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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nDr. Maier-Scheubeck, Mr. Michalka, Mr. Breuer, Reinhausen will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the high-speed resistor-type tap-changer in 2026. How do you personally view this anniversary?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Scheubeck:<\/strong> For me, this anniver\u00adsary rep\u00adre\u00adsents a leap forward\u2013from prod\u00aduct to solu\u00adtion. Since its inven\u00adtion, the high-speed resis\u00adtor-type tap-chang\u00ader has become estab\u00adlished at all volt\u00adage lev\u00adels and has become a guar\u00adan\u00adtee of sup\u00adply secu\u00adri\u00adty. Dur\u00ading this time, elec\u00adtric\u00adi\u00adty has become a fac\u00adtor in prosperity\u2013a devel\u00adop\u00adment that our com\u00adpa\u00adny has played a key role in shap\u00ading. We want to raise aware\u00adness of this even more in our anniver\u00adsary year. Our mes\u00adsage to employ\u00adees, cus\u00adtomers, and part\u00adners is: We serve peo\u00adple by ensur\u00ading a reli\u00adable, eco\u00adnom\u00adi\u00adcal, and sus\u00adtain\u00adable sup\u00adply of elec\u00adtric\u00adi\u00adty with our inno\u00adva\u00adtions, now and in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Michal\u00adka:<\/strong> The inven\u00adtion of the high-speed resis\u00adtor-type tap-chang\u00ader was rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion\u00adary and remains the foun\u00adda\u00adtion of our suc\u00adcess to this day. I am par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00aded by the pio\u00adneer\u00ading spir\u00adit of that time\u2013and the fact that it lives on in our com\u00adpa\u00adny. For us, qual\u00adi\u00adty, inno\u00adva\u00adtion, and cus\u00adtomer focus are both a com\u00admit\u00adment and an incen\u00adtive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur claim is gen\u00aduine innovation\u2014by which we mean not minor changes, but solu\u00adtions that the mar\u00adket has not yet seen.\u201d<\/p>\nDr. Nico\u00adlas Maier-Scheubeck<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Breuer:<\/strong> I see the tap chang\u00ader more through the eyes of an engi\u00adneer. It is a ground\u00adbreak\u00ading inven\u00adtion, com\u00adpa\u00adra\u00adble to Carl Benz\u2019s \ufb01rst motor car or Thomas Alva Edison\u2019s light bulb. Although it is not as vis\u00adi\u00adble because it is hid\u00adden inside the trans\u00adformer, the high\u00adspeed resis\u00adtor-type tap-chang\u00ader was just as in\ufb02uen\u00adtial for our indus\u00adtry. Its 100-year suc\u00adcess sto\u00adry proves that this inven\u00adtion was huge\u00adly sig\u00adni\ufb01\u00adcant and also future ori\u00adent\u00aded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Scheubeck:<\/strong> One very impor\u00adtant fac\u00adtor is that we are still a fam\u00adi\u00adly-owned com\u00adpa\u00adny in the sixth gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion. If we were list\u00aded on the stock exchange, we would not be able to do what we have been doing for the indus\u00adtry for decades. Our inde\u00adpen\u00addence allows us to stick with solu\u00adtions even if they do not appear to be eco\u00adnom\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly viable at \ufb01rst. Let me give you an exam\u00adple: More than eight years ago, we intro\u00adduced the ECOTAP\u00ae<\/sup> VPD\u00ae<\/sup>, a tap chang\u00ader for the low\u00adest volt\u00adage lev\u00adel. We had pre\u00advi\u00adous\u00adly con\u00adduct\u00aded stud\u00adies on grid devel\u00adop\u00adment, but at that time no one was think\u00ading about reg\u00adu\u00adlat\u00aded dis\u00adtri\u00adb\u00adu\u00adtion trans\u00adform\u00aders. Today, it has already become a stan\u00addard in dis\u00adtri\u00adb\u00adu\u00adtion grids. We have stay\u00ading pow\u00ader, and that is exact\u00adly what makes the dif\u00adfer\u00adence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Breuer:<\/strong> I can only con\ufb01rm that. From the customer\u2019s point of view, trust plays a major role. Our part\u00adners often tell us: You are a reli\u00adable port in the storm. While oth\u00aders change their cor\u00adpo\u00adrate struc\u00adtures, we remain sta\u00adble and focused on the long term. And inter\u00adnal\u00adly, I feel that the pas\u00adsion here is extraordinary\u2013going the extra mile is not the excep\u00adtion, but the stan\u00addard. This is strong\u00adly linked to our fam\u00adi\u00adly tra\u00addi\u00adtion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Michal\u00adka:<\/strong> And for our employ\u00adees, it means that we can give suc\u00adcess a fair chance. We have the free\u00addom to believe in a tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy or an application\u2013and to pur\u00adsue it even when oth\u00aders would have giv\u00aden up long ago. This inde\u00adpen\u00addence is a real dri\u00adving force for