FRABA rebrands, unveils two Industry 4.0-focused business units

Sensor company FRABA Group has established two new business units called UBITO and CREDEMUS to cover digital transformation and the Internet of Things.

The new units join the existing POSITAL and VITECTOR businesses, which manufacture sensors/encoders and safety solutions for doors, respectively.

The launch of these new businesses on July 1 will be marked by new logos and branding for FRABA. The logos feature a four-pointed star, symbolizing four guiding principles that current owners Christian and Achim Leeser introduced in 1993.

CREDEMUS offers consulting and support services to mid-sized companies interested in adopting the “mass customization” manufacturing methodology that FRABA launched 15 years ago – anticipating the Industry 4.0 wave that promotes similar principles.

UBITO offers components for magnetic sensing, energy harvesting and wireless transmission with roots in POSITAL’s use of Wiegand technology in rotary encoders. UBITO will take this technology to new markets such as smart metering, Internet of Things and wireless power transmission.

“The old FRABA company, which had been founded in 1918, specialized in electromechanical devices and systems, largely based in relay technology,” says Christian Leeser, the group’s CEO and majority shareholder. “By 1993, when we acquired the company, modern semiconductor technology had made much of this obsolete and we faced the challenge of updating both the product line and the company culture.

“New innovations included Fieldbus interfaces (’90s), Ethernet (2002), and precision multi-turn magnetic encoders with Wiegand technology (2005). Wiegand technology has also been key to innovation in motor feedback, where POSITAL introduced the world’s smallest (22 mm) multi-turn modular encoder – without battery – in 2020.”

In an earlier time, customized products were built individually by skilled craftsmen. FRABA’s new approach has been to create a production system that could deliver a huge range of products at mass-production cost levels.

“We accomplished this in 2006 through a combination of modular product design and a comprehensive manufacturing control system built around a company-developed cloud computing infrastructure,” says Leeser.

It also includes millions of computer-generated data sheets offered via an online configuration and order tool that is easy to use.

Today, most orders originate online, setting in motion a made-to-order manufacturing process that can deliver finished products in a matter of days. It is this digital platform that will be offered to other mid-size manufacturing companies through the new CREDEMUS business unit.