Huber Kältemaschinenbau is one of the TOP 100

Peter Huber Kältemaschinenbau AG is a member of the elite group for the fifth time.

The 23rd Top 100 awards for Germany's most innovative SMEs are about to be presented, and this year, Peter Huber Kältemaschinenbau AG is a member of this elite group for the fifth time. The Offenburg-based firm took part in a rigorous, scientific selection process that analysed innovation management and successful innovation. Ranga Yogeshwar, the competition mentor, will present the top innovators with their awards at the German SME Summit in Essen on 24 June.

Although it is based in Offenburg, Peter Huber Kältemaschinenbau AG's technology can be found all over the world – even at 5,000 metres above sea level in the Himalayas, after the Top 100 award winner fitted out an Indian space observatory with a Huber chiller. The chiller provides constant operating temperatures for the telescope's measuring instruments. Typical applications for the heating and cooling systems manufactured by this family-owned business founded in 1968 and its 239 employees tend to be less glamorous however – for example: thermoregulation processes within the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors, material and stress tests in the automotive industry, and the testing of food, building materials and cosmetic products.

"There are applications for our systems in all industrial sectors. As a result, we naturally deal with the issue of innovation on a daily basis," commented commercial director Daniel Huber. Peter Huber's senior management devotes 60 per cent of its working time to innovations.

One of this Top 100 five-time award winner's most recent innovations is an innovative plug-and-play technology, which will make series products easier to service. "We have established that most problems with devices are down to the electronics. Our series devices are therefore fitted with replaceable electronic elements that enable our customers around the world to quickly and easily change the electronic component themselves. As a result, 80 to 90 per cent of all service cases can be taken care of in no time at all," explained technical director Joachim Huber. Companies that need Industry 4.0-compliant devices are more than catered for at Peter Huber: "We've been working along the principles of Industry 4.0 for several years already, for example at the level of automatic documentation," stated Daniel Huber.

This year, more than 4,000 companies registered an interest in taking part in the Top 100 competition, with 366 of them applying for the qualification round and 284 getting through to the finals.