all of us, and long-term think\u00ading is deeply root\u00aded in our val\u00adues. That is the basis of our inno\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scheubeck:<\/strong> Our aim is to cre\u00adate solu\u00adtions that are as sub\u00adstan\u00adtial\u00adly new as Dr. Jansen\u2019s inven\u00adtion was at its time. This inno\u00adva\u00adtion under\u00adstand\u00ading is part of our val\u00adues and the time fac\u00adtor plays a deci\u00adsive role here. And in this respect, we dif\u00adfer sig\u00adni\ufb01\u00adcant\u00adly from oth\u00ader com\u00adpa\u00adnies that focus on short-term suc\u00adcess through sim\u00adple devel\u00adop\u00adments with lit\u00adtle nov\u00adel\u00adty val\u00adue, or even on imi\u00adta\u00adtion. We take the time to cre\u00adate some\u00adthing tru\u00adly new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Michal\u00adka:<\/strong> For us, the courage to engage in \u201ccon\u00adstruc\u00adtive self-destruc\u00adtion\u201d is always part of the process. We don\u2019t rest on our lau\u00adrels, but rather keep ques\u00adtion\u00ading our\u00adselves until we \ufb01nd a bet\u00adter solu\u00adtion. That\u2019s the only way to remain the mar\u00adket leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Breuer:<\/strong> De\ufb01nite\u00adly the new VACUTAP\u00ae<\/sup> VI. With this tap chang\u00ader, we have imple\u00adment\u00aded the prin\u00adci\u00adple of the high-speed resis\u00adtor-type tap-chang\u00ader in a min\u00adi\u00admal\u00adist way. We were able to halve the amount of mate\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal required, there\u00adby cre\u00adat\u00ading \ufb02ex\u00adi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty in pro\u00adduc\u00adtion. It was devel\u00adoped speci\ufb01\u00adcal\u00adly for the grid con\u00adnec\u00adtion of renew\u00adables, where cost-effec\u00adtive\u00adness is cru\u00adcial, but sus\u00adtain\u00adabil\u00adi\u00adty and con\u00adsis\u00adtent\u00adly high reli\u00ada\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty are also play\u00ading increas\u00ading\u00adly impor\u00adtant roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Michal\u00adka:<\/strong> To achieve this, we have deeply rethought the VACUTAP\u00ae<\/sup> VI from the customer\u2019s perspective\u2013and that is pre\u00adcise\u00adly where a small rev\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion lies. Less mate\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal means a low\u00ader car\u00adbon footprint\u2013in pro\u00adduc\u00adtion as well as through\u00adout the entire val\u00adue chain, right through to sub\u00adse\u00adquent recy\u00adcling. And yet the qual\u00adi\u00adty stan\u00addards remain high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Breuer:<\/strong> We have been the mar\u00adket leader in tap chang\u00aders for 100 years \u2013 and we intend to remain so. Fast fol\u00adlow\u00aders may copy us, but we con\u00adstant\u00adly rein\u00advent our\u00adselves and con\u00adtin\u00adue to cor\u00adrect\u00adly antic\u00adi\u00adpate mar\u00adket devel\u00adop\u00adments which are becom\u00ading increas\u00ading\u00adly diverse on a region\u00adal basis. Chi\u00adna is a con\u00adti\u00adnent unto itself, indus\u00adtri\u00adal\u00adiza\u00adtion is grow\u00ading in South\u00adeast Asia, and the US is dis\u00adtanc\u00ading itself polit\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly. Our response to these sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtions is to increase our local pres\u00adence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Because cus\u00adtomer prox\u00adim\u00adi\u00adty is part of our val\u00adues, we are already very well pre\u00adpared for this with cur\u00adrent\u00adly 44 affil\u00adi\u00adat\u00aded com\u00adpa\u00adnies in 28 coun\u00adtries. Our Pow\u00ader Qual\u00adi\u00adty busi\u00adness seg\u00adment also makes a sig\u00adni\ufb01\u00adcant con\u00adtri\u00adbu\u00adtion to the ener\u00adgy tran\u00adsi\u00adtion by \ufb01lter\u00ading out the non-lin\u00adear, dis\u00adrup\u00adtive in\ufb02uences caused when out\u00adput from wind farms and solar plants are fed into the grid via pow\u00ader elec\u00adtron\u00adics. And with HIGHVOLT\u2019s cable test\u00ading tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy, we increase the oper\u00ada\u00adtional reli\u00ada\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty and avail\u00adabil\u00adi\u00adty of HVDC lines of more than 500 kV, such as for S\u00fcdLink in Ger\u00admany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe tap chang\u00ader is a ground\u00adbreak\u00ading invention\u2014comparable to Carl Benz\u2019s motor car or Edison\u2019s light bulb.