1/2011 - Jenoptik AG

Economic relations between Germany and Switzerland.
For Switzerland, Germany is traditionally by far its most important trading
partner, ahead of Italy, France and the United States. Almost 20 percent of
all Swiss exports went to Germany in 2009, primarily machinery, pharmaceutical
products and precious metals. In 2009, the share of imports from
Germany to Switzerland stood at 33 percent, including machinery, motor
vehicles and mineral fuels.
The importance of Switzerland for German foreign trade outside the
European Single Market is exceeded only by the USA and China. In 2010,
the Alpine country was ranked 9th in German foreign trade for imports
and exports.
The strongest export sectors of the Swiss Confederation are the chemical
and pharmaceutical industries, the watch and metal industries as well as the
Precision in metrology: Hommel-Movomatic Suisse SA
manufactures, amongst others, gauge heads for the
control of diameter and position in grinding machines.
www.auswaertiges-amt.de Bilateral relations
www.swissworld.org/de
www.multanova.ch
info.ch@hommel-movomatic.com
machinery and electronics industries, precision instruments and apparatus
and automotive supplies.
Like Germany, Switzerland is represented in many international organizations
such as the OECD, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade
Organization (WTO). In addition, Switzerland is a founding member of the
European Free Trade Association (EFTA). In contrast, the country is not a
member of the EU or NATO. Nevertheless, there are “Bilateral Agreements”
between Switzerland and the EU to simplify economic exchanges, as well as
“NATO’s Partnership for Peace.” Switzerland has also been a member of the
United Nations (UN) since a referendum in 2002.
Source: Federal Foreign Office, Federal Statistical Office
are already used during the manufacturing process. By 1953,
the company presented the world’s first in-process measuring
head for measurement control for cylindrical grinding machines.
Even today, the core competence of Hommel-Movomatic Suisse
SA lies in the tactile in-process metrology. It develops and
produces measurement control systems that are part of the
preferred equipment of grinding machines and are installed on
machine tools. In particular, globally active manufacturers of
high-precision components for injection and hydraulic engineering
and customers from quality-sensitive markets such as the
USA, Japan and Central Europe as well as from the so-called
emerging markets such as India and China appreciate these
measuring devices with Swiss precision.
Who invented it? Pioneers in speed surveillance.
The Swiss colleagues at Multanova AG are just as precise in
speed surveillance. Multanova AG has been a part of the
present day Jenoptik Traffic Solutions division since 1999 when
Jenoptik acquired the then ROBOT Visual Systems GmbH in
Monheim/Düsseldorf including Multanova. The Swiss traffic
controllers are considered pioneers in their field: Multanova is
the first company to have developed and manufactured radar
devices in Switzerland. As early as 1952, during the founding
year, it presented a radar system for speed surveillance with
photographic registration.
Facts and Figures about Switzerland
Name of the country: Swiss Confederation,
CH = Confoederatio Helvetica
Capital city: Bern
Area: 41,285 square kilometers
Population: 7.78 million,
of these 264,000 Germans
Languages: 4 official languages: German
(ca. 64 per cent), French (ca. 20 per cent),
Italian (6.5 per cent), Rhaeto-Romanic
(0.5 per cent); other languages (9 per cent)
Religions: Catholic Church (42 per cent),
Protestant (35 per cent), non-denominational
(11 per cent), Islam, orthodox Christianity
National day: August 1
Form of government: democratic and
republican federal state
Today, Multanova is a leader in mobile and stationary traffic
surveillance in sales, support and as a system integrator for the
Jenoptik Traffic Solutions division. In Uster, in the canton of
Zurich, in the north-eastern part of Switzerland, about 15
employees distribute, install and manage monitoring systems
that are based on current measurement technologies such as
radar or laser, piezo or induction technology. The classic is still
the Multanova 6F radar, which was introduced by the Swiss in
1984, has been constantly modernized since then, and is now
used worldwide in places such as Spain, Australia and Canada.
The Swiss also install and maintain surveillance systems such as
the TraffiPatrol or the TraffiSection systems. The latter is a new
traffic surveillance system that measures average speed along a
stretch. The Traffic Solutions division successfully placed the
system, optionally combinable from mobile or stationary units,
Head of State: collective 7-member Federal Council,
duty of President rotating every year; President in
2011: Micheline Calmy-Rey
Head of Government: not required because
the head of the Federal Council is the President
Administrative structure: expressly federalist state
of 20 cantons and 6 half-cantons with strong cantonal
competencies
Currency: Swiss franc (CHF)
Gross domestic product (GDP) 2010:
ca. 550 billion CHF (ca. 400 billion euros)
Per capita GDP (2010):
71,500 CHF (ca. 52,000 euros)
Source: Federal Foreign Office, March 2011
on the market with a large order in February 2010, in Switzerland
and other markets. The Alpine country was also the center
of innovative traffic solutions technology in the fall of 2010.
Multanova presented the new 3D tracking radar in Geneva,
which can simultaneously record and track up to 32 vehicles on
different lanes.
”Made in Switzerland” innovations – the Swiss Confederation is
also a source of productivity and quality for Jenoptik. Esteemed
for their economy and political neutrality, Switzerland seems to
remain different. A final example? The Swiss were the first
people in the world allowed to vote on accession to the United
Nations (UN). In 2002, Switzerland became the only UN country
with a square flag. But the UN rules require that flags which fly
at the UN headquarters must be rectangular. The compromise:
The total area of the square flag may not exceed that of the
other rectangular flags. So, the Swiss flag, white cross on red
background, now also flies at the UN headquarters in New York.
Precision for more road safety: Multanova AG
is the leading provider of mobile and stationary
traffic monitoring in Switzerland.
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