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Accelerate time to market for your connected device

Our experts help you bring connected devices to market faster without compromising reliability, safety, or scalability, even in regulated industries.

Talk to our experts

Trusted by leading organisations across industries

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The cost of getting hardware engineering wrong

years: average time to bring a medical device from concept to market

ScienceDirect

3-7

of products with digital elements now fall under the EU Cyber Resilience Act

EU Commission

billions: connected IoT devices in 2025, growing to 39 billion by 2030

IoT Analytics

21.1
A hardware engineer sits at a workbench, working at a monitor surrounded by electronic components, wiring harnesses, and lab equipment including a binocular microscope, illustrating the hands-on engineering work behind hardware development.

Hardware engineering has fundamentally changed. Today's products are no longer standalone devices; they are connected systems that generate data, require ongoing security updates, and must comply with an expanding body of regulation across their entire lifecycle.

The journey from proof of concept to a production-ready product has always been hard. In regulated industries, it can take years. The organisations that get there on schedule are not managing compliance, cybersecurity, and sustainability as separate workstreams after the fact. They build these requirements into the architecture from day one, and work with partners who can operate across mechanics, electronics, embedded software, and regulatory affairs without losing momentum.

That is the multidisciplinary hardware engineering capability we have built at Zühlke. If you need to move faster without taking on more risk, we are ready to help.

The connected devices and medical products making an impact

Learn how leading companies are reinventing their development journey to realise innovative devices, maximise value, and unlock the potential of new technologies.

CUTISS: New hope for burn victims and skin surgery patients

CUTISS AG wanted to take skin surgery to the next level and revolutionise current treatment methods. We supported them by co-developing an automated manufacturing process of denovoSkin™.

Read the case study
Close-up of gloved hands using surgical instruments to hold a translucent pink skin graft material, next to the Cutiss "personalized skin" logo.

Pilot project for sustainable aviation

E-Sling, the world's first 4-seater electric aircraft, was developed by ETH Zurich with our support. With this project, ETH aimed to achieve pioneering basic technical research for sustainable aviation.

Read the case study
A small propeller aircraft on a runway with a pilot visible in the cockpit, next to the ETH Zürich logo.

Bystronic and Zühlke uncover carbon reduction potential of 50%

Optimising resource utilisation, embracing circularity strategies, and aligning with client needs resulted in a potential carbon emission reduction of up to 50% and a decrease in operational costs.

Read the case study
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KONUX builds an IIoT-powered predictive maintenance solution

Discover how we engineered a rugged field sensor for KONUX, enabling AI-driven predictive maintenance that improves the reliability of rail infrastructure.

Read the case study
Railway tracks with a yellow sensor device mounted on the rail, leading toward a tunnel through green hills, next to the Konux logo.

CM1: a digital beacon that keeps traffic diversions moving

We helped CM1 build a connected, sensor-based beacon that automates roadwork checks and forecasts congestion, replacing manual inspection journeys.

Read the case study
Aerial view of highway overpasses surrounded by green trees, with construction vehicles on the road, next to the CM1 logo.

Ready to bring your device to market?

We help you move from concept to production-ready in regulated, safety-critical, or sustainability-driven environments.

Talk to us

Ideate, build, and scale your connected device with our holistic support

Accelerate time to value with the help of our multidisciplinary expertise. We specialise in embedded systems, from firmware to mechanics and quality assurance.

Mechanics

Our mechanics experts tailor products to serve defined business and user needs. We verify robustness and quality while transitioning to series production – through iterative design and prototyping, by evaluating manufacturing technologies, and by conducting simulations and testing.

Our infrastructure – spanning prototype workshops, makerspace, climate chambers, and mechanical stress test equipment – is designed to optimise for speed and quality.

Discover how we developed a fully functional prototype of a smart connected greenhouse in just one week.

Electronics

Transform your ideas into custom electronic hardware. Our electrical engineers help you design futureproof, manufacturing-ready, compliant devices, with state-of-the-art technologies.

