KSB increases its stake in ai-omatic
- Stake in ai-omatic solutions increased to 47 percent
- Holistic solution for predictive maintenance of industrial plants
- AI-based maintenance cockpit delivering high added value in asset management
FRANKENTHAL: Pump and valve manufacturer KSB is consistently advancing its digital strategy. The company is significantly expanding its strategic partnership with ai-omatic solutions and is increasing its stake in the Hamburg-based AI start-up from previously 5 percent to now 47 percent. With this step, KSB is deepening its collaboration in the field of AI-supported service platforms.
The initial investment at the beginning of 2024 already demonstrated clear technological and commercial advantages. “The digital networking of machine components using AI offers substantial added value for both customers and machine manufacturers. It leads to a new definition of the customer interface and enables an entirely new portfolio of important services such as preventive maintenance,” says Dr. Stephan Timmermann, Spokesperson of the KSB Executive Management. “The company’s AI platform enables plant monitoring that goes far beyond individual components such as pumps.”
Expanded Service Portfolio
With the “KSB Guard Monitoring Service,” KSB already offers an established solution for pump monitoring. ai-omatic’s technology extends this approach to entire fleets of machines and even complete industrial plants. “This allows us to offer our customers holistic plant monitoring from a single source,” explains Dr. Timmermann.
The success of the partnership is already evident in joint customer projects. Data from KSB sensors is fed into ai-omatic’s software, where it is analyzed using AI-based models. This delivers numerous benefits for customers: Unplanned plant downtime can be reduced through early detection of anomalies. Maintenance teams are relieved, which is a significant advantage in times of skilled labor shortages. In addition, maintenance processes can be optimized, as components are replaced at the optimal point in time.
Growing Market for Predictive Maintenance
The market for AI-supported predictive maintenance is growing by up to 30 percent annually. Industries with continuous production processes such as chemicals, manufacturing, energy, and steel are increasingly relying on such solutions, as failures in these sectors result in high consequential costs. AI delivers substantial added value in this context. “ai-omatic has an innovative, field-proven product that fits perfectly with our digital strategy,” concludes Dr. Timmermann.
Acquisition Instead of In-House Development
The increased stake also represents a clear “win-win” model for all parties involved. “By integrating ai-omatic’s product, we significantly shorten the development time of KSB’s own control and monitoring platform. At the same time, we support ai-omatic in professionalizing its market access by providing the company with KSB’s sales expertise and the associated network,” says Dr. Timmermann.
Photo: KSB-CTO Dr. Stephan Bross, KSB-CEO Dr. Stephan Timmermann, ai-omatic-CEO Lena Weirauch, ai-omatic-CTO Björn Schulz © KSB SE & Co. KGaA
KSB is a leading international manufacturer of pumps and valves. The Frankenthal-based Group has a presence on five continents with its own sales and marketing organisations, manufacturing facilities and service operations. With a workforce of around 16,800, the KSB Group generated sales revenue of more than € 3 billion in the 2025 financial year.
