FACE TO FACE
ISMR: Which issues are of prime importance for your customers and how are you addressing these issues for them?
The STOPA UNIVERSAL storage system.
DR: Productivity, and the highest possible machine uptime, are key priorities for our customers.
Our European customers typically have a huge STOPA system in the middle of their shop floor, as a“ spine”, surrounded by TRUMPF machines. They work up to three shifts per day and produce parts five-seven days per week.
Our large-scale storage systems are more than just material buffers— they take on the wide range of tasks of a logistics centre for production. With its customised design, the STOPA large-scale storage system is completely flexible when it comes to length, width, height and sheet format. It offers a lot of space for raw sheets, finished parts, scrap skeletons and tube profiles.
We will shortly be starting 24-hour service worldwide. We are trialling a system right now, using artificial intelligence( AI), where our service technicians who speak German can use AI to translate what they say into the local language of the customer on the phone. That is a big step forward for AI and will make our customers’ lives much easier. The speed of the technology is incredible. We are hoping to implement that system in the near future.
ISMR: In view of current geopolitical tensions and conflicts( including U. S. tariffs), what are your views on the global and European business climate for sheetmetal professionals in 2025? What do you project for 2026?
DR: I am working daily on tariff updates— it is changing on a weekly basis which means that we must keep modifying our calculations. It is a terrible situation for us and many other manufacturers. I believe that this is a longterm, not short-term, issue. There may possibly be a decrease of tariff values in the future, but we must deal with this as a long-term issue. It is difficult to plan around continuously changing tariff rates. We will now have to consider the possibility of producing parts in the United States for our long-term future.
STOPA’ s systems support TRUMPF’ s Smart Factory concept.
For 2026, we still believe that our market is stable. Because of the U. S. tariff situation, we are now looking at other global markets such as South-East Asia( e. g. India) and South America( e. g. Brazil) and Africa— markets whose economies are increasing. We want to strengthen and further extend our position in these markets and provide more suitable solutions for our customers there. We will use the TRUMPF network to address these markets.
One of our key goals is to increase our market share worldwide next year. Our largest market is still Europe, with the U. S as our second-strongest market.
ISMR: How do you embed sustainability into your products, internal systems and operations?
DR: Our storage systems are long-life products. Some of our customers have been using our storage systems for 20 years or more. Our RETROFIT service brings existing warehouse systems up to the latest technological standards to increase their efficiency and service life. We have retrofitted and upgraded numerous systems over time( changing the software, security and safety systems etc.). This RETROFIT business has been steadily increasing for us and has become very important.
We are mindful of the European CBAM regulation for CO₂ emissions for manufacturers and their supply chains. STOPA is very sustainability-minded and has built a fivemillion-euro PV( photovoltaic) system at our headquarters. We produce 3.5 million kW / h of electricity ourselves( through solar panels etc.) which is 80 % of the energy that we need in our company.
We also consider sustainability in our internal processes. We use technologies such as a digital twin system for predictive maintenance etc.
ISMR: How do you view the rise of artificial intelligence( AI) for manufacturing in general?
DR: There are many applications for AI at STOPA. Opportunities include elimination of recurring tasks; improvement of communications; provision of solutions for technical issues; predictive maintenance; translation of speech and materials; writing of software etc.
We are running workshops to familiarise ourselves with AI. There is still a lot to discover and a lot of possibilities. The key criteria for us is that AI must add value and the application must be meaningful for our company and for our customers.
ISMR: Thank you for your time. n
EDITOR’ S NOTE View a video of the STOPA Flex 25 storage system in action on www. stopa. com / wp-content / uploads / 2025 / 10 / STOPA-FLEX25- FS-04-EN. mp4
www. stopa. com
www. trumpf. com
52 | ismr. net | ISMR November 2025