From analogue sensing and high-speed processing to CPU and FPGA solutions, as well as wired and wireless communication interfaces, our engineers assess feasibility quickly and commit to the highest quality standards. They leverage our in-house PCB design capabilities, SMT prototyping infrastructure, EMC lab, and climate chambers.

Accelerate time-to-market with our rapid electronic prototyping approach.

Embedded software

Harness our expertise in embedded software engineering – from low-level bare-metal systems to complex embedded Linux platforms. We specialise in real-time applications, edge AI, IoT integration, and optimising performance across hardware architectures. Our solutions are designed for scalability, security, and efficiency, empowering next-generation connected devices.

Discover how we supported Konux to realise an IoT-powered predictive maintenance solution.

Optics

Realise the smart devices of tomorrow with customised optical solutions. Our teams can help you develop multi-lens and lightguide systems for imaging, 3D scanning, efficient lighting and advanced illumination systems, contact-free sensing technologies and light-based materials processing or medical treatment instruments. We are experienced in developing custom-tailored data processing algorithms that account for the underlying physical phenomena as well as in developing the necessary production tools and test systems that assure quality and efficiency in a series production.

Discover more in our blog 'The Dev Exchange'

Industrial design

Apply user-centred design to ensure a seamless customer experience, providing a superior brand experience across all your hardware and software products. With extensive experience in both physical and digital product development, we can unite both worlds while enhancing their individual benefits.

By ensuring that design is continuously integrated with engineering and business needs, we ensure the best possible outcome with a faster time-to-market.

Get our take on how to apply AI in product development.

Quality in production

Optimise product quality by harnessing our expertise in measurement automation, systems engineering, and software development. We can help you optimise for quality from development to production – from the POC stage, through development and the production line.

Our teams handle all quality aspects – everything from test management and production KPIs to working in regulated environments.

Discover our CUTISS case study

Safety, regulatory & QMS

Our experienced regulatory affairs and quality management specialists support our customers in navigating a challenging and continuously changing regulatory landscape. We work together with our customers to agree on the best regulatory strategy for the product. Depending on the agreed strategy, we collaborate with notified bodies, identify applicable standards and provide input to requirements engineering and risk management activities. Through our collaborative ISO 13485 certified Agile Delivery Method (ADM), we ensure an efficient development of fully compliant products.

Our risk management experts support risk management activities throughout the development process and guide the development team in identifying system risks and defining risk control measures. We have experience in different risk management approaches, including ISO 14971 for medical device development.

We support clients establish or improve ISO 13485 compliant quality management systems and provide training and auditing services to ensure the compliance and effectiveness of your QMS.

Systems engineering

Our systems engineers always keep the big picture in mind, consistently focused on identifying the best possible solution to fulfil your needs. Requirements engineering and system architecture activities provide a structured approach to product development and support collaboration and communication within the project.  

Through workshops and interviews we work with you to understand and translate your business and user needs into consistent customer requirements, laying the foundations for product verification.  We then focus on turning requirements into the optimal system architecture and design.  Working closely with our safety and regulatory colleagues, we ensure that identified risk measures are implemented, and that products are designed in compliance with the applicable regulatory and legal guidelines.

Design for sustainability

Our goal is to design, build, and operate innovative products that contribute to a circular economy. Utilising our expertise in lifecycle assessment (LCA), we evaluate the environmental impact of products throughout their lifecycle, focusing on reducing CO2-eq. emissions and minimising the product carbon footprint (PCF).

By leveraging circular and eco-design principles, and emphasising recycled materials, we enhance efficiency and eco-effectivity at every stage of product development, driving progress toward a more sustainable future. 

Discover our Bystronic case study

Embedded systems and device engineering services

Accelerate the pathway from business case to production-ready connected device. Our holistic embedded systems and device engineering services validate and streamline every step of your product lifecycle.

Smart connected solutions

Establish the data strategy, platform, and culture you need to maximise the opportunities of AI-enabled devices for you and your customers.

  • Make your device ‘smart’ and establish the right data platforms and culture for your business model and product vision.
  • Ensure your product meets the right cybersecurity and safety standards.
  • Ensure a robust but scalable cloud platform for your IoT devices.

