The Swiss company Erni grows with 60 employees in Barcelona in one year

BarcelonaThe pandemic has accelerated software development and Barcelona continues to add points in this sector. The Swiss multinational software Erni is one of the companies that landed a decade ago in the Catalan capital, where it has been progressively concentrating its activity in southern Europe. In the last year, the company has added 60 new workers, mainly engineers specialized in fields such as robotics and medical technology, to place its Spanish workforce (there are also two smaller offices in Madrid and Valencia) around 300 employees. “They are profiles that are dedicated to uniting the physical world and the software,” explains Erni’s general manager in Spain, Gerard Esparducer, to ARA.

Among the latest projects that the company has prepared from the Catalan capital is, for example, a diagnostic device for covid-19 that is based on image recognition and artificial intelligence, through the ‘analysis of a large database of previous cases. Erni has also worked on a collaborative robot capable of capturing high-resolution images from inside an operating room and sending them to find a diagnosis. This project has been developed for the North American headquarters of a multinational, Esparducer says, and includes a screen from which to tell the robot what to do and see the results that are being produced. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, its area of ​​medical technology has experienced “spectacular” growth.

“a la carte” software

Erni is responsible for producing “a la carte” software for other companies that require highly complex systems, also in sectors such as automotive. Although the manager admits that this industry has slowed down in the last year due to problems arising from disruptions in the supply chain, he is confident that the electric car PERTE will revive the arrival of new projects. “We’re working on the software for next-generation chargers and batteries, to make them better and faster,” he says.

The Swiss group already has a laboratory to test machinery in Sant Cugat del Vallès, which it created following the needs of one of its customers, and is considering opening another one for the same reason. “Talent is almost as difficult to get as a good project”, concludes Esparducer.

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