News Paper Research & Innovation Tissue
Emtec Electronic, maker of paper testing devices, celebrates 25 years

Emtec Electronic, a Germany-based global manufacturer of testing technologies for the paper industry, recently celebrated a quarter-century in business.

The company, which turned 25 years old on Dec. 21, 2020, has developed 13 innovations, international partnerships and a successful market expansion into the tissue, nonwovens and textile industries.

Emtec ACA Ash Content Analyzer. Photo: Emtec

Emtec Electronic’s journey began with small steps and an idea. In 1995, its founder and general manager, Leipziger physicist Giselher Gruener, developed a completely new method to test the liquid penetration of paper products, the Penetration Dynamics Analyzer (PDA).

The device can help to predict the gluing, printing and coating behaviour of paper and board for use in the converting by measuring the converting process-relevant parameters, surface sizing and surface porosity.

With one product and a team of four employees, Gruener began to make a name for Emtec in the paper industry.

In 2006, Emtec hit another milestone with the invention of the first objective testing device for measuring softness in the world, the Tissue Softness Analyzer (TSA).

This unique device simulates the sensory capabilities of the human hand to measure the perceived haptic properties based on softness, smoothness and stiffness.

The product proved to be one of the biggest successes of the decade and has become an industrial standard over the years. A few years later, the company extended the concept to include the nonwoven and textiles industry by introducing the Tactile Sensation Analyzer.

Emtec introduced the Ash Content Analyzer (ACA) in 2012, which makes it possible to non-destructively determine the total ash content as well as the individual minerals and fillers in paper and board within seconds.

Just one year later, the company presented the Fiber Zeta Potential Analyzer Online (FPO) – a fully automatic online-device that transfers results in real-time to process control or to an internet server, allowing access to measurement results from anywhere in the world.

The most recent Emtec innovation for the pulp and paper industry arose from a close partnership with AFG Analytic GmbH.

The two companies developed new-and-improved designs for the CAS touch! Charge Analyzing System and FPA touch! Fiber Potential Analyzer in 2016.

Although the measuring principle of the two devices remains the same, the upgrades made them smaller, lighter and therefore more portable. The touchscreen enables intuitive handling while the integrative PC software offers a deeper analysis of the tested material.

Since its founding, Emtec Electronic has grown to encompass 13 innovative devices, many with several modules, 33 employees and customers in more than 80 countries, and a global sales network of 32 independent representatives.