As part of the summer tour, the FDP visits SimPlan AG in Hanau
As part of his summer tour, the FDP vice-president of the state parliament responsible for the Main-Kinzig district, Dr. h.c. Jörg-Uwe Hahn visited SimPlan AG, headquartered in Hanau, together with Henrik Statz, chairman of the Hanau FDP parliamentary group and candidate for the Bundestag elections in autumn, and Prof. Fetzer, member of the district council.
During the conversation, board spokesman Prof. Dr. Sven Spieckermann made it clear that the company, founded in 1992, employs around 130 people at twelve locations in Germany and Austria with an annual turnover of around 16 million euros. SimPlan AG is involved in numerous research projects of the federal states, the federal government and the EU.
“Our company offers simulation solutions for production and logistics processes, among others. In this way, we create the possibility for our customers to prevent expensive downtimes in production and even to predict preventive maintenance measures, thus realising more efficient, faster and more fail-safe manufacturing processes,” Prof. Dr. Spieckermann explained to the Free Democrats. In addition, SimPlan also regularly carries out people flow simulations to simulate escape and evacuation scenarios to optimise service offerings for customers. The so-called hospital simulation, on the other hand, is used in particular for optimisation projects as well as new construction and conversion planning, but also for checking emergency scenarios.
“In addition, we also offer services in the area of project support, artificial intelligence, or even 3D simulation and virtual reality,” the board spokesman explained.
When asked by the Free Democrats how the company had survived the Corona crisis, Prof. Dr. Spieckermann replied: “Some of our customers had abruptly frozen their projects when the Corona crisis began and uncertainty grew. In some cases, we therefore had to announce short-time work for a few months. In the meantime, the situation has fortunately improved again, our order books are full.”
Recruiting young talent plays a very important role for SimPlan, he said. “In order to be able to offer our customers the best possible services, we rely on highly qualified specialists. Our company also does not neglect its own training and development of junior staff.”
The many possibilities of simulations offered by the company impressed the FDP politicians. “It is impressive how extensive and unerring the simulations of the Hanau company are. The success speaks for itself; not only customers from the logistics sector can benefit from them. Municipalities will also use them for their traffic problems,” explained former Justice Minister Hahn during the exchange.
For the local Free Democrats, it is also clear after this conversation that both the State of Hesse and the federal government must become more involved in research, also in financial terms. The simulation industry already offers numerous opportunities and possibilities for companies in Hesse. In order to be able to achieve further successes, he said, it is necessary to strengthen project research in addition to entrepreneurial commitment. “Not only public, but also private research and the best research conditions are the basis for innovation and progress in our state and worldwide. They open up new opportunities for our society and for combating global challenges. The pandemic in particular has shown that the constant change in the economy requires new ideas and ways,” concluded the domestic FDP politicians Henrik Statz and Prof. Dr. Joachim Fetzer.