Endress+Hauser celebrates inventors 

On average, Endress+Hauser filed a patent every working day last year. The family-owned company holds an annual Innovators’ Meeting, where it presents awards in recognition of the people behind these inventions. This year, for the first time, the event included an award for sustainable product development. 

Last year Endress+Hauser filed first patent applications for 285 inventions. In other words, its employees generated an average of one invention per working day. The company was granted a total of 701 patents in 2024. This figure exceeds the number of first filings because the inventions were ultimately registered with multiple patent offices. The Endress+Hauser Group’s portfolio of intellectual property rights now includes over 9,000 active patents and patents pending.   

Endress+Hauser employees who contribute to a patent application – and last year there were over 430 of them – are invited to the company’s annual Innovators’ Meeting. This is primarily an opportunity for inventors to network and share ideas. But it is also an awards event – a time to celebrate high-output inventors and the innovators behind improved processes and the most commercially successful inventions. 

This year’s Innovators’ Meeting was held at the home stadium of German Bundesliga football team SC Freiburg. “Innovation is a team sport,” Endress+Hauser’s director for IPR Dr Christine Koslowski told the assembled employees in a nod to the venue. And she had the numbers to back this up: “Ninety-one percent of all innovations generated in 2024 were a team effort. This is an important part of our culture of innovation, which is passed on from our experienced colleagues to new employees.” 

At the Innovators’ Meeting, Endress+Hauser presented its first ever award for eco-design and circular economy. “We want to make our product development even more sustainable,” explained Dr Andreas Mayr, chief operating officer at Endress+Hauser. “And that’s why we’re presenting awards for inventions that combine our measuring instruments’ exceptional functionality and reliability with a resource-saving and eco-friendly approach.”  

The awards went to teams whose product developments delivered measurable gains for sustainability. The winning innovations included electronics and housing designs that enable significant energy and material savings and hence reduce the company’s carbon footprint.        

Endress+Hauser actively encourages all employees to put forward ideas for inventions and improvements. “Every single innovation helps us develop as a company and offer even greater value to our customers,” said Andreas Mayr.  

The Endress+Hauser Group’s spending on R&D in 2024 totaled over 275.6 million euros, or 7.4% of sales. The company has more than 1,300 employees working in its product development departments, and last year it brought no fewer than 81 new products to market.