The firebird turns 15 - PhoenixTM from Bad Oeynhausen celebrates company anniversary
PhoenixTM has been changing the market for temperature measurement technology in industrial furnaces for 15 years now. With expertise, service, speed, flexibility and charm, we have managed to turn an idea into a small but big-thinking company with two sites in Germany and the UK.
Looking back:
In 2010, the founders, Michael Taake, Ian Budden and Dave Plester (†2017) developed the idea of rethinking temperature measurement in industrial ovens. All three had and have many years of experience in this field and wanted to contribute their knowledge and expertise in their own way. With the founding of PhoenixTM Ltd. in January 2010 in Ely, Cambridgeshire, the foundations were laid for production and worldwide sales. In the meantime, the UK office and production have moved to Earith on the industrial park.
In April 2010, PhoenixTM GmbH was also launched in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany, from where it serves the DACH region as well as the European and North African countries and the Middle East. Initially still a two-man office in the Wulferdingsen district with Michael Taake and an office worker, the company moved into new premises in Bad Oeynhausen - Rehme in mid-2011, which offered more space for additional employees. In addition to a second office worker, two more employees were added to the field sales team. When a further three employees were added in 2016 and 2017, including one in service, these premises also became too small and the company moved to the Dehme district in October 2017, from where the business is still run today.
Today:
The move to Dehmer Str. 48 enabled further expansion and reorganisation, such as the DAkkS accreditation granted in 2018. In Dehme, we had the opportunity to set up a complete laboratory that meets the high requirements of the DAkkS specifications. Since then, we have been calibrating the data loggers of our customers from the entire sales area here, including the customer loggers of our partner, SolderStar.
Eight employees now take care of all our customers‘ needs. Michael Taake and Bastian Sulinski are always available when it comes to finding the best temperature measurement system for our customers‘ applications. They advise and support our customers from the initial enquiry to the first use of the systems. You will be supported by the back office, which is staffed by Dagmar Taake, Larissa Seiler and Carola Konitzer. They are joined by Julia Kerber, who takes care of everything to do with calibrations. Manfred von Prondzinski calibrates in the laboratory and Ben White takes care of service and technical support for our customers. Marketing and trade fairs are looked after by Carola and the social media presence by Julia.
In addition to our office in Bad Oeynhausen, we have a large network of agencies and partners in all major industrialised countries, most of whom we have worked with for many years on a basis of trust. With our short decision-making processes and reliable partners, we are very proud to be able to offer a perfect on-site service, from quotation to commissioning and beyond
The product innovations that PhoenixTM has brought out over the last 15 years include the TS12 series of heat protection vessels, which travel through the entire carburising process, including the oil quenching bath, and can thus display not only the temperature profile in the furnace but also the heat transfers in the quenching bath. The intrinsically safe ATEX system (FIS04-Epsilon-x), which was developed for the high safety standards in potentially explosive areas and is certified in accordance with Directive 99/92/EC (ATEX 137-Zone 2), should also be mentioned, as should the optical system, which makes it possible for the first time to take a look inside the heat treatment furnace - under process conditions.
Fun fact:
One of our first customers bought our data logger PTM1-010-K-HT with the serial no. 1005 (i.e. the fifth logger ever built) in 2010 and only traded it in in 2022 because he liked and wanted the new functions of the successor model PTM1210. You can see the data logger‘s working hours, but it still works perfectly to this day and could continue to do its job. Now, however, it has its resting place on our „Board of Fame“ and we are delighted to be able to support our customers with such durable and robust products.
Outlook:
Upcoming projects include the further development of the optical system to make it suitable for applications > 600°C and a data logger with a motion sensor to recognise the position of the product in the oven and thus be able to adjust the push times to the measured curves.
Another project that needs to be tackled is the search for a new location with more office, laboratory and storage space in order to be able to meet the constantly increasing demand for our products and services to everyone‘s satisfaction.
The future remains exciting and we would like to thank our customers and companions and look forward to further trusting and challenging years in which we can continue to develop our products with and for our customers and bring new innovative devices to market.
