Beckhoff Automation

What they do

Beckhoff Automation supplies control technology for machines and plants. Its products include industrial PCs, input and output modules, drive technology, machine vision and the TwinCAT software that turns a standard PC into a real-time controller. Customers range from packaging and machine-tool builders to wind turbines, semiconductors and building automation.

Hans Beckhoff founded the company in 1980 and remains its managing owner. Development, production and central functions are based in Verl, in East Westphalia.

Why it matters

Beckhoff's central idea was that ordinary PC hardware and software could replace dedicated programmable logic controllers in factories. That approach brought the rapid progress of computing into industrial automation and is now widespread.

The company also developed EtherCAT, a real-time industrial Ethernet protocol released to an independent user organisation and adopted by many vendors. Fast, deterministic communication between controllers and drives is essential for precise motion control, and EtherCAT has become one of the standards for it. Beckhoff's linear and planar transport systems show how software control can replace mechanical conveyors.

Products to know

• TwinCAT: automation software for programming, motion control and runtime on PCs.
• EtherCAT: a real-time Ethernet fieldbus for industrial communication.
• XTS: a linear transport system with independently controlled movers.
• XPlanar: magnetic levitation movers that float over planar tiles.

The German angle

Verl sits in the Gütersloh district of East Westphalia-Lippe, one of Germany's leading clusters for automation and electrical engineering. The region's mix of family-run machine builders creates both customers and skilled staff for firms like Beckhoff.

Beckhoff's model is a familiar German one: founder-led, privately owned and willing to make long-term bets on technology. Its decision to open the EtherCAT standard to other companies, rather than keep it proprietary, shows how a mid-sized firm can shape an entire industry's infrastructure.