IPO.Plan would like to further develop the 4D planning tool IPO.Log and expand sales.
With the 3D simulation and planning software IPO.Log, virtual production can be planned and put into operation. Developer IPO.Plan specializes in factory and production planning and wants to further develop the tool and expand sales. The capital for this comes from VC Fonds Baden-Württemberg and MBG Mittelständische Beteiligungsgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg.
“Why always start from scratch when there are changes?” was a question that concerned planning engineer Werner Dürr when he was still planning assembly lines using CAD at a major automobile manufacturer. He programmed an additional module for the CAD software that visualized the material supply. “That’s how IPO.Log came about,” says Matthias Kellermann.
Kellermann is managing director of IPO.Plan GmbH in Leonberg, which he founded in 2009 together with Werner Dürr, Michael Wagner and Jens Läuger. The idea: To further develop the visualization software and bring it to the market. Parallel to this, the engineering office planned classic productions and thus took the first development steps from its own resources. Today the company has 58 employees.
The Leonberger’s customer list reads like a Who’s Who of the German economy: Among them are Daimler AG, which uses IPO.Log worldwide, VW, BMW, Audi and Siemens.
IPO.Log visualizes the assembly situation, for example in the automotive industry, before production is actually set up. It shows where the material must be available for which product variants, so that the assembly employees have shorter walking distances. “Being able to visualize material provision and the production process and improve both at the click of a mouse is unique in the world,” says Kellermann.
Companies that have process lines are potential buyers of the software. Increasing digitization and Industry 4.0 make digital planning of production processes attractive for machine and plant manufacturers as well as for other production companies.
“There is often criticism that there are too few investors for growth capital in Germany. The investment of VC Fonds Baden-Württemberg and MBG is growth financing in a highly innovative product,” says Dirk Buddensiek, Managing Director of MBG. The investors were convinced by both the company’s proven success and the potential of the software.
IPO.plan intends to use the money to build up internal sales staff and purchase external developer services. “By mid-2016, we want to present an IPO.Log version that shows all material flows”.