Dirk Broichhausen has been managing Adcole’s business of measuring instruments in Recklinghausen, Germany, since September 2024. We spoke to him about goals, resilience, niche markets as an opportunity, and the future of optical systems.

inspect: What was your goal and vision when you took over the management of Adcole?

Dirk Broichhausen: My goal was and is to maintain proven strategies and product lines and thus remain a reliable partner for our customers and also to further develop the team and introduce new product solutions. My vision is to sustainably position Adcole as the ‘First Choice’ through a healthy mix of continuity, growth and innovation and to offer our customers an attractive range of systems. Specifically, we now want to introduce optical measuring systems in addition to our tactile measuring systems.

inspect: We are currently going through turbulent economic and political times. What is your strategy for strengthening Adcole’s resilience?

Broichhausen: Every crisis also has its opportunities. And I see our opportunity in asserting ourselves as the measurement standard in our niche markets, both in laboratories and in production. When it comes to precision components and accurate measurements, our systems represent the pinnacle of what is technically feasible today and that will continue to be our aspiration in the future. We have a strong presence in the automotive sector, but are also increasingly active in the niche market of energy supply. A new trend here is motor solutions for generators that secure the power supply for AI data centres. AI is finding its way everywhere today and it needs energy–regardless of the global economic crises. This is where precision measurement technology and our measurement systems for motor construction are in demand.

inspect: What fascinates you about measurement technology?

Broichhausen: It has been part of my professional life for many years. Measurement technology always provides a target/actual comparison: What are the dimensions, what should they be? In other words, it shows where we are and defines where we want to go. For me, the exciting question is always: what economies of scale can I derive from my measurements? For example, the question of how I can utilise materials even better and save costs. That’s what fascinates me about measurement technology.

inspect: How does Adcole position itself in the global market for precision measurement technology and what competitive advantages characterise your company over the competition?

Broichhausen: With our cutting-edge systems, we are now achieving measurement accuracies well below 1 μ. Customers tell us that in cases of doubt, they compare measured values that they have measured with systems from other suppliers in production with the Adcole measuring device in the laboratory to be on the safe side. This means that the high-precision market trusts us and we are very proud of that. Our market is not a mass market where products are available on every corner. Our currency is our precise, cutting-edge technology and the trust that can be placed in our systems.

inspect: What products does the Adcole portfolio include and which industries do you address?

Broichhausen: We have specialised in the high-precision measurement of shafts or, more precisely, round shafts. We focus on camshafts, crankshafts, but also on pump shafts and drive shafts for the drivetrain or powertrain for electromobility. We also offer measurement technology for industrial engine construction. As I have already mentioned, the current trend here is large engine construction for generators for AI data centres. We are talking about huge crankshafts that are over 4.50 metres in size. This is a very attractive niche market for us, which is also very challenging because the demands on measuring accuracy are as high here as perhaps only in engine technology for Formula 1.

inspect: Can you give us a brief insight into your high-precision measurement systems for automotive applications and EV drive systems?

Broichhausen: Our measuring systems are not specifically designed for one application, but are generalised. This means that the customer can flexibly set any shape of shaft, all possible geometries, roundnesses, diameters, lead angles and other quality parameters. Only the length of the shaft is specified. These general systems are produced by our parent company in the USA. We serve the European market from Recklinghausen, Germany. This is where the customising takes place, i.e. we make the customer-specific adaptations so that every customer can implement their exact measuring programme.

inspect: What trends do you currently see in measurement technology and how are these reflected in your products?

Broichhausen: The demands on accuracy are constantly increasing, whether in lorry engine construction, motorsport or large engine construction. Engine components such as crankshafts are being machined more and more precisely by machine manufacturers. Grinding machines are grinding ever more precisely. This means that the measuring technology must also become increasingly precise. Our tactile systems can already deliver measuring accuracy in the micrometre range for diameters and roundnesses. Our goal is quite clearly to enable our customers to produce more and more precisely and efficiently with us.

inspect: You are very familiar with machine vision thanks to your time at Isra Vision. To what extent does machine vision play a role in Adcole’s measuring systems?

Broichhausen: It is clear that we also want to market optical measuring systems in the future. That is our strategy and my image processing expertise will of course also play a role in this. We have a new product series, the Optishaft series. This is a camera-based system that we have developed with our partner company QVI. Camera-based systems were the focus at Isra Vision. Adcole is now also entering this market. However, tactile measurement technology will remain the standard in production. Optical measurement technology is a good addition. When it comes to high throughput with very fast, precise measurements, Optishaft is a good choice. Our customers can combine both worlds and, for example, reference data or files from the optical measurement with the data from the tactile system in the measuring room.

inspect: How will the market for ­precision measurement technology develop in the future and what role will Adcole play in it?

Broichhausen: We are currently investing heavily in software. This means that in addition to high-precision hardware, we are clearly endeavouring to take software to the next level. We will definitely be introducing the topic of AI. In general, we see AI as an opportunity for us to enable many new applications. And we are convinced that AI will bring great benefits for the customer.