Minol ZENNER Connect and ZENNER Hessware merge to form ZENNER Connect
Published: 06. Sep 2023
Following several years of close, successful cooperation, the two companies in the Minol-ZENNER Group merged in August 2023. Minol ZENNER Connect GmbH and ZENNER Hessware GmbH have joined forces to become ZENNER Connect GmbH.
Mannheim/ Leinfelden-Echterdingen, Germany, September 2023. For several years now, the two companies Minol ZENNER Connect and ZENNER Hessware have been working in close cooperation within the Minol-ZENNER-Group and together provided municipal utilities, energy suppliers, municipalities and the housing industry with a comprehensive infrastructure to digitalise the energy transition. Since September 2023, the two companies have been continuing on their common path in a new form, as ZENNER Connect GmbH. The executive management team is headed up by the three previous Managing Directors of Minol ZENNER Connect GmbH, Sebastian Hess, Marcus Kirchdörfer and Dr. Hartmut Ritter.
“The teams from both companies have been working very closely together for years, as many of their areas of expertise overlap,” explains Marcus Kirchdörfer. Thanks to the merger and especially in collaboration with our partners in the Minol-ZENNER Group, we are able to offer our customers comprehensive digital solutions for the cross-sector digitalisation of the energy transition.”
ZENNER Connect GmbH will therefore focus on two elementary fields under one roof in future. On the one hand, the company will be focussing on expanding and operating one of the largest LoRaWAN® networks in Europe for the housing and real estate industry, municipalities, energy suppliers and industrial customers. Today, the network already comprises 70,000 gateways, through which more than five million devices and sensors transmit data. ZENNER Connect is also registered with the Federal Network Agency as a LoRaWAN® network operator. On the other hand, the company now uses B.One middleware to operate the ISO 27001 certified platform for secure data exchange, which was previously managed by ZENNER Hessware.
“All measured values and sensor data transferred by our Minol-ZENNER Group customers are generally also transmitted via our B.One middleware platform,” says Sebastian Hess and adds: “As a result, the focus of operational business has been on the same topics for some time. As such, it makes sense to formally merge the areas of activity.” Customers use B.One middleware to implement all services in the market role of active EMT. This includes, for example, data transfer via the smart meter gateway’s CLS channel or the switching of generation plants and consumption systems. B.One middleware also meets the SM-PKI requirements of the smart meter gateway.
On the whole, ZENNER Connect GmbH expects even closer networking of employees and shorter communication and decision-making channels. “Working together in a new team, we want to further develop our existing solutions and channel our efforts on new products and services. Yet another objective is to continuously expand of our LoRaWAN® network,” explains Dr. Hartmut Ritter.
On the whole, ZENNER Connect GmbH offers much more than network operation and data services. The entire range of solutions offered by the Minol-ZENNER Group is available to customers in the field of digitalisation. In addition to measuring technology, sensors and IoT gateways, this also includes a variety of tried and tested solutions, IoT applications and the innovative all-in-one IoT-based solution element suite.
About ZENNER Connect
ZENNER Connect GmbH operates a secure LoRaWAN® network and thus offers energy suppliers, the housing industry, municipalities, municipal utilities and industrial companies the telecommunications infrastructure for smart solutions in the Internet of Things. ZENNER Connect is registered with the Bndesnetzagentur in Germany as a LoRaWAN® network operator – as such this registration is not required for the company´s managed network customers. As one of the largest LoRaWAN® network operators, the company is also an active member of the LoRa Alliance®. ZENNER Connect uses B.One middleware to operate a central data hub and a connectivity platform for the LoRaWAN® network. The operation of the platform is certified in accordance with DIN EN ISO/IEC 27001. Customers use B.One middleware to implement all services in the market role of active EMT, such as data transfer via the smart meter gateway’s CLS (Controllable Local Systems) channel or the switching of energy generation plants and energy consumption systems.