Lantek, one of the pioneers in the digitalisation of sheet metal production, says it was already thinking about networking when most plants did not even have a PC. Now, Darmstadt-based Lantek Germany is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Christoph Lenhard, who has been head of the German Lantek office since it was opened, said: “It is as if Industry 4.0 was made specially for us. The German federal government first coined the term ‘Industry 4.0’ at Hanover Fair 2011 — 15 years after the Lantek’s German office opened to offer solutions to companies that punch or cut sheet metal using laser, oxy-fuel, plasma or water-jet technology.

“With our software portfolio being independent of machine manufacturer, we are one of the market leaders and support companies of all sizes on their individual path towards digitalisation. Our solution offers an efficient alternative to the ‘software islands’ common in many companies for different areas of manufacture, which often cannot communicate with each other, resulting in enormous additional effort standing in the way of an integrated system.”

Recalling the situation back in 1996 when he joined Lantek, Mr Lenhard said: “At that time, CNC programs for sheet metal-processing were just beginning to be programmed on PCs and no longer on the machine control. Lantek was one of the first companies on the market to be introducing that change.

“Today, our German office has 15 employees and caters for around 900 customers — from contract manufacturers to international corporations. Overall, Lantek has over 220 employees in 20 offices in 14 countries across the world, serving more than 25,700 customers in over 100 countries.”

In spring this year, Lantek entered into a strategic partnership with the German machine tool manufacturer Trumpf.

He concluded: “This is good news for sheet metal production. Lantek will remain an independent brand and our development offices will also remain separate. However, our customers will benefit from each other’s know-how for even better and more sustainable solutions.”