Manz drops Automation from title to become integrated system provider

A change of image and specialty has led Manz Automation AG to drop its ‘middle name’ to become simply Manz AG. The company’s focus has been across a wider range of products and services than automation alone for most of its near 25-year operation period, and this name change aims to reflect that. Manz is now a supplier of integrated production systems and processing equipment for the PV industry.

“After being in business for close to a quarter of a century, we can do a lot more today than just automation, and our name shouldn’t restrict us to just that field,” says Dieter Manz, founder and CEO of the company. “Module manufacturers need to carry out more than 20 individual steps to manufacture a thin-film solar module. And in order to do so, they have to run 20 different processing machines. I am confident that, in a few years, this number will be much smaller, since the sustained cost pressure is forcing them to become increasingly efficient. We will build machines that can complete several steps of the process, but first we need to master each and every one of those steps.”