovation is a matter of priority at management level for most of these companies," commented Professor Nikolaus Franke, head of the research team, on the analysis. In the past three years, these award-winners generated two thirds of their revenue from innovations and innovative improvements, compared with 30 per cent in a sample of similarly-structured German SMEs. In addition, Top 100 firms were able to shave some 12 per cent off their costs through process innovations, compared with a paltry 4 per cent on the part of "average SMEs".

As a result, this year's "Top 100" contains 54 German market leaders, 22 of which are global leaders in their field. Director Wolfgang Seel is jubilant about VIPA's success: "We are now officially classed among the most formidable innovators in the German SME sector. This award is a great boost to our credibility and will inspire our employees, partners and, of course, our customers with confidence. We could scarcely have hoped for better news in these times of crisis". Overall, 319 companies entered the "Top 100" competition this year.

VIPA Top100 company profile

On 29.04.2009 VIPA GmbH, located at Herzogenaurach, was awarded the 133. Jobstar of Nuremberg Metropolitan Region. Chief Executive Officer, Wolfgang Seel, accepted the trophy from the hands of Regional Administrator Eberhard Irlinger and Dr. Jörg Hahn, Executive Member of the Managing Board of Regional Marketing Association of Nuremberg Metropolitan Region e.V. (Regionalmarketingverein Metropolregion Nürnberg e.V.). Hereby VIPA GmbH was honoured for special commitment in providing jobs in the region.

VIPA GmbH was founded by Wolfgang Seel as a system house for automation engineering in Erlangen in 1985. At the beginning own hardware components were developed which led to the production of the first PC-based machine operating panel in 1990. Thereafter further control and communication modules have been developed.

Among the first customers there were companies from automobile and food industry, conveyor technique as well as machine and plant construction. Already since 1995 VIPA has been selling internationally. More than 62 own branch offices and service partners in 58 countries ensure global coverage and local support.

VIPA's corporate success is based on teamwork, innovation and a commitment to quality leading to continuous improvements and successful launch of innovations. Thereby great emphasis is placed on entire customer satisfaction. With the continuous development and introduction of a variety of processors and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC) VIPA is setting trends nearly each year and has gained various awards:

For example:

• Industry Prize 2008: awarded by the business initiative for medium-sized companies (Initiative Mittelstand) for the CPU 314SC, the fastest programmable control processor.
• Profibus Connector with Microcontroller: the Profibus connector "EasyConn PB” was prized 2nd place by the readers of the trade magazine "A&D".
• Innovation Prize 2007: awarded by the business initiative for medium-sized companies (Initiative Mittelstand) for SPEED7, the fast control system in the world.

At the moment VIPA has 150 employees. In the past years the number of employees has grown by about 20 - 25 per year. This trend is expected to continue in 2009.

Jobstar

The "Jobstar award" was introduced by the Regional Marketing Association of Nuremberg Metropolitan Region e.V. (Regionalmarketingverein Metropooregion Nürnberg e.V.) to honour companies which are especially committed to creating new employment and training posts in the region. Each month an entrepreneur is being selected who has been especially dedicated to this aim.

Besides the attractive Jobstar trophy the prize comprises free advertising on Franken TV and an article in the German news service "RegioPress" of Regional Marketing Association of Nuremberg Metropolitan Region e. V. (Regionalmarketingverein Metropolregion Nürnberg e.V.).

The Jobstar award is a surprise for the entrepreneur. It has been captured by a camera team of Franken TV and will be broadcasted by the end of this month.

The SPEED7-CPU 314SC from VIPA GmbH - the fastest Hard-SPS programmable with STEP7 from Siemens - has been awarded the 2008 Industry Prize by the SME Initiative in the Industrial Automation category.

The benefits of this system are its high speed and performance, scalable memory, and the diversity of its interface. The CPU is the only compact class system to provide an Ethernet interface.
The SPS is currently the fastest in its class. Processing takes place 30 times faster than the previous compact controllers from Siemens.
The memory can be adapted dynamically to unit and application requirements - as well as retrospectively - without the need for exchanging existing hardware. The enabling of further memory requires only that a Memory Configuration Card (MCC) be inserted into the card slot. The number of CPU types required by the user for all applications is thereby reduced to a minimum.
With a minimum of effort, mixed mode operation with Siemens components is possible, enabling the upgrading of existing controls.

With the "SPEED7 technology" the VIPA System 300S is the fastest programmable controller with STEP^®7 from Siemens worldwide. No investments in technical expertise are required as the STEP7 (practically the industry standard) is 100% supported.

The SME Initiative´s 2008 INDUSTRY PRIZE has, for the third time, identified industry's most innovative products and solutions which distinguish themselves by providing significant benefits and a high degree of functionality.

Our Profibus connector "EasyConn PB" was awarded 2. Place by the readers of  "A&D"  trade journal within the "A&D BEST PRODUCT GUIDE" in the field of electrical engineering and power engineering.

With this new bus connector plug EasyConn PB, VIPA is offering a practical accessory with sophisticated features. For the first time a micro controller has been integrated into a Profibus connector which via four LEDs offers the possibility of monitoring power supply, bus activity, termination and possible bus failures.

With the integrated PG diagnostic port the plug is suitable for use in vast applications. The fully metal case offers high noise immunity and enables operation in harsh industrial environment. The IDC technology ensures comfortable wiring: open the case, insert the cable, close the case and fasten the captive screw.

The transparent cover offers additional security for the connection of incoming and ongoing bus lines. Connection with stranded wire from Lapp according to Type A (EN 50 170) is now also possible. The termination can be operated with a user-friendly slide switch which at the same time offers de-activation of the ongoing bus line.