Hannover Messe: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visits Beckhoff
For the traditional opening tour of the Hannover Messe on May 30, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also visited the Verl-based company Beckhoff Automation. He was accompanied by António Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal, this year’s partner country of Hannover Messe. Managing Director Hans Beckhoff presented his company at the booth and illustrated the immense potential of PC-based control technology as a powerful tool with which “engineers can save the world”.
The German Chancellor was accompanied by about 80 other guests and around 100 journalists. After welcoming the prominent delegation and briefly introducing the company, Hans Beckhoff explained the wide range of PC-based control and drive technology. With it, the automation company offers a universally applicable basic technology for the “Industrial Transformation”, the leading theme of the Hannover Messe. New Automation Technology from Beckhoff comprises the product segments industrial PC, fieldbus components, drive technology, automation software and control cabinet-free automation (MX-System). The latest innovation is the modular MX-System, which is a pluggable system solution that can completely replace the conventional control cabinet and thus opens up completely new, highly efficient and sustainable paths in plant automation.
Beckhoff employs more than 5,000 people worldwide, including nearly 2,000 engineers. The resulting deep know-how in automation is used for the development of new products but also for “improving the world”. Hans Beckhoff explains: “We manufacture sophisticated high-tech products that are developed by a real hive of the brightest minds working together within our company. At Beckhoff, we say, ‘Engineers must save the world!’ It is our task to develop products and automate production processes in such a way that they consume fewer raw materials and less energy than in the past. Every year, effectiveness and productivity must be increased to meet the worldwide desire for more prosperity in an ecologically sustainable way.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Prime Minister António Costa were impressed by both the innovative strength and the success of the Beckhoff company. Both challenged the engineers to do their part to solve the urgent problems of our time.
Beckhoff has already enjoyed such a high-ranking visit from the German Chancellor’s Office twice before: German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel visited Beckhoff at Hannover Messe in 2008 and 2014.