\u201d<\/p>\nWil\u00adfried Breuer<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Michal\u00adka:<\/strong> Togeth\u00ader with our cus\u00adtomers, we are shap\u00ading the ener\u00adgy tran\u00adsi\u00adtion. This is \ufb01rm\u00adly anchored in our strat\u00ade\u00adgy, describes how we want to change in order to mas\u00adter glob\u00adal chal\u00adlenges, and involves our employ\u00adees in all regions of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scheubeck:<\/strong> It is impor\u00adtant that we con\u00adtin\u00adue to move con\u00adsis\u00adtent\u00adly from prod\u00aducts to solu\u00adtions. Today, we under\u00adstand not only the trans\u00adformer, but also its role in the entire grid. And with our solu\u00adtions for dig\u00adi\u00adtal\u00adiza\u00adtion and for asset per\u00adfor\u00admance man\u00adage\u00adment, we help our cus\u00adtomers to work more eco\u00adnom\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly while com\u00adpen\u00adsat\u00ading for the short\u00adage of skilled work\u00aders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scheubeck:<\/strong> As the mar\u00adket leader, we were the \ufb01rst to feel the wave of increased demand, and our capac\u00adi\u00adties were exhaust\u00aded very quick\u00adly. In response we have expand\u00aded rapid\u00adly and are con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00ading to do so consistently\u2013also on a region\u00adal basis\u2013in order to fur\u00adther short\u00aden deliv\u00adery times and ensure mate\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal avail\u00adabil\u00adi\u00adty. From our cus\u00adtomers\u2019 per\u00adspec\u00adtive, these mea\u00adsures are already hav\u00ading the desired effect, and we will con\u00adtin\u00adue to do more in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Michal\u00adka:<\/strong> We have there\u00adfore just launched the largest invest\u00adment pro\u00adgram in our company\u2019s history\u2013with a three-dig\u00adit mil\u00adlion Euro amount. For exam\u00adple, we are dou\u00adbling pro\u00adduc\u00adtion capac\u00adi\u00adty in Ger\u00admany and qua\u00addru\u00adpling it in Chi\u00adna. This will enable us to con\u00adtin\u00adue to effi\u00adcient\u00adly meet the ris\u00ading demand in the super cycle of the glob\u00adal ener\u00adgy tran\u00adsi\u00adtion in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Breuer:<\/strong> Anoth\u00ader unique sell\u00ading point is that we can main\u00adtain even decades-old tap chang\u00aders and fur\u00adther extend their ser\u00advice lives. Qual\u00adi\u00adty, reli\u00ada\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty, and sus\u00adtain\u00adabil\u00adi\u00adty remain our hall\u00admarks, even in times of high growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scheubeck:<\/strong> Our prod\u00aducts are designed for decades of use and max\u00adi\u00admum reli\u00ada\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty. This makes it dif\u00adfi\u00adcult to change mate\u00adri\u00adals at short notice, which may be nec\u00ades\u00adsary, for exam\u00adple, due to changes in legal require\u00adments. In this respect, sus\u00adtain\u00adabil\u00adi\u00adty for us means above all think\u00ading ahead with com\u00adpre\u00adhen\u00adsive respon\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty for decades to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Breuer:<\/strong> There is often a lack of clear rules, so in the con\u00adtext of prod\u00aduct devel\u00adop\u00adment we have to decide today which mate\u00adri\u00adals will still be per\u00admit\u00adted in ten or more years\u2019 time. In this regard, the short-sight\u00aded\u00adness of politi\u00adcians is more of a hin\u00addrance than a help. We also weigh up CO2<\/sub> reduc\u00adtion and recy\u00adcla\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty very carefully\u2013but always with a view to ensur\u00ading the secure oper\u00ada\u00adtion of our prod\u00aducts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe high-speed resis\u00adtor-type tap-chang\u00ader was a revolution\u2014and it remains the foun\u00adda\u00adtion of our suc\u00adcess.\u201d<\/p>\nHol\u00adger Michal\u00adka<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Michal\u00adka:<\/strong> For us as a fam\u00adi\u00adly-owned busi\u00adness, sus\u00adtain\u00adabil\u00adi\u00adty has always been a mat\u00adter of course. We use nat\u00adur\u00adal resources carefully\u2013from low-emis\u00adsion paint\u00ading facil\u00adi\u00adties to pho\u00adto\u00advoltaics and LED con\u00adver\u00adsions. We take respon\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty, not because it\u2019s fash\u00adion\u00adable, but because we only have this one world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scheubeck:<\/strong> By then, our per\u00adcep\u00adtion will be mul\u00adti-region\u00adal. In addi\u00adtion to phys\u00adi\u00adcal solu\u00adtions, soft\u00adware, analy\u00adsis, and remote main\u00adte\u00adnance will play greater roles. Our indus\u00adtry is not inno\u00adva\u00adtion-ori\u00adent\u00aded, but rather safe\u00adty-ori\u00adent\u00aded. How\u00adev\u00ader, due to the changes brought about by the glob\u00adal