FHI Tech Stories: Pedak measuring technology is increasingly exchanging knowledge

Measuring is knowing, but in order to measure properly, high-quality measuring equipment is needed. Pedak measuring technology, a member of the FHI Industrial Automation sector, provides answers to customer measurement questions. In this episode of FHI Tech Stories we speak with Roland Vossen, director of Pedak.

By: Dimitri Reijerman

“We have been active with measurement technology for almost fifty years in various industries, from the bakery on the corner to large hospitals and chip manufacturers,” says director and owner Vossen with pride. “We focus on a number of industries and product groups, such as cleanrooms, operating rooms and the pharmaceutical industry. There we can properly monitor the climate with very accurate humidity sensors and differential pressure sensors. In these times with high energy prices, you can also achieve significant energy savings, because by measuring more accurately you also have to regulate less.

 “The agricultural sector is also a growth area for Pedak measuring technology. Consider vertical farming. This allows you to grow plants indoors according to a fixed recipe and with even quality. But you can only do that under very precise conditions, including humidity, temperature and CO2. We are also strongly represented in the food industry. Almost all major food producing companies have equipment from us to determine the shelf life of a product. You look at the amount of water in a product.”

Infrared technology

However, Pedak measuring equipment is used in many more sectors, the director says: You will also find our products in mechanical engineering, especially at companies that develop larger machines. This is where infrared temperature measurement comes into play. This way you can measure the temperature of products on the conveyor belt or coming out of an oven without contact. But we also have an application where a self-driving vehicle uses a thermal camera to see whether there are still people or animals nearby, so it provides a bit of safety.”

Pedak measuring technology mainly supplies equipment from a select group of manufacturers, says Vossen: “Since the existence of Pedak, we have had a number of dealerships and long-term relationships with sensor manufacturers. Because of these close relationships, we are involved in the development of new products. We identify developments in the market, know what the customer's needs are and can therefore respond to these wishes. We also have one of our own products: a display for cleanrooms. This display indicates, for example, whether an operating room is suitable for entry. We also won an award from FHI for this product about ten years ago, and this product is still being further developed.”

Advisory role

Vossen sees an increasingly important role for advice in the future: “In recent years we have noticed that customers have less and less technical knowledge. We see more and more questions about how exactly a product should be applied. As Pedak, we want to be a knowledge center and not a box pusher. We want to look carefully at a solution together with a customer. That often requires a lot of questioning from the customer.”

“We organize a number of knowledge symposia every year for this purpose. These are, for example, about a specific measurement variable or a specific problem in the market. We also provide in-company training on customer measurement applications.”

“We want to make Pedak measuring technology widely known to the outside world as a knowledge center in the coming years. We want to focus even more on knowledge sharing and support. This includes blogs, application notes, webinars and content for technical support. Furthermore, it remains important to have the right products. As Pedak, I do not want to be active in a market where price is the most important thing. The humidity meters, among other things, are sensitive to this, which is why we focus on the niche market of cleanrooms and vertical farming. There quality is much more important than price. I also invest a lot in our technical department, because customers are asking for more and more support. This can be both remote and on-site technical support.”

Role of FHI

As a loyal FHI member, Pedak is involved in trade fairs and events organized by the trade association, but according to Vossen his company also likes to use the various services for members: “We have been participating in trade fairs such as the World of Technology & Science since the 1980s. . Support for SMEs is important from FHI. If, as a company, I have to sort out matters such as regulations, personnel matters and legal matters myself, then that is very difficult in practice. We like that FHI as an organization has the suitable people for this and that it selects and communicates this for each sector. That relieves us of our worries and gives us some peace of mind.”

Finally, the Pedak director has a tip for FHI: “The new pension schemes will be available soon. FHI must be very alert to this. FHI may also be able to support companies with matters such as energy labels for commercial buildings.”