Farmitoo interviews

Good day Mr. Savic, thank you first of all for your willingness to conduct this interview with Farmitoo. Could you start by introducing the company B+B Thermo-Technik and its history?

The portfolio of B+B Thermo-Technik includes several thousand products and solutions for almost all industries where temperatures, humidity, pressure, gas or brightness is measured.

Since 1984, B+B Thermo-Technik has been successfully developing and producing thermocouple connectors, temperature, humidity as well as pressure or gas probes. The fields of application are hardly to be overlooked. The components and solutions from Donaueschingen are not infrequently used in the automotive industry, mechanical engineering, medical technology, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and environmental technology. B+B sensors are also installed in many household appliances, the “white goods”. Other areas of application are food technology and building services engineering. In addition to heating and ventilation technology, the latter area also includes the growth market of home automation.

What began on a small scale in Donaueschingen in 1984 with plug-in connections for thermocouples, measuring solutions and electronic components quickly developed into a real success story. Company founder Rudolf Boll quickly realized that such components are needed in almost all areas. Especially in today’s networked and technologized world, they are more important than ever. Just four years after its founding, the family-run company expanded for the first time and moved to its current location. With the rapid growth in the following years, new extensions of the company building became necessary step by step. In the meantime, B+B Thermo-Technik employs 125 people at the German location in Donaueschingen and about 50 employees at 4 other locations abroad. The change of generations of the family business has already been initiated when Kim-Chantal Boll and Evamaria Boll-Scholte van Mast, the two daughters of the company founder, joined the management a few years ago. Thus, the future of B+B is secured in this respect.

What distinguishes the thermal technologies applied by B+B Thermo-Technik from those of other companies in your industry?

Why the products from Baar are so successful on the market despite strong competition can be explained by several factors. Firstly, the sensor specialists have set themselves high quality standards and try to produce according to the zero-defect philosophy. Various certifications were completed in 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2013. An internal defect detection system ensures that only flawless products leave the company. A wide range of products, modern production processes, professional competence and many years of experience are additional features of B+B Thermo-Technik. Customer orientation plays an increasingly important role. True to the company’s own motto “Creating Measurement Solutions”, the family-owned company has increasingly specialized in individual solutions for its customers in recent years. There is hardly a wish that cannot be realized. If a product required by the customer does not yet exist on the market, it is developed without further ado and in consultation with the customer. This is the responsibility of the in-house development department with six engineers, two laboratory staff and a product manager. However, the company’s own ideas should not be neglected either. These are often developed jointly and in exchange between the individual departments – sales, development and production.

Which products are particularly good to use in which area of agriculture?

Our wide range of products can be found in virtually every industry. Whether in food technology, mechanical and plant engineering, building services engineering, heating and air conditioning technology, environmental technology, medical technology or the automotive sector, our products can be used flexibly across all industries.

Since B+B quality products are very durable and are used for many different measurement tasks, it is difficult to define which products are best suited for agriculture. It always depends here on what is to be measured and what the application looks like. Whether temperature, humidity, pressure, brightness or filling level, B+B develops together with the customers the perfect solution for each requirement.

However, to mention a few products that are already used in agriculture, here is a small list. These products have now also been introduced in the Farmitoo online store (will also be extended and expanded in 2021):

• Cable probe
• Core temperature sensor
• Rain detector
• Leakage detector
• Brightness sensor
• Air quality sensor
• Infrared measuring devices

What service can you offer your potential customer when choosing the right B+B Thermo-Technik product for him?

Whether standard products or customer-specific developments, B+B Thermo-Technik has a solution for every application. From the problem definition to the joint development to the production and delivery, our customers are advised and supported by us.

Almost all standard measuring solutions are available through our in-house online store. This enables customers to place orders with no minimum order value and to receive fast deliveries worldwide of a wide range of measurement technology.

Thanks to the latest research, development and manufacturing technologies and certification to DIN EN ISO 9001 : 2015 and DIN EN 61340-5-1, we produce our products to the highest quality standards. It goes without saying that we also offer our customers the service of preparing test certificates in our in-house calibration laboratories. The B+B calibration laboratory is accredited by the German Accreditation Body (DAkkS) according to DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025:2018 for the thermodynamic measurands temperature and relative humidity.

Finally, I would like to ask you to what extent you think your industry has changed with digitization and will continue to develop in the future?

The measurement and automation industry has developed enormously. Whereas 40 years ago the productions in all companies were still equipped with countless employees and the manufacturing of products was almost completely manual work, today many production and manufacturing processes run completely automated. This automation is only possible through the use of countless sensors and measuring devices. All these advances and developments can be summarized under the well-known term “Industry 4.0”. The intelligence of the processes is now in the measurement and control technology and the decision-making power has also already been transferred from humans to machines – keyword AI (artificial intelligence).

The importance of in-house innovations can be demonstrated by technological change. The medium-sized family business B+B has also had to embrace this change and Industry 4.0 in recent years in order not to lose touch. This is how, for example, the new wireless product series “kiro” came into being. B+B Thermo-Technik thus combines its specialist field of measurement technology with forward-looking technologies. These products enable temperature, humidity, pressure, brightness and also air quality to be measured and transmitted wirelessly. The data can be conveniently accessed via a computer, tablet or even smartphone. Possibly, these products will soon be available at Farmitoo.

Thank you very much for your willingness to do this interview with me and I wish you and B+B Thermo-Technik all the best and a further successful partnership with Farmitoo!