Industry Automation technology Subsidiaries 32 Founded 1948 | Number of employees over 2,000 Type of business GmbH & Co. KG | |
Key people Renate Pilz, Susanne Kunschert, Thomas Pilz Products Sensor technology, motion control, safety relays, programmable safety and control systems, automation systems Revenue 288 Mio. EUR (May 2015) Profiles | ||
Pilz GmbH & Co. KG is an automation technology company in Ostfildern, Germany. In addition to the head office in Germany, Pilz is represented in 32 subsidiaries and branches on all continents.
The company was founded as a glass-blowing business by Hermann Pilz in Esslingen in 1948. Initial products included glass apparatus for medical technology and mercury relays for industrial applications.
In the 1960s control passed to Hermann's son Peter, who developed the company into a supplier of electronic control and monitoring devices and programmable logic controllers. In 1987 the company launched safety relay PNOZ, an emergency stop system. PSS control systems were developed in the 1990s. Other Pilz products and services include sensor technology, bus and industrial wireless systems, risk assessments and training courses on machinery safety.
Renate Pilz has been Managing Partner of the company since 1994. Renate Pilz, Thomas Pilz and Susanne Kunschert are the owners.