Device engineering

Design, develop, and manufacture embedded devices with sustainability, security, quality, compliance, and value delivery at their heart.  

  • Turn your validated idea into a production-ready physical device.
  • Transform your existing product into a category leader.
  • Ensure sustainability is at the heart of product design and lifecycle.
  • Meet the relevant quality and compliance standards.

Device consulting

Develop, modernise, or gain clarity around your embedded systems and device architecture to provide a stable but flexible backbone for your device and a platform for growth and innovation.

  • Minimise risks and reduce complexity when implementing new technologies and platform concepts across your hardware and software.
  • Assess all your options with a comprehensive architecture review.
  • Collaborate with architecture consultants to ensure a modern, scalable, and sustainable architecture.
  • Understand how to reduce hardware costs and optimise product lifecycle for sustainability.

Product discovery

Accelerate product discovery with the help of experts in experience design, rapid prototyping, and product strategy.

  • Collaborate with experience design experts to ensure that continuous customer insight, research, and testing informs the product development journey.
  • Discover and deliver value, early and often, with rapid prototyping.
  • Ensure that feasibility, platform choices, and regulatory constraints are considered from the outset.

“Working with Zühlke is an extraordinary transformation journey. The solutions we've developed together not only result in a massive reduction of CO2 emissions but also promise significant operational savings.”

Christoph Rüttimann

Chief Technology Officer, Bystronic Group

“Our partnership with Zühlke was key to the project’s success – especially the team’s extensive experience in mixed reality and industrialising prototypes.”

Dirk Marschall Thyssenkrupp
Dirk Marschall

CEO, TK Elevator

“Expertise in business and technology consulting along with agile development make Zühlke the perfect partner and pave the way for long-term cooperation.”

Susanne Böhm, Managing Director at CM1
Susanne Böhm

Managing Director CM1 GmbH

“With Zühlke´s support, we now have the key dimensions of employees, data management and technology in place. This will allow us to take systematic, concrete steps towards becoming a data-driven organisation.”

Stommel
Dr. Yves-Gorat Stommel

Head of Cognitive Solutions, Evonik Digital GmbH / Deputy Head of Function Evonik Digital

“Working with Zühlke is an extraordinary transformation journey. The solutions we've developed together not only result in a massive reduction of CO2 emissions but also promise significant operational savings.”

Christoph Rüttimann

Chief Technology Officer, Bystronic Group

“Our partnership with Zühlke was key to the project’s success – especially the team’s extensive experience in mixed reality and industrialising prototypes.”

Dirk Marschall Thyssenkrupp
Dirk Marschall

CEO, TK Elevator

Our technology partners

Accelerate time to value with our global partner ecosystem.

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Still defining your device concept?

Whether you're scoping a new product or managing a complex development programme, we can help you reduce risk and move faster. Let's start a conversation.

Get in touch

Meet our experts

  • Matthias Gwerder, Zühlke

    Matthias Gwerder

    Head of Devices SwitzerlandcontentTeam.linkedinProfileOf Matthias Gwerder
  • Profile picture for Tobias Kniep, Head of Devices in Germany for Zuhlke

    Tobias Kniep

    Head of Devices GermanycontentTeam.linkedinProfileOf Tobias Kniep
  • Robert Sorschag, Zühlke

    Robert Sorschag

    Head of Devices AustriacontentTeam.linkedinProfileOf Robert Sorschag
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Careers

Build your career at Zühlke

We're a motivated team of experts based across Europe and Asia, helping clients tackle their toughest challenges and deliver lasting change. Explore our Careers Hub to learn more about life at Zühlke.

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Explore our embedded systems and device innovation insights

Discover our latest research, insights, and perspectives on the most important trends and opportunities in the connected device space.

Digital strategy

Software as a Medical Device: key considerations for SaMD success

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Digital strategy

AI in product development: revolution or risk?

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Digital strategy

Sustainable product design: circular innovation is not about recycling

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