BHS-Sonthofen acquires control technology provider Thoma
Thoma Elektrosteuerungsanlagen GmbH – which currently has 15 employees – was founded in Babenhausen, Germany, in 1988 by Ferdinand Thoma. Its portfolio consists of customer-specific control and automation technology with hardware and software used by grain and milling companies, in food production, for mixed feed and silo plants, and even in recycling plants.
“This acquisition will broaden our expertise as well as our range of products,” says Dennis Kemmann, Managing Director at BHS-Sonthofen. “To some extent, we have been working with external suppliers on developing control systems, but we are hoping to gradually change this.”
The existing in-house Control Technology department at BHS is already kept busy with constructing control systems for shredding and filtration plants. In the future, BHS will offer its own control solutions for the Process Technology, Building Material Machinery, and Recycling & Environment divisions via BHS Control Systems GmbH & Co. KG with a focus on mixing, shredding, recycling, filtration, drying, and reaction processes. All existing Thoma customers will continue to receive competent and comprehensive support.
“With the support of our new colleagues based in Babenhausen, we will now also be able to plan and implement entire plant control systems ourselves, especially in the area of recycling technology,” emphasized Dr. Steffen Kämmerer, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at BHS-Sonthofen and Managing Director of the newly established BHS Control Systems GmbH & Co. KG. “Expanding our portfolio into the area of control and automation technology will enable BHS-Sonthofen to offer everything from under one roof, even for large-scale projects like multistage recycling plants. The tried-and-tested quality provided by BHS can now be guaranteed for even more components.”
Thanks to Thoma’s scalable and open interface architecture – which is based on Siemens systems – BHS and its customers are well-equipped for the future, as the control systems can be simply integrated into Industry 4.0 infrastructures.