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SEEPEX, a leading worldwide specialist in pump technology and part of the
Ingersoll Rand Group, knew they needed to find a way to efficiently write and
manage code for a multitude of platforms. As a global supplier of missioncritical flow creation and industrial solutions, SEEPEX leads with a guiding
principle aimed at finding solutions that help their customers get ahead,
particularly by developing previously unheard-of solutions. They view the key
to their success as their drive to work with customers to develop approaches
that optimize their system, boost their productivity, and lower their operating
costs. Within the pursuit of this goal, Seepex approached Copia.
“With Copia, we’ve adapted to market conditions and increased the agility
of our business,” Dr. Sebastian Rickers, Head of Electrical Engineering at
Seepex, said. “Particularly, customers wanted us to be able to program PLCs
(programmable logic controllers) on multiple platforms. This limitation was
more than just an inconvenience—it was costing us business.”
Industrial automation demands a controlled continuous flow of both
resources and processes. No one knows this better than Seepex, who
sells its progressive cavity (PC) pumps, pump systems, and controls to a diverse range of manufacturing, including food and beverage, oil and
gas, and environmental engineering. With a small, dedicated team of PLC
programmers, Seepex provides custom code that keeps their PC pumps
flowing. But with the many PLCs available in the market, Seepex soon found
itself at a bottleneck. Their established methods had them developing in
closed, proprietary vendor systems that limited their ability to collaborate
and speed to innovate.
The Quest for a Solution
Determined to overcome this hurdle, Seepex harnessed their relationship
with the University of Applied Sciences of Cologne. Their joint mission?
To establish a single source of truth for the development and oversight
of code for multiple PLC vendors. The solution would need to enable the
development team to share code easily, work asynchronously, and provide a
robust backup and recovery plan. It was during this search that they learned
about the Copia Industrial DevOps Platform.
“When we heard about Copia, we realized they were the only ones who had
a solution for a multi-vendor code repository,” Dr. Rickers said, “This was the
solution we needed and had been trying to create.”
Seepex has consistently delivered innovative, positive outcomes for
customers because of this ability to reach across the aisle to find new
partners that amplify their impact. Their ongoing relationship with the
University of Applied Sciences of Cologne is a testament to their belief in
research, innovation, and collaboration to continually improve and scale
their business.
A Smooth Transition
Implementing a new system can often be a daunting task. But for Seepex,
the transition to Copia was surprisingly smooth.
The team’s familiarity with Git-based systems gave them a head start, and
with some basic training and support from Copia’s customer success team,
they were up and running in no time.
“The implementation was quite easy,” said Kai Seeberg-Kessner, electrical
engineer and PLC programmer at Seepex. “We just had to set up the
different repositories for each vendor, which only took a few hours of work.”
Transforming Workflows
The impact of Copia on Seepex’s operations was immediate and farreaching. Gone were the days of decentralized code setups and manual
synchronization between team members.
“Before Copia,” Seeberg-Kessner recalls, “we had thousands of copies of
PLC files. Now, with Copia, we have eliminated our duplicate code and rely
on a single source of truth.”
This centralization didn’t just tidy up their codebase—it revolutionized
their ability to collaborate. Team members can now work on the same
code simultaneously, regardless of their location. Additionally, the service
team gained direct access to the latest versions of the code, which freed
developers from handling support requests.
“We can now break up the lifecycle management of our systems,” said Dr.
Rickers. “We’re no longer forced to have the same person responsible for a
project from cradle to grave. Copia has given us great flexibility
and scalability.”
Expanding Horizons
The most significant impact, however, was on SEEPEX's business capabilities.
With their newfound ability to work across multiple platforms, they could say
“yes” to projects they previously had to turn down.
“We have now sold significantly more units that we would not have been
able to sell if we did not have Copia,” said Dr. Rickers. “Before 2017, we
were selling a handful of units annually. Then we introduced our platform
independent technology (PIT) concept in 2017 and Copia not long after. The
combination of these changes has increased our output 3x on average over
the last few years, with 2023 being our best year yet and 2024 continuing on
that progress. We credit this to the technical advantage and adaptability that comes with these changes and the Industrial DevOps product and approach
that comes with Copia, amplifying the impact of our workforce.”
But it’s not just about the numbers. The quality of work life for the team has
improved dramatically. For example, Seeberg-Kessner, who previously had
to juggle development and service requests, can now focus on his core
responsibilities.
“I’m more available for commissioning and PLC programming, and I can
pass on service responsibilities to other staff knowing they have all the
documentation they need in Copia,” said Seeberg-Kessner.
Looking to the Future
As Seepex continues to grow and evolve, Copia remains a crucial part of
their toolkit. The platform’s ability to render changes visually has become a
favorite feature among the team, making code reviews more efficient
and effective.
“I highly recommend Copia, especially if you have colleagues in remote
locations,” said Seeberg-Kessner. “You can all work at the same time on the
same base code. That’s the biggest advantage for me.”
For SEEPEX, Copia Automation hasn’t just solved a technical challenge—it’s
opened up new possibilities, streamlined their operations, and positioned
them for future growth in an increasingly competitive environment. And that
has the team at SEEPEX pumped!
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