profile
Today, NET is a global company. At its headquarters in Europe, it handles sales and marketing, product development, technical support and an assembly group. In the US, there is a small facility handling sales, technical support and some testing, while in Japan there is an office that handles sales and also purchasing of components. Finally – and perhaps most significantly – there is a manufacturing facility in Korea. The company now employs around 70 people worldwide. NET also owns shares in a mechanical
production facility, located close to its Munich base, which provides the company with any mechanical components it needs. All other elements of production are outsourced. Heinrichs believes that NET has a number of
qualities that set it apart from its competitors. ‘We are small enough to appreciate the need for variation among our OEM customers. We are able to compete with anyone when it comes to customisation, where we believe we always have a chance to win the business. ‘In the medical markets, our long-term
relationships with our customers ensure we keep close to the market. This helps us develop products to meet future needs, so that when our customers need them, we have them ready.’
should recover to 2008 levels, while there is real growth again in our US business. Overall, we’re looking at 15 per cent growth over and above our 2008 figures.’ Looking forward, Heinrichs believes NET
Jean-Pierre Heinrichs
‘One day... we’ll start thinking of a camera as more of an intelligent sensor’
NET escaped the economic fallout of the
past 18 months relatively unscathed. ‘Business in Europe fell by around 20 per cent for us in 2009 – much the same as everyone else,’ says Heinrichs. ‘However, our US business grew significantly during the same period – which meant that, in the end, 2009 was only down by three per cent on 2008, our best year ever. ‘This year looks like beating 2008. Europe
has scope for growth in both its major markets. ‘Within medical, we are looking to expand our range of products beyond those used in endoscopy and dentistry. In some cases, this means convincing customers that video technology has a place in areas of medicine where it’s not currently used.’ For the industrial market, Heinrichs talks of
his desire to see a ‘universal camera’. ‘I think it will be possible to one day produce a 10 megapixel camera for the same price as a VGA camera,’ he says. ‘And we’ll start thinking of a camera as more of an intelligent sensor.’ In general, one aspect of the industry that Heinrichs would like to see explored in years to come is to communicate the vision ‘message’ to the younger generation. ‘You look at the Vision show in Stuttgart, for example,’ he says. ‘Most of the visitors are in the 40 to 60 age bracket. We need to encourage the younger generation to be interested in vision technology and the advantages it can bring to their area of business. We need to communicate better.’
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