Image processing component manufacturer Matrix Vision GmbH has been acquired by sensor and automation provider Balluff Inc. L to R: Michael Unger, Florian Hermle, Katrin Stegmaier-Hermle, Uwe Furtner, Erhard Meier, Gerhard Thullner and Werner Armingeon. Courtesy of Matrix Vision. "In the future, our product portfolio will complement the range of the Balluff Group in a field in which Balluff has played a relatively small role till now: machine vision,” said Uwe Furtner, technical director of Matrix Vision. Matrix Vision, with its 100 employees, will still operate independently and with an unchanged brand in the field of image processing. Managing directors Uwe Furtner and Erhard Meier will continue to manage the company at its site in Oppenweiler. Balluff now holds 75 percent of the shares in the company, with the remaining 25 percent being retained by the previous shareholders. "Machine vision will grow in importance in the future against the backdrop of Industry 4.0,” the shareholders said in a statement. “As part of the Balluff Group, we will be able to service this growing market better, both nationally and internationally. The resulting long-term opportunities for our company are enormous, giving our workforce a clear perspective for the future.” Balluff offers a comprehensive portfolio of innovative sensor, identification and network technologies and software for integrated system solutions. Matrix Vision offers a wide range of frame grabbers, industrial cameras, intelligent cameras, video sensors, embedded systems and software in the industrial image processing sector. ”For four years, we have been closely cooperating with Matrix Vision in a development partnership,” said Florian Germie, managing director of Balluff. “One of our two camera-based product lines is from Matrix Vision. So we already know that we are well-suited to one another and our product lines are optimally matched. Furthermore, Matrix Vision also attaches great importance to the subject of software. Matrix Vision lets us extend both our product portfolio in the area of camera-based sensor systems and our software development capacities.”