30 Years of CODESYS

Summary

In July 1994, Dieter Hess and Manfred Werner founded 3S-Smart Software Solutions GmbH, since June 2020 CODESYS GmbH, which is now part of the CODESYS Group as a sales company. Today, the entire group of companies employs more than 230 people at its headquarters in Kempten/Allgäu and in its subsidiaries in China, Italy and the United States.

In the 30 years since its market launch, CODESYS has transformed the automation industry. The independent Kempten-based company now offers the complete software side of automation, far beyond the functionality of a modern IEC 61131-3 tool, from integrated visualization and connection to all important fieldbus systems through to motion and safety. The CODESYS Automation Server is an Industry 4.0 solution that allows control environments to be managed conveniently and remotely.

Brand new in the portfolio: CODESYS Virtual Control SL. This virtual controller can be installed on any architecture with a container or hypervisor / VM - as often as required and with scalable performance. In this way, virtual controllers can be realized that are equipped with all the familiar features of CODESYS and programmed with the CODESYS Development System in all IEC 61131-3 languages. Another innovation is the web-based development environment CODESYS go! It makes development with CODESYS independent of Windows desktops, as it also runs on the server and on the controller.

"Our continuity is one of our great strengths," said Manfred Werner. "It is essential in an industry where product lifetimes are measured in decades." In fact, all employees from the very beginning are still working for the CODESYS Group. Even the customers who placed their first order by fax in 1994 are loyal to CODESYS to this day.

And how about the prospects for the future? Automation is a key factor both for the necessary energy transition and for alleviating labor shortage, said Dieter Hess. "While our industry used to be blamed for being a job killer, it now offers the opportunity to at least partially compensate for a lack of personnel by increasing productivity."

CTO Hilmar Panzer added: "What we need worldwide is intelligent management for the distribution, storage, transportation and consumption of energy. CODESYS is already making an important contribution to these challenges today."