5 October 2021 – Elop Technology AS and DEKRA Visatec GmbH have signed an expanded commercial agreement for the production of the robotized InsightCrawler and establishment of a logistics and support hub in Germany. The services delivered from Dekra Vistatec will support Elop’s European expansion and sales of both Elop Insight and InsightCrawler and secure maintenance and services for their customers.
Elop announced on 21 May 2021 that it had entered into a letter of intent to finalise a commercial agreement with DEKRA Visatec, with an objective of launching the companies’ new combined “InsightCrawler” solution early next year. Since then, the scope of the agreement has been expanded to cover distribution and service for Elop Insight.
“To extend the DEKRA Visatec agreement to include distribution and service for both Elop Insight and InsightCrawler will significantly improve customer reach and service ability, but without increasing our cost base. For our commercial expansion it adds security and power to our support and logistics operations and facilitates for a focused production and product development at our Hamar location. For our customers and users, it will provide excellent logistical support which is expected and demanded from the industry. It is a win-win for all parties involved and especially for our future customers” says Øivind Horpestad, CEO of Elop.
DEKRA Visatec GmbH is part of the globally active expert organisation DEKRA, which is one of the leading global providers of industrial inspection services for infrastructure. The DEKRA group has a workforce of around 44,000 people working in approximately 60 countries on six continents and is the world’s largest unlisted expert organisation in the TIC (testing, inspection, certification) industry.
To be able to support its clients as quickly and efficiently as possible, DEKRA Visatec will – on behalf of the partnership – set up a service and logistics hub in Kempten, South Bavaria, Germany. From here, DEKRA Visatec will provide spare parts and maintenance services, and conduct customary quality and integrity checks before the Elop Insight and InsightCrawler is distributed to clients.
“We have earlier stated that we are confident there is a huge market out there, and we believe DEKRA Visatec and Elop Technology together can fill the market void for more efficient inspection of concrete structures. Establishing a service and distribution set-up in Munich underlines our belief in the technology and how it can benefit existing and potential clients of DEKRA Visatec” says Achim Hetterich, CEO of DEKRA Visatec.
Elop Technology recently announced that it had entered into an agreement with ICM that secures Elop the rights to combine its ultrasound scanner for inspection of concrete infrastructure with ICM’s suction-held climbing robots. The purpose of this agreement is to create the “InsightCrawler” – a tool that will be able to climb vertically on concrete infrastructure such as buildings, dams, cooling towers and bridges to provide an efficient mapping of its internal condition.
DEKRA Visatec will be a partner in the development of the interface connecting the two technologies. DEKRA Visatec will together with ELOP and ICM offer a new, unique and effective way of doing ultrasound inspection on concrete constructions.
“We are delighted with the industry partnership with DEKRA Visatec and impressed by such a large organisation’s ability to move swiftly and capitalise on the market opportunities this commercial and technology partnership can bring,” adds Øivind Horpestad.
DEKRA Visatec and Elop aim to launch the commercial version of InsightCrawler during the first quarter of 2022.
