With a slide show and a tour through the company building, founder Heinz Plöchinger and Managing Director Frank P. Salzberger presented the company and its history to Dr. Olaf Heinrich, President of the Lower Bavarian District Assembly.
Since its beginnings in 1970 Thyracont has specialized in vacuum measurement technology. There are few similar companies in the world whose devices measure with such high precision. “It’s a bit like measuring a baby’s hair over a distance from the earth to the moon,” explains Frank P. Salzberger.
Wide range of applications
Thyracont devices are used in various fields from medical technology to aerospace. “We specialized in a niche market, which was exotic at first. I had no idea that this would become increasingly popular. It was a coincidence,” Heinz Plöchinger looks back. Thyracont is the only company in Germany that masters the entire spectrum of vacuum metrology, from development to application.
Research and development
The company’s success is primarily based on its constant research and development work. Thyracont’s in-house R&D is always looking for new approaches and new ways to inspire customers with high-performance products. Most vacuum applications have high standards regarding longevity, precision and reliability of the measuring instruments used. The development team strives with continuous ambition to entirely full-fill these requirements and to develop products which offer additional value by their intelligent functionalities. Connectivity, individual settings, and maintainability are only a few buzzwords here.
However, the niche market position also brings challenges in times of a shortage of skilled workers. “Young developers often don’t know what we actually do.” This is one of the reasons why Thyracont is one of the sponsors of “Jugend forscht” and has already been able to recruit young employees for the company. Once at Thyracont, employees usually stay for a long time – sometimes even beyond retirement age.
Close local ties
District President Dr. Olaf Heinrich was very impressed by the company’s history and also by the fact that Heinz Plöchinger never considered selling the company despite several tempting offers – and has thus remained loyal to Lower Bavaria as a business location until today.
from left to right Dr. Olaf Heinrich, CEO Frank P. Salzberger, founder Heinz Plöchinger – Copyright Lang/District Lower Bavaria
Learn more about Dr. Olaf Heinrich (German version only)
More about our R&D