Founded in 1984, Sensorik Austria GmbH develops and manufactures robust, high-performance sensor solutions for customers in many industries.

Its focus has increasingly shifted toward optical sensors and fibre optics for demanding environments involving heat, moisture and contamination.

The principal industries are papermaking, metals, special-purpose machinery and crane manufacturing. International activities have expanded since 1990.

Based in central Upper Austria, the company serves customers in more than 25 countries through representatives in more than 20 countries across Europe, Asia, North America and Africa. Suzhou Weidoya Automation Electrical Equipment Co., Ltd. is its authorized agent in China.

Company Milestones

1990: Fibre-optic web break detectors were developed. Successive versions have since operated reliably in hundreds of paper mills worldwide.

1995: A new fibre-optic concept for CO-type break sensors combined high optical transmission with a robust design.

1997: A collision-protection system was developed for Liebherr in Vorarlberg to monitor separation between two gantry cranes. These systems have served aboard ships for decades.

1998: Self-monitoring was added to the crane collision sensors, with an installation at the Eternit works in Upper Austria.

1999: A Belarusian steelworks became a hot rolling mill fully equipped with fibre-optic sensors for high-temperature object detection.

2002: A non-contact system for locating roulette balls was developed for a gaming-machine manufacturer in Upper Austria, supporting long-term use over subsequent decades.

2009: The founders and former managing directors retired, and the company continued under new management.

2010: Continuous contamination monitoring substantially improved the established web break sensors. Combined with CO fibre optics and air-purged mounting arms, they became a standard solution for open-draw break detection inside and outside paper machine dryer groups.

2011: Customer requirements led to SensoWeb Splice for detecting repulpable tape during flying splices, and SensoWeb Edge for analog web-edge detection in high-temperature areas.

2013: The trident multi-wavelength platform was introduced. It supported the first generation of material-sensitive fibre-optic SensoWeb Felt sensors for break detection against dryer fabrics in Tier 1 dryer groups. Further customer projects in material sensing followed.

2017: A fibre-optic moisture sensor based on trident was introduced for online paper machine moisture measurement. Early installations showed that this demanding application required further development.

2018: A substantially revised SensoWeb Felt-V2 generation became available for this challenging material-sensitive break-detection task.

2020/2021: Following construction during the COVID-19 period, the company moved into its new Lambach building in January 2021. The building became its competence centre for optical sensor technology.

2022: Intensive development produced the new SensoWeb moist fibre-optic moisture sensor generation for paper machines. Installations on five continents have demonstrated the product in use.

2025: The polyIdent spectral platform brought years of development to market, helping move short-wave infrared material analysis from laboratory testing into online process control.

2026: Sensorik Austria GmbH and Suzhou Weidoya Automation Electrical Equipment Co., Ltd. established a partnership covering product sales and pre-sales, sales and after-sales service in China.