Balluff

Balluff GmbH was founded in 1921 in Neuhausen auf den Fildern, near Stuttgart, Germany. What began as a precision-mechanical workshop producing ball-bearing components evolved — over a century of continuous innovation — into a globally recognized sensor and industrial-connectivity specialist. Balluff operates production facilities in Germany, the USA, Brazil, China, Hungary, and Switzerland, with sales offices in more than 60 countries.

Sensor Innovation Since 1921

Balluff introduced its first inductive proximity sensor in 1964 and has remained at the forefront of sensor technology ever since. The company holds hundreds of patents covering inductive coupling (the BIS series enables contactless power and signal transmission across an air gap of up to 5 mm), IO-Link networking, and machine vision. Balluff was one of the founding members of the IO-Link consortium and contributes to the standardization of IO-Link Wireless (IEC 61131-9).

Core Product Families

BES Inductive Proximity Sensors: The flagship product line, covering M5 to M30 cylindrical form factors, Q-series rectangular housings, and the rugged stainless-steel variants for washdown and hygienic applications. Switching distances from 1 mm (sub-miniature) to 40 mm (high-power), with PNP/NPN, NO/NC, and IO-Link output options.

BOS Photoelectric Sensors: Diffuse-reflective, retroreflective, through-beam, and laser-distance sensors in the MultiVision and PerformanceLine families. The BOH series offers laser triangulation distance measurement up to 10 m with sub-millimeter resolution.

BNI IO-Link Masters: Field-mounted IO-Link master blocks that connect up to 8 IO-Link devices per block, with PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, or EtherCAT backplane connectivity. The BNI EIP series has become the de-facto IO-Link gateway in North-American automotive plants.

BIS RFID Industrial Identification: LF (125 kHz), HF (13.56 MHz), and UHF (860–960 MHz) RFID systems for tool identification (BIS M), workpiece tracking (BIS C), and pallet tracking (BIS U). Balluff RFID is widely used in automotive body shops to identify welding tools and prevent mix-ups on the line.

BVS Machine Vision: Industrial cameras and the BVS Cockpit vision software for presence detection, code reading, and dimensional inspection. Pre-engineered vision solutions target electronics and packaging applications.

Our Supply Capability

Glorient stocks the most-requested Balluff products for European and US factory automation customers, including the BES M12 / M18 / M30 PNP NO inductive sensors, BOS 18M photoelectric sensors, BNI EIP-508-105-Z015 IO-Link masters, and BIS M-125 RFID read heads. We support both current production sensors and legacy Balluff part numbers commonly found in installed automotive lines.