Bottlenecks and long delivery times are placing a massive burden on the global economy. In order to manage this difficult situation, Pilz founded a cross-departmental task force back in autumn 2020.
This task force includes the Purchasing, Development, Production Technology, Production and Sales departments. The Purchasing department is thus in close co-operation with the suppliers, escalates bottlenecked articles and establishes additional sources of supply. Development qualifies alternative components and materials, Production Technology controls the use of (scarce) components, Production flexibly adapts its processes and, in the event of good availability of components, also works in additional shifts for short periods, and Sales always maintains contact with the customer and keeps them informed of any current developments.
Delivery capability is the highest priority! This requires Pilz to travel unconventional paths. To resolve a bottleneck in green plastic granulate, for example, Pilz has been supplying safety relays from the product ranges PNOZsigma, PNOZmulti and PMDsigma with transparent plastic housings since mid-September 2021 – without any technical restrictions for the customers. The housing colour was changed in record time and in close collaboration with the responsible notified bodies TÜV, UL, CQC, Kosha and EAC.
Unfortunately, all our measures were not enough to prevent Pilz from also experiencing breakdowns in production. In these cases, the affected customers were informed immediately and alternatives were developed together.
These collective efforts paid off: Despite the most challenging framework conditions, Pilz was able to produce more devices than ever for its customers in 2021.




