High-end sensor systems
by candlelight

Some improbable industries are revealed on second glance to be industrial heavyweights, and so it is with candle production. Germany is by far the largest producer in Europe: 120,000 tonnes of candles are produced every year. Almost 20 percent of them come from the Karl Jaspers Kerzenfabrik (Candle Factory) in Paderborn. The company has grown from a small craft workshop to become an internationally recognised candle manufacturer with an ultra modern machine park.

Under the leadership of Thomas Jaspers in recent years, a highly automated manufacturing system has come into being. This makes it possible for the company to produce high-quality candles with economical production despite cheap global competition.

There is no efficient automation with a corresponding sensor system: Easily 1,000 different sensors are installed at Jaspers, especially optical and inductive sensors. The thermal conditions are not the only challenging aspect: there is hardly a square centimetre in