ener\u00adgy tran\u00adsi\u00adtion, many com\u00adpa\u00adnies now have to adopt new solu\u00adtions more quick\u00adly. And that is pre\u00adcise\u00adly our advan\u00adtage: we have already devel\u00adoped many of these solu\u00adtions before they were even in demand. We are active\u00adly shap\u00ading the market\u2013we\u2019re not wait\u00ading for oth\u00aders to do some\u00adthing, but are dri\u00adving devel\u00adop\u00adment our\u00adselves. In the future, our cus\u00adtomers will chal\u00adlenge us even more in areas such as oper\u00ada\u00adtions man\u00adage\u00adment, con\u00adsult\u00ading, and remote con\u00adtrol. In addi\u00adtion, we are expect\u00aded to have an even more com\u00adpe\u00adtent local pres\u00adence and to enable oth\u00aders to make the best pos\u00adsi\u00adble use of our tech\u00adni\u00adcal solu\u00adtions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Breuer: <\/strong>Despite glob\u00adal\u00adiza\u00adtion and tech\u00adno\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal advances, our deep roots in Regens\u00adburg will remain intact as a Bavar\u00adi\u00adan fam\u00adi\u00adly-owned busi\u00adness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Michal\u00adka:<\/strong> Look\u00ading at the Regens\u00adburg site, I envi\u00adsion a dig\u00adi\u00adtal cus\u00adtomer expe\u00adri\u00adence cen\u00adter by 2030, where we will dis\u00adcuss the future of ener\u00adgy in 3D sim\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtions. And in Haslbach, I see a state-of-the-art fac\u00adto\u00adry with col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtive robots and AI-con\u00adtrolled process\u00ades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 100 years ago, the inven\u00adtion of the high-speed resis\u00adtor-type tap-chang\u00ader by Dr. Bern\u00adhard Jansen made it pos\u00adsi\u00adble for the first time to switch trans\u00adform\u00aders under load. Rein\u00adhausen brought this ground\u00adbreak\u00ading inven\u00adtion to glob\u00adal mar\u00adkets under the MR brand, there\u00adby help\u00ading to shape the ener\u00adgy indus\u00adtry as we know it today, with a com\u00adpre\u00adhen\u00adsive, volt\u00adage-sta\u00adble pow\u00ader sup\u00adply. In this inter\u00adview, man\u00adag\u00ading direc\u00adtors Dr. Nico\u00adlas Maier-Scheubeck, Hol\u00adger Michal\u00adka, and Wil\u00adfried Breuer explain how this lega\u00adcy will con\u00adtin\u00adue to have an impact far into the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":15439,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-12-2025","category-onload"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14712"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15742,"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14712\/revisions\/15742"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
![](\"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26\/2025\/11\/Maschinenfabrik-Reinhausen-Geschaeftsfuehrer-Dr.-Nicolas-Maier-Scheubeck.webp\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nMaking a groundbreaking invention is one thing, but how do you ensure that its success is sustainable as a company? What is your recipe for success? <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Innovation is a recurring theme throughout Reinhausen\u2019s history. What do you understand by innovation?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![](\"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26\/2025\/12\/Maschinenfabrik-Reinhausen-100-Jahre-Widerstandsschnellschalter-Geschaeftsfuehrer.webp\")
What are the latest products that have emerged from this spirit?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The energy transition poses enormous challenges for the energy industry worldwide. Grids are being rebuilt, and infrastructure is becoming more complex and can only be managed with the help of digitalization and AI. How is Reinhausen prepared for this?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![](\"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26\/2025\/11\/Maschinenfabrik-Reinhausen-Geschaeftsfuehrer-Wilfried-Breuer.webp\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
Due to the global expansion and restructuring of networks, the demand for energy technology is enormous. Reinhausen is also growing rapidly. How are you setting up production for the future?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
The energy transition can be seen as the world\u2019s largest sustainability project. What is Reinhausen itself doing to promote sustainability?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\n
![](\"https:\/\/onload.reinhausen.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26\/2025\/11\/Maschinenfabrik-Reinhausen-Geschaeftsfuehrer-Holger-Michalka.webp\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nFinally, let\u2019s take a look into the future: Where do you see Reinhausen in 2030?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n