Boarding the future: how HOERBIGER is opening up future markets

The answer to tomorrow’s growth prospects is not a single product, a single technology, or a single market. It lies in a consistent strategy that combines existing strengths with new opportunities. HOERBIGER leverages its technological expertise, innovative strength, and targeted acquisitions to tap into new growth markets step by step. Behind this development lies a clear conviction: securing the Group’s long-term prosperity requires active transformation.

HOERBIGER embraced this change early on and pursued it consistently – and the results are already visible: within five years, HOERBIGER has succeeded in increasing the share of megatrend markets in its revenue from around 5 to 25 percent. By 2030, this share is expected to grow to 35 percent. A key driver of this is the combination of organic growth through innovation and targeted entry into new markets – for example, through venture projects or acquisitions. In recent years, all business areas have launched initiatives to leverage the strengths developed over decades and apply them to new applications and markets.

Leveraging experience for new routes
In the Compression Division, it can be clearly seen how existing expertise enables access to new markets. Traditional business remains an important growth driver. Globally, demand for energy efficiency and emissions reduction is on the rise. Solutions such as ECP, eHydroCOM, EmissionShield, and the Emissions Recovery System (ERS) help customers operate their compressor systems more efficiently and reduce emissions. This market is driven by stricter regulatory requirements, rising energy costs, and the desire for more sustainable industrial processes.

But HOERBIGER goes one step further. Technologies and expertise from established applications are specifically applied to new challenges. A particularly impressive example of this is the hydrogen economy. With solutions for hydrogen compression such as the HCP 500, HOERBIGER is addressing a key component of the energy transition. Growth here does not arise from a radical new beginning, but rather from the consistent advancement of expertise built up over decades.

In the Flow & Motion Control segment, new markets are being actively explored – not only as a continuation of existing efforts, but deliberately going beyond them. The project named “Highjump” has yielded many new application ideas and impressively demonstrates the breadth of the spectrum for piezo applications. Compression is thus evolving from a traditional component supplier into a technology provider with a growing presence in various future markets.

Maintain flight altitude
The Automotive Division operates in an environment that is currently undergoing fundamental change. In a consolidating market for vehicles with internal combustion engines, Automotive is performing very strongly in its traditional synchro business. The focus is on gaining market share through VA/VE (Value Analysis and Value Engineering) and cost leadership. The goal is to clearly differentiate itself from the competition and win additional volume.

At the same time, the Division is successfully entering the market for electrified drive trains. With shifting elements and the eCoupling technology, Automotive enables efficient solutions for hybrid and electric vehicles, thereby addressing an industry trend. Its strength lies not only in technology itself, but above all in the ability to scale it up to industrial levels. Growth in this area stems from the combination of innovation and excellent industrialization.

Further growth areas are emerging through comfort systems in the premium segment. Actuation systems for the chassis, as well as comfort solutions – for example, for commercial vehicles – meet the growing demands of vehicle manufacturers for comfort, functionality, and differentiation.

Touchdown in the nanometer range
Some growth markets can be accessed using existing technologies. Others require a deliberate move into entirely new areas. With the acquisition of Physik Instrumente (PI), HOERBIGER has taken precisely this step. The newly established Positioning Division is tapping into industries that differ fundamentally from the Group’s traditional business areas – both technologically and in terms of their growth dynamics.

PI is a leader in high-precision positioning and motion systems in the nanometer range. These technologies are indispensable in a wide range of future-oriented markets. In the semiconductor industry, for example, they enable the precise positioning of wafers and optical components – a fundamental requirement for the manufacture of modern chips. They also play a key role in photonics, as well as in medical technology, where the highest precision enables new applications in diagnostics and therapy. Added to this are sectors such as industrial automation and satellite communications, where precise motion control is crucial.

For HOERBIGER, the establishment of the Positioning Division represents a strategic diversification into markets characterized by structural growth and high technological entry barriers. At the same time, the Division is also shifting the company’s perspective: while traditional markets are heavily cost- and volume-driven, Positioning focuses on innovation, speed, and technological excellence. The integration of Physik Instrumente has thus not only opened up new business areas but has also contributed significantly to substantially increasing the HOERBIGER Group’s share in megatrend markets.

A hub for all media
In the Rotary Business Unit, growth opportunities are particularly evident in specific applications. Rotary’s core products, rotary unions, play a key role in many future-oriented and growth markets, such as industrial automation, renewable energy (wind power), online commerce (paper and cardboard production), aerospace, and the defense sector.

An important future market is the business of electrical slip rings. They enable the transmission of power and data in rotating systems and are therefore a key technology for modern industrial plants. They are indispensable in semiconductor production – particularly in wafer manufacturing. HOERBIGER has strategically expanded this market. The acquisition of several slip ring product lines from LTN underscores the importance of this business segment. The integration of Diamond-Roltran is providing additional momentum. The resulting maintenance-free Roll-Ring slip rings achieved market success shortly after their introduction – particularly in demanding applications in the aerospace and defense sectors. Rotary is thus increasingly positioning itself in technology-driven growth markets.

Rotary sees the so-called mid-market as a key area for organic growth: the goal here is to leverage its existing expertise in premium products to develop solutions for lower price segments. These best-cost products have enormous market potential.

Safety check for new markets
New technologies create new opportunities. At the same time, new risks arise. This is precisely where the Safety Business Unit comes in. Its business benefits from a megatrend affecting nearly all industries: the growing demand for safety, availability, and plant protection. 

Growth is driven by several simultaneous developments. Regulatory requirements are becoming stricter worldwide. At the same time, awareness is rising regarding every company’s most valuable asset: the health of its employees. Added to this are new technologies that necessitate new safety concepts.

A current example is Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). They play a central role in the energy transition, as they enable the storage of renewable energy. At the same time, battery systems present new challenges, such as thermal reactions and increased safety requirements. In numerous other industries as well – such as the food, chemical, pharmaceutical, and hydrogen industries – explosion protection is essential for safe plant operation.

Safety develops specialized solutions that are specifically tailored to these applications. The Business Unit thus remains true to its core mission – the protection of people and equipment – while simultaneously tapping into new markets in line with global megatrends.

Ready for takeoff

The examples from the business areas show that HOERBIGER’s future is not shaped by a single market or a single technology. It emerges where existing expertise meets new challenges – in hydrogen applications, semiconductor factories, battery storage systems, automated production systems, or high-precision positioning solutions. Some of these markets were tapped through innovation based on existing business. Others emerged through targeted acquisitions.

What they all have in common is a clear principle: growth markets do not arise by chance. They are the result of long-term decisions, technological excellence, and consistent execution. For HOERBIGER, the transformation of the industry is the foundation for tomorrow’s growth.