{
  "id": 19166015,
  "title": "Zukunftsgestalter: Trumpf auf dem Weg zum Maschinen-Menschen",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/09/zukunftsgestalter-trumpf-auf-dem-weg-zum-maschinen-menschen",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-11-09T14:44:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/industrie/ki-trumpf-auf-dem-weg-zur-menschmaschine/100248242.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "In the development hall of Trumpf in Ditzingen, a revolution in robotics is beginning. It starts when machines stop receiving predetermined movements, as they begin to decide for themselves. However, robotics is not a core theme for the family-owned company, which specializes in laser use, from sheet metal processing to chip production. Yet, the company believes in always being at the forefront of the latest technologies and maintaining close contact with research and science. The secret to Trumpf's success is making industrial robots more intelligent, turning them into intelligent systems that complement sheet metal machines and create competitive advantages. With the growing competition from China, Trumpf must stay ahead. The Trade magazine has provided exclusive insights into the sensitive area of Trumpf in the \"Future Makers\" series. When people think of the machine man from Fritz Lang's legendary silent film \"Metropolis\" from 1927 or the golden Star Wars robot C-3PO, they might be disappointed by what they see in Trumpf's development hall. \"A robot doesn't have to look like a human in the factory,\" says Ralph Lange, Robotics Chief at the Mittelstand company. \"If it only needs one arm, it only has one, if it needs three, it has three. If it doesn't need a head, it doesn't have one.\" Intelligence can be somewhere inside the robot or in the cloud. Ultimately, Trumpf is focused on making robots smarter. The technological leaps in such technically extreme devices as industrial robots happen mainly in software. Trumpf has around 600 developers working on custom software. In addition, there is a KI team with twelve people in the headquarters and another 90 distributed worldwide. \"AI is not spectator sport,\" says Sarah Engel, Head of AI at Trumpf. \"We involve all employees. We have mandatory training, but we rely on curiosity and showcase applications on site.\" The Trumpf method: The Path to the Light Curiosity and self-development have always been two important driving forces in the Trumpf cosmos. Even in his 1957 diploma work, Berthold Leibinger laid the foundation for his first invention, the copying and nibbling machine that allowed for fast and precise copying of contours and samples from metal parts using a template. This earned him the nickname \"Nibbler King\" in 2018 and set the stage for his rise to a global corporation. He sold his patents to pay for shares in the 1923-founded company, which eventually became owned by Leibinger's adoptive father, Christian Trumpf. In the late 1970s, Leibinger recognized the potential of lasers for sheet metal processing. He purchased American lasers and improved and stabilized the technology to make it suitable for mass production. Today, Trumpf, led by its daughter Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller, is the world leader in industrial lasers. Applications extend far beyond sheet metal cutting, ranging from smartphone glass processing to ultrashort pulse lasers, EUV lasers, and plasmas, without which the latest and most powerful chips cannot be produced. No other company can do this. With semiconductor technology alone, Trumpf has generated a billion euros in revenue. In just 20 years, the company has built an entirely new foundation. Recently, a project with partner Rohde & Schwarz to develop lasers for drone defense is the latest futuristic venture. However, not everything Trumpf does succeeds. Some forays into new technologies have ended. 3D metal printers were sold, as were the photonics sensors acquired from Philips a few years ago. But for the Trumpf leadership, such failures are part of the process. \"We always adapt to new techniques and circumstances in the world, even if we don't dive into all of them,\" says Mathias Kammüller, the company's principle for adapting to new technology. In the management, the husband of the CEO is responsible for digitalization. \"We have always integrated new technologies into our products to move forward.\" Robots help the manufacturing machines. Customer replacement part orders are largely managed by AI at Trumpf. However, AI still hits its limits. \"When it comes to causes of damage, direct communication between the customer and the specialist service is safer, as AI sometimes starts fantasizing when it doesn't know something,\" says Tooling Chief Stephan Mayer, adding \"and then.\" AI agents already complement and control each other in the company, both in processes and software development accelerated by AI. \"There were applications twelve months ago that were unthinkable,\" says Mayer. Today, algorithms analyze the frequencies of motor currents of an axis with 52 parameters independently and compare them with end-use values in the factory to remotely diagnose the condition of an axis. Globally, there are now over 50,000 Trumpf manufacturing machines, a fifth of which are online and connected in real-time. At new machines, the online percentage is 70 percent. Now, AI is also intended to enhance laser-controlled processes.",
  "summary": "Für Trumpf reicht es nicht mehr, nur die besten Laser zu bauen. Was im Kampf gegen chinesische Konkurrenten zählt, sind Gesamtsysteme mit Robotik. Trumpf erobert das neue Feld mit KI.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}