PrüfExpress – The story behind it

How a vision became the leading software for work equipment testing!

Where do we come from?

The history of the Graubner company is an impressive example of innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. Sebastian Graubner showed exceptional entrepreneurial skills at a young age. Together with a friend, he founded a mobile bicycle repair service that quickly became well known thanks to skilful advertising in the regional press. They travelled to their customers with tools in their saddlebags and repaired the bikes directly on site.
Sebastian Graubner developed a passion for sailboat building and, after graduating from high school in 1986 at the age of 20, started out as a dishwasher at sea before travelling to Italy to learn the art of wooden boat building at the renowned Sangermani shipyard in Lavagna. Despite initial language barriers, he managed to establish himself in this demanding trade. In 1989, he founded the Graubner company in Italy, which specialised in the construction and repair of boats.
The company received its first major order in the same year it was founded: the refit of the Italian yacht Gatorade, which took part in the Whitebread Round the World Race, the forerunner of today’s Ocean Race. From 1989 to 1992, Sebastian Graubner was also involved in the construction of the new fast cruiser Wallygator. The Wallygator was also the first fast cruiser in the Mediterranean to be equipped with a carbon fibre mast.
With the economic crisis in Italy, Sebastian Graubner returned to Germany in 1993 and transformed his company into a consultancy specialising in the automotive industry. In 1995, he founded Technische Dokumentation Graubner, which later became Graubner Industrie-Beratung GmbH.
The company has developed into a leading provider in the field of environmental protection and maintenance management. Significant projects were carried out for a major car manufacturer, including the development and administration of maintenance management applications, which were honoured with the Environmental Leadership Award in 2002 and 2005.
In 2005, they introduced the first tablets with a specially developed maintenance management application. Two years later, in 2006, PrüfExpress Version 1 was launched, a paperless application for mobile inspection of work equipment that works with PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) and RFID tags (Radio Frequency Identification). This innovation was honoured with the Europa Auto ID Award in 2008.
In the following years, Graubner continuously expanded its range of services. From 2011 to 2014, they managed a major project for the creation of risk assessments for technical building equipment at a large automotive manufacturer and were awarded the seal of approval from the Gesellschaft für Qualität im Arbeitsschutz mbH in 2014.
The project management for the construction of new gearbox assembly plants in Detroit and São Paulo demonstrates the company’s international reach and expertise.
From 2016 to 2017, the company collaborated with Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences on the development of PrüfExpress Version 2, an iPhone app for testing work equipment. In 2017 and 2019, the company was again certified with the GQA quality seal and continued its international activities, in particular with the establishment of a gearbox assembly centre in Brazil.
In 2020, the company celebrated its 25th anniversary in style, followed by renewed GQA certification. 2021 Graubner introduced the e-learning platform Samadi.
In 2022, they entered into a new partnership with a team of developers in Pune, India, to further develop PrüfExpress.
In 2023, they presented their new PrüfExpress Cloud with SaaS application and celebrated the signing of an important partnership agreement with Dolezych. This partnership enables the worldwide distribution and implementation of the PrüfExpress software and represents a milestone in the company’s history.
In 2024, PrüfExpress took an impressive second place in the prestigious Technology Olympics organised by a major car manufacturer. This prestigious award underlines the outstanding innovative strength and practical added value of PrüfExpress. The award not only confirms the technical excellence of PrüfExpress, but also emphasises its valuable contribution to improving processes and systems in the automotive industry.

How was the product created?

The development of PrüfExpress began with the identification of a major need: the safe, efficient and legally compliant testing of work equipment in an industrial environment. This requirement was defined by the German Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health (BetrSichV), which stipulates regular testing of all work equipment to ensure the safety of employees.
The development of PrüfExpress began in 2004 with a comprehensive process analysis. The aim was to digitise and standardise the previous error-prone and time-consuming inspection process. In a first step, over 10,000 index cards were scanned and photos of all new work equipment were recorded in a central database. This step enabled a continuous digital data flow without media disruptions.
In 2005, the decision was made to equip all relevant work equipment with transponders in order to simplify inspection and documentation. In 2006, the introduction of mobile inspections began, whereby pocket PCs (PDAs) were used to carry out the inspections on site and transfer the results directly to the SAP system. This synchronisation enabled immediate availability of the test reports and significantly reduced the administrative workload.
Over the years, the system has been continuously expanded and improved. In 2008, PrüfExpress was honoured with the European Auto ID Award for the innovative use of RFID technology in maintenance. By 2011, PrüfExpress had been introduced in several plants of a large automotive group and now supports the inspection of over 50,000 items of work equipment.
Between 2016 and 2017, they worked in cooperation with Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences on the further development of PrüfExpress, an iPhone app for testing work equipment. This collaboration resulted in the second version of PrüfExpress, which has evolved into a versatile and modular system. Now it no longer only worked on PDAs, but also on iPhones and Android devices. It also enabled direct data synchronisation via the Internet. This adaptation was necessary to meet changing requirements and to support the Group’s strategy of switching from Windows smartphones to Apple iPhones.
Since 2018, PrüfExpress has been continuously developed and new functions have been added. In recent years, the work equipment inspection software has established itself as an indispensable solution for inspection management and work equipment controlling. Thanks to continuous innovations such as the introduction of the cloud-based SaaS application and the customisation of the user interface, PrüfExpress now offers an impressive range of functions. These include comprehensive master data management, efficient inspection management, targeted work equipment controlling, the introduction of public websites for each work equipment and the proactive recording and processing of fault reports.
Together with the dedicated development team in Pune and its partner Dolezych, Graubner works tirelessly to continuously improve PrüfExpress and optimise it to meet the needs of its customers. A particular highlight in 2024 was the impressive second place that PrüfExpress won at the prestigious Technology Olympics organised by a leading car manufacturer. This award not only emphasises the exceptional innovative power of their solution, but also demonstrates the practical benefits in the industry. They are excited about the future and look forward to the continuous development of PrüfExpress in order to offer their customers the best possible support in the years to come.

What makes PrüfExpress so unique?

PrüfExpress is an innovative software solution for testing work equipment that is characterised by efficiency, user-friendliness and legally compliant documentation. Its unique selling point lies in its ability to speed up inspection processes by up to 70% while minimising errors. With state-of-the-art RFID technology and seamless integration into existing systems such as SAP, it offers a comprehensive and reliable solution for managing and monitoring work equipment.
What makes PrüfExpress so unique?
The software stands out from the competition thanks to the following features:
Time saving: Significant reduction in testing effort..
Legal certainty: Ensuring compliance with all legal regulations.
User friendliness: Intuitive operation and easy handling.
RFID technology: Advanced and efficient testing methods.
Many years of experience: More than 25 years of experience in software development and proven reliability since 2006.
These unique advantages make PrüfExpress the first choice for companies that want to optimise their inspection processes and at the same time ensure that all legal requirements are met.
PrüfExpress offers you an efficient, flexible and user-friendly solution for test equipment management. The cloud-based application saves you time and money by digitalising and automating inspection processes. Comprehensive functions such as master data management, fault message management and public website management ensure that you always have an overview and increase safety and efficiency in your company. PrüfExpress is your reliable software for optimised inspection management.
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