The Wittmann Group has upped its original stake in Ice Flex, an Italian supplier of MES (manufacturing execution system) solutions that Wittmann has collaborated with for the past four years. At the same time, the name of the company has been changed to Wittmann Digital, an indication of Wittmann’s ongoing commitment in this area.
The companies did not disclose how large of a stake Wittmann has taken.
Ice Flex and Wittmann first formed a joint venture in 2018, a move that allowed Wittmann to include TEMI, the modular MES package developed by Ice Flex in its customer offering. Wittmann has marketed the package, which contains modules for intelligent production planning, monitoring and data storage, under the brand name TEMI+; the “+” indicating its seamless interaction with production cells enabled with Wittmann 4.0, the company’s Industry 4.0 technology.
Unlike other MES software, the TEMI+ package works with not only with injection molding machines but also with auxiliary equipment and robots. It has been developed with a flexible architecture for integrating different devices possibly already present in the factory and for reaching all the injection molding machines inside the production departments.
By increasing its stake in the software company and changing its name, Wittmann is sending a clear internal and external signal that the Group is staying on the course taken in 2018 and continuing to drive the advancement of its digital activities, said Michael Wittmann, CEO of the Wittmann Group.
Wittmann Digital’s managing directors Giorgio Pigozzo and Marco Pelagatti are happy with the changes. The new name allows the company to present itself as as part of a globally active, well-known group of companies, said Giorgio Pigozzo.
“This will also strengthen our image in the market,” he said.