1. How did the acquisition come about? What is the added value of the future cooperation for both sides and how does the acquisition contribute to BARTEC's strategy?
John: I founded Extronics in 1992 as a reseller. It was in 2005 when we completed our first wireless pilot with BP and formed a technology partnership with AeroScout to deliver RTLS tracking to the process industries. Fast forward to today and we have made significant developments in our wireless and RTLS product range.
I have been aware of BARTEC since the beginning and could see the progress they have made to become a leader of Ex solutions. We have spent a lot of time and effort developing a quality set of products and solutions designed to help the process industry extend their digitalization goals into the hazardous area. Coming together with BARTEC means we can now offer the most extensive portfolio of products to the market, helping our customers succeed in all their objectives.
The timing is perfect to support a growing market and with BARTEC, Extronics can now accelerate the support we offer our customers. This is one of the main reasons why I proactively looked around for a partner and in BARTEC, we found an ideal fit from the start.
Martin: I can only agree with that! With its digital solutions, Extronics offers an excellent addition to our digitization portfolio, which we intend to expand even further in the future. Together with Extronics and the know-how of its employees, we want to be the pioneer in the field of digital solutions for explosion protection in the future.
2. Extronics is an expert in industrial IIoT networks and mobile devices. Will BARTEC's portfolio now be supplemented in this respect and are further innovations planned?
Martin: Absolutely! From now on, our portfolio will be supplemented by Extronics' digital solutions, and we will thus be able to offer our customers new and holistic digital solutions. From the infrastructure to the mobile device. The various divisions will work closely together here and, especially in R&D, we will be able to learn a great deal from each other and inspire each other to come up with new innovations. I am firmly convinced of that.
3. Will Extronics be integrated into an existing business unit?
Martin: Extronics will be affiliated with our Electrical Safety Systems (ESS) business unit, which will now have a sixth location in Cheshire UK, in addition to its existing sites in Bad Mergentheim, Germany; Moraro, Italy; Milan, Italy; Zargorje, Slovenia; and Sandnes, Norway. However, since all business units are working on digital products, we will be working much more in this area in the future, including across BUs.
4. What are the next milestones you are planning together?
John: The focus now is clearly on getting to know each other better and on an intensive exchange of ideas, which will form the basis for us as Extronics to soon become a permanent part of BARTEC. It was a special moment for us at Extronics when Martin and his team visited us at our Middlewich, UK headquarters on "Day 1" and personally introduced BARTEC at our Townhall Meeting. The Extronics team was able to ask questions of Martin and see firsthand what a great fit both companies are for one another. We’ve already been back again to Bad Mergentheim to plan the next steps with the ESS team.
Martin: Yes, it was nice to see how positively we were received by the Extronics colleagues and how great the interest in BARTEC was. There was a great spirit that we now want to build on. As a first major external "impact", BARTEC and Extronics were presented together at the ADIPEC trade fair and present themselves there with a joint booth.
Furthermore, check the video interview between Dr Martin Schefter, CEO from BARTEC and John Hartley, CEO from Extronics by David Mazziotta, Senior Vice President SEMEIA at the ADIPEC Trade Fair, 2-5 October 2023, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.