Cognex acquires Gavitec’s machine vision business

Natick, MA— Cognex Corp. reports that it recently acquired the machine vision business of Gavitec AG, located in Aachen, Germany. Cognex bought Gavitec’s tangible and intangible assets, and assumed certain liabilities associated with Gavitec’s machine vision business for an undisclosed amount of cash.

Founded in 1997, Gavitec produces machine vision products for direct part mark reading. This is a fast-growing machine vision technology with systems that are able to read numbers, letters and symbols printed, etched, or stamped directly on the surfaces of manufactured items. Manufacturers use these specialized vision systems to collect data about a product’s components during the manufacturing process. This allows suppliers to trace the manufacturing history of the components during the product’s lifetime. Direct part marking, also referred to as “industrial ID,” is required in a growing number of industries where serial numbers on parts must survive for the life of the part, which include aircraft components and certain automotive parts.

Gavitec markets its machine vision products mostly in Germany. Its customers include leading manufacturers in the automotive, electronics and healthcare industries. Cognex plans to continue selling Gavitec’s products to its existing customer base, and expand distribution of those products worldwide. Cognex will retain a group of Gavitec’s key employees in Aachen, who will serve as a remote engineering group focused on developing additional products for direct part mark reading.

‘This is an important acquisition for Cognex for several reasons,’ says Dr. Robert Shillman, Cognex’s chairman and CEO. ‘Industrial ID is a rapidly growing market for machine vision, as industries from aerospace to automotive to pharmaceuticals implement new initiatives for product traceability and error-proofing. Gavitec’s experience in designing industrial ID products, combined with Cognex’s global sales resources and engineering support, will enable us to provide the best products and services for this growing market. This acquisition is also important because it strengthens Cognex’s overall market position in Germany, which is an important manufacturing center and the largest market for machine vision in Europe.’

Joerg Kuechen, Gavitec’s founder and CEO, adds that, ‘We’re very pleased to be joining forces with Cognex, which has an excellent reputation for high quality technology. Cognex pioneered the industrial ID market many years ago with products for the semiconductor industry, and for more than 20 years they’ve continued to develop leading-edge machine vision technology. Gavitec’s customers will benefit from our combined expertise in machine vision and industrial identification.’

Control Engineering Daily News DeskJim Montague, news editor jmontague@reedbusiness.com

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