GERMANY - The Homag Group acquires 26 percent of the shares in the Reutlingen-based software company granIT, thus strengthening its digital expertise in the growth area of timber house construction.

To date, SchwörerHaus, one of Germany’s largest prefabricated house manufacturers, holds 76 percent of the shares in granIT GmbH, which was founded in 1995. The remaining 24 percent belongs to granIT’s managing director, Wolfgang Bock. Both shareholders are selling shares. The investment of the Homag Group is subject to approval by the antitrust authorities; the companies have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

granIT is a specialist for manufacturing execution systems for prefabricatedhouse production, among other things. Such MES systems are used to optimizecomplex production processes and increase their efficiency. MES are of centralimportance to meeting the challenges of Industry 4.0. In the course ofdigitalization and the expansion of complex, automated processes, some ofwhich are carried out by robots, MES act as a hub for the large volumes of datain production.

Dr. Daniel Schmitt, CEO of the HOMAG Group, emphasizes: “The acquisition of shares in granIT is another important component in the expansion of our activities in the high-growth business area of timber house construction. We are seeing increasing demand in multi-storey construction from industrial suppliers. This is precisely where a high-performance manufacturing execution system is essential. granIT offers just that.” Wolfgang Bock adds: “With the HOMAG Group, we now have a second strong partner in addition to SchwörerHaus and look forward to further expanding the previous collaboration based on mutual trust.”