Founded in 1963, Sikora AG, a global manufacturer and supplier of measuring and control technology to industrial sectors ranging from wire and cable to the plastics industry, is this year looking back at half a century of innovative development aimed at increasing its customers’ productivity.
"Three simple words sum up what Sikora is celebrating: 50 years of groundbreaking ideas, the passion and commitment of the Sikora team and the focus on a successful future," said Katja Giersch, head of Corporate Communications at Sikora
It all started with the invention of a non-contact measuring device for the continuous measurement of cable insulation, wall thickness and concentricity during manufacturing by a young electrical engineer named Harald Sikora. This technology, which was later to grow into a global standard, became the basis for a start-up, launched in 1973 in Bremen. The success of the initial product was soon followed by many more and two decades later, the company boasted a portfolio that included X-ray devices for measuring the wall thickness of three-layer medium, high and extra-high voltage cables during cable production, which were able to display the measuring results in fractions of a second and enabling the operator to make any needed adjustments immediately. Sikora’s X-ray measuring devices from Sikora remain to this present day part of the industry standard for CV lines.
The success of these X-ray measuring systems for CV lines led to r the development of a new series of X-ray measuring devices designed for the measurement of wall thicknesses in core and sheathing lines - something that had hitherto been impossible.
In 2004, Sikora turned its attention to the hose, pipe and tube market. Building on the experience gained in the cable industry, the company saw possibilities for its X-ray and laser technologies. These soon became a standard in this sector as well.
In 2009, the company also moved into the glass fibre market with innovative measuring devices for quality control in the drawing tower.
All throughout, the starting point for Sikora was quality. Yet, in recent years, material efficiency and sustainability have also emerged as critical areas of focus. Quality control increasingly offered environmental, in addition to economic, benefits. Sikora’s measuring equipment allowed manufacturers to reduce materials use and the amount of scrap produced, thus decreasing their carbon emissions.
In the plastic industry, the company has become known for its system for the inspection and sorting of plastic pellets, sold under the name Purity Scanner Advanced. And in the tube, pipe and hose market, a millimetre wave-based measuring system for plastic pipes was introduced.
