As is the case with many of today’s famous specialist companies, PRÜFTECHNIK’s current activities could not be recognized from the beginnings of the company with Dieter Busch in 1972: it started with the sales of rolling bearing monitoring devices from the Swedish company SPM.

Against a backdrop of significant technical advances, the sales program was rapidly expanded and PRÜFTECHNIK evolved from a sales company into a business with its own development and production.

In 1978 the company entered the fields of non-destructive testing and quality assurance. Eddy current testing systems developed by PRÜFTECHNIK were used to test tubes, rods and wires for defects during production.

In 1981 the maintenance sector was founded with inductive warming devices for the convenient assembly of rolling bearings and vibration measurement instruments for observing the operational behavior of rotating machines.

With its great success, the OPTALIGN laser optical alignment system - introduced in 1983 - was of considerable significance in the further development of PRÜFTECHNIK. For years, with its laser alignment systems, the company has occupied an undisputed leading position in this market segment and, with its enormous experience advantage, has become the worldwide recognized specialist in the field of machine maintenance which is still growing in importance.

In 1995 the way ahead was set for the expansion of the Condition Monitoring department: With new products and convincing application solutions, PRÜFTECHNIK was able to penetrate an apparently sewn up market in a short period of time and to capture an important share of the international market.

All products comply directly with the PRÜFTECHNIK strategy, of being solely active in relatively small market segments with innovative technologies. In fact, today more than 80% of the turnover was achieved with products which are no more than 4 years old. A substantial role in this is played by the development department which still makes up a quarter (!!) of the workforce.

From the very beginning, it was the objective of PRÜFTECHNIK to offer ‘very high tech’ to the world market. The high export quota –always the distinguishing feature of technically qualified products– was increased by expanding the number of representatives and subsidiaries in all continents. Today, this sector makes up approx. 78% of total production. PRÜFTECHNIK products are in daily use in 70 countries around the world.

Whether it is a nuclear power plant or dairy business, chemical giant or banking institution - the measurement technology of PRÜFTECHNIK AG is used in the maintenance departments of nearly all industrial sectors around the globe. And wherever machine drives are found - from the smallest pump to the most enormous turbine, this measurement technology makes its contribution to longer machine running times, better production and more environmental protection.

PRÜFTECHNIK products continue to receive prestigious national and international awards for exceptional functionality and top design: the title “Product of the Year” was awarded by Plant Engineering, Japan Maintenance conferred the “Prize of Excellence”, and Plant Engineering & Management presented the company with the “Best New Product” prize. PRÜFTECHNIK products were awarded with the coveted “iF seal by Industry Forum Design in Hannover, and the “Award for High Design Quality” was presented by the “Design Centre” of Nordrhein Westphalia.

Today around 300 people work in the PRÜFTECHNIK group. They all work together under the same company logo incorporating the initials of the company founder. This is a sign of the company roots and traditions and, at the same time, as well as an indication of the commitment to a purposeful objective:

Innovation and customer advantages

The readiness to constantly seek new technical solutions for the benefit of the customer has been retained by the employees of PRÜFTECHNIK AG. The tried and tested capability of a competent team achieved through long years of experience and the readiness to accept responsibility are complemented by the knowledge from the latest ideas of special intensive and innovative development activities. The solidarity of organic growth in the past combined with a future-oriented organizational structure that is close to the market also ensures flexibility for the success of a company that has always remained independent.

