Growth in the key segments

The Fraba Group, an internationally recognized leader in industrial position sensors and Wiegand technology, looks back on a successful 2022. Highlights include the opening of a new production facility in Malaysia.

Total sales amounted to 45 million euros. While this figure is lower than the 48 million euros of 2021 due to the divestment of the Vitector business, sales in the rest of the Group increased by 13%. "The sale of Vitector, a leading specialist in safety systems around industrial doors, has enabled Fraba to focus its resources on the motion and position sensor business (Posital) and on trend-setting new developments in the business area around Wiegand technology (Ubito)," commented Christian Leeser, CEO and majority shareholder of Fraba . "Although supply chain bottlenecks have hindered growth, we are pleased with the gains we have made and the achievement of our strategic goals, including the launch of our ambitious and extremely exciting NeXtGen sensor products." In the past fiscal year, Fraba employed 360 full-time employees worldwide, 40 more than in the previous year.

The new factory in Johor Bahru, Malaysia will employ up to 60 people. It is designed for series production of standard components such as kit encoders and Wiegand sensors. The plant complements the digital factory in Slubice, Poland, which has been in operation since 2007 and is designed for the flexible production of customized industrial sensors in small quantities. The plant in Malaysia also helps Fraba to better meet growing demand in Asian markets.

Highlights in 2022 included the completion of two extensive and ambitious development projects, which were implemented under the leadership of the Fraba Group's global R&D center in Aachen with external partners and financial support from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The first project developed fully automated processes for large-scale production of even more robust Wiegand sensors, The second project focused on the development of a completely new "Wiegand harvester" that would feature 100 times the energy output of a regular Wiegand sensor and set its sights on completely new IIoT applications.

In April 2022, the prototype of the new "Wiegand harvester" was ready, To impressively demonstrate the potential of Wiegand technology, the next step was a 'proof-of-concept' application. As a live demonstrator, the R&D team constructed an autonomously operated Wiegand-based sensor that could easily and safely transmit its data over a distance of 50 m without an external power supply. The successful premiere of the first prototypes of the new 'harvester' is an important step towards realizing the dream of wirelessly networked, autonomous IIoT sensor nodes powered and operated entirely by Wiegand Power. The entire Wiegand portfolio will be developed and sold under the Ubito brand.