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Success stories from North Rhine-Westphalia

Heinz Berger Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG

Improved flood forecasting thanks to AI:
The Berger Group's Wuppertal plant was also affected by the flood disaster in July 2021. Almost the entire production area was underwater. To avoid being caught unprepared again, the company initiated an innovative solution for the rapid assessment and prevention of flood damage, which has been operating in a real-world laboratory since summer 2026.

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The challenge

The Ahr River was in the national media for weeks, as was the Erft River. However, the flood disaster of July 2021 affected many other rivers in western Germany and neighboring countries, as well as their catchment areas. Extreme rainfall also caused massive flooding in the Bergisches Land region, which in turn caused considerable damage to infrastructure and buildings. Among the many companies affected was the Berger Group, headquartered at the Kohlfurther Bridge in Wuppertal. The street name itself gives it away: the Wupper River is not far away. "98 percent of our production was flooded that night," recalls Managing Director Dr. Andreas Groß. "All the machines were underwater; it was a shocking experience for which we were not prepared on this scale." That very night of the flood, the entrepreneur vowed to contribute to preventing such a disaster from happening again. He was certain: "There must be technological solutions to detect, predict, and report such events early on, based on data." Then businesses and private residents could prepare, and economic damage would be significantly reduced.

Commissioned by:

  • Photos: Dr. Andreas Groß, Heinz Berger Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG (site view) and MWIKE NRW/ A. Bowinkelmann (person photo with Dr. Andreas Groß and Minister Neubaur).
  • Text: Lothar Schmitz, business journalist, Bonn
  • Publication: September 2026

The innovation

The mechanical engineering company specializes in automation and has implemented over 1,000 robot applications for customers worldwide over the past 30 years. AI has long played a key role in this. It is used for process optimization, particularly for image recognition, and will soon be used in design as well. Over the past five years, the Berger Group has also opened up another field of activity: as a technology partner in the "Bergisches Hochwassermeldesystem 4.0" (HWS 4.0) project. Partners in the project include the Wupperverband (Wupper River Association) and the University of Wuppertal. HWS 4.0 does not rely on simulation models, but rather uses data-driven AI models. To this end, the Berger Group first created the necessary measurement technology in the form of specially developed level and pressure sensors. It also expanded the so-called "LoRaWAN" infrastructure, which stands for "Long Range Wide Area Network." Together with existing sensors from the Wupperverband, these sensors provide data on the water levels of the most important rivers, rainfall amounts, and the discharge volume of the Wuppertal Dam. All data is fed into a neural network. The AI ​​continuously compares all data with a comprehensive dataset of historical flood data and forecasts water levels three to six hours in advance. "In 2021, no one could say exactly how high the water levels would be," says Groß, "that's different now." This allows municipalities, businesses, and private households to prepare more effectively, and also enables the Wupperverband (Wupper River Association) to better manage the reservoir in extreme situations. In July 2026, HWS 4.0 was presented to other municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia. The project ended in August, and since then, HWS 4.0 has been operating in a real-world laboratory for the next two years, during which time it will be continuously developed further by the Wupperverband. The release of the associated HWS 4.0 app for initial prototype use is planned for the end of 2026.

The NRW effect/The location

“HWS 4.0 is a milestone for the Bergisches Land region, a beacon extending far beyond its borders,” Groß is convinced. According to the entrepreneur, it is also an example of successful cooperation within the region. He expressly praises the close collaboration with the Wupperverband (Wupper River Association) and the Chair of Technologies and Management of Digital Transformation (TMDT) at the University of Wuppertal. The university is, in fact, enormously important to the company. “Of our approximately 200 employees, almost 80 have completed a technical degree, the majority of them at the University of Wuppertal,” he reports, “which is an enormous resource for us.” Furthermore, the company benefits from the Bergisch Land Mechanical Engineering Network, a cluster of around 50 interconnected companies that represent a wealth of expertise. Another advantage of North Rhine-Westphalia as a business location, according to Groß, is the funding landscape. The current HWS 4.0 project was also funded by the state, specifically by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The HWS 4.0 is part of the initiative “Flagships powered by KI.NRW”, the state's competence platform for artificial intelligence KI.NRW.

This success story of an innovative transformation was published in September 2026. No updates or reviews of the information have taken place since then.

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Transformation through innovation

Background of the publication series

The publication series “Transformation through Innovation” aims to illustrate how companies in North Rhine-Westphalia have been able to write successful innovation stories thanks to the framework conditions created by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

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