• 1976 First eddy current testing device with a modular design for the nondestructive inspection of semi-finished products.
• 1976 First eddy current testing device with a modular design for the nondestructive inspection of semi-finished products.
• 1977 First eddy current testing device with microprocessor-based signal processing.
• 1980 First microprocessor-driven induction heater for mounting bearings.
• 1981 First alignment computer for shaft alignment with an LCD graphic display.
• 1982 First high-performance induction heater for large bearings.
• 1984 First laser-optical shaft alignment system.
• 1985 First eddy current rotating system with a coaxial construction.
• 1987 PERMALIGN - First laser-optical coordinate measuring system for the continuous displacement measurement of machines.
• 1988 First computer-driven eddy current testing device with multi-frequency/multi-channel capabilities for defect testing of semi-finished products.
• 1989 First multifunctional measuring device with a softkey user interface, insertable program and memory cards, and insertable hardware modules to allow configuration of the hardware as required.
• 1990 First optical 5-axial sensor that evaluates a laser beam simultaneously in five degrees of freedom and transmits the results to a computer via a wireless IR system.
• 1991 First ‘tandem piezo accelerometer’ for vibration and shock pulse measurement.
• 1991 First diagnosis and measuring system for rotating machines; capable of alignment assessment, vibration analysis (FFT), balancing and machine diagnosis.
• 1992 First ‘intelligent sensor‘ for vibration, bearing and cavitation measurement.
• 1992 First commercially-available measuring system for determining turbine housing alignment by laser-optical methods.
• 1993 First multifunctional measuring device with five different measurement functions (vibration, cavitation, shock pulse, temperature and speed); contains memory and software for trending and archiving measuring data.
• 1993 First industrial vibration receiver with a line drive amplifier for use in severe environments; with socket-free cable connection.
• 1994 Multi-channel realtime eddy current testing device with touchscreen operation.
• 1994 ROTALIGN – First shaft alignment system suitable for industry (water-tight, shock-proof and drop-proof), with patented Sweep method for taking measurements.
• 1995 VIBCODE ‘changes the world of data collectors’ – and automatically correlates measured values with measuring locations.
• 1995 Eddy current testing system for hot rod inspection.
• 1996 VIBRONET – First system for continuous vibration and impulse monitoring with an easy-to-install multiplex design using current line drive technology.
• 1997 OPTALIGN PLUS – Laser-optical alignment system suitable for industrial applications and featuring very user-friendly operation.
• 1998 First telediagnostic system with Internet capabilities for remote diagnosis and analysis of bearings and gears; based on VIBRONET and the Intermac system of Schühle GmbH.
• 1999 VIBROCORD – New FFT data collector, suitable for industrial applications and designed for user-friendly operation.
• 2000 VIBSCANNER – First data collector with joystick and multifunctional menus.
• 2000 EDDYCHEK 5 – Two-channel digital eddy current testing equipment with networking capabilities and a touchscreen display.
• 2000 PARALIGN – The first inertial parallelism measurement system for the alignment of rolls.
• 2002 smartALIGN – the first shaft alignment system with joystick control.
• 2002 EDDYCHEK 5 compact – Cost-effective networked eddy current test unit that can be used with any Windows PC.
• 2002 Rotating system RS35 HS – Highly reliable test system for the detection of longitudinal defects on tube, bar or wire.
• 2003 smartSCANNER – The first hand-held maintenance instrument that combines vibration analysis, balancing and shaft alignment.
• 2003 NOVALIGN – First alignment system with large colour screen & touch bar.
• 2003 LEVALIGN – Rotating laser for measurement of surface flatness & level for improved machine availability and productivity
• 2004 OPTALIGN PLUS Series – Laser-optical alignment ‘à la carte’
• 2004 ROTALIGN Ultra – The Ultimate laser alignment system incorporating backlit colour screen, USB and Bluetooth RF wireless connectivity to measurement sensor for Shaft and Geometric applications.
• 2004 VIBXPERT – Dual channel FFT data collector, signal analyzer and balancing instrument with joystick operation
• 2004 VIBROWEB – Diagnostic Condition Monitoring System for up to 32 locations
• 2005 VIBROWEB XP – Diagnostic Condition Monitoring System for up to 8 locations
• 2005 VIBNODE - Entry-level solution für Online Condition Monitoring
• 2005 EDDYCHEK 5 advanced – User-friendly eddy current test unit with touchscreen for standard applications and high production speeds.
• 2006 BORALIGN Ultra – Bore alignment of diesel engines, compressors, pumps & gas turbines.
• 2006 NOVAFLUX – Ultra sensitive, high speed bar testing based on the flux leakage method.
• 2006 ALIGNEO –
• 2006 OPTALIGN smart –
• 2007 LEVALIGN Ultra
• 2007 CSDchek –
• 2007 HYDRALIGN –
• 2007 Smart straightness –