Prybisch Automation LogoPrybisch Automation
Contact
Locations Switzerland

Automation Engineering Switzerland

PLC engineering from Luxembourg – fast availability for Basel, Zurich and Lucerne

Swiss machine builders and end customers regularly need experienced PLC engineering capacity on short notice – especially for retrofit, commissioning and recovery of lost PLC programs, when local engineering offices are booked out for months. Focus areas: TIA Portal, reverse engineering of online projects without symbols (AI-supported reconstruction from E-plan and online dump) and AI-accelerated engineering and documentation workflows.

PLC programming (TIA Portal, STEP 7 Classic), HMI retrofit to WinCC Unified, commissioning of new plants, program recovery from online dumps without symbols and AI-accelerated engineering and documentation workflows for Swiss industrial customers. Cross-border setup with EU/EFTA notification procedure and A1 certificate is in place – details further down.

15+
Years in industrial automation
30+
International commissionings
3
Clusters · BSL · ZRH · LUC
AI
Reverse engineering & docs

Three regional clusters

Pick the location that matches your project.

BSL·Northwest CH

Basel

Pharma · specialty chemicals · plant engineering

  • Roche · Lonza · Novartis
  • SKAN · Bachem
  • Syngenta · Clariant
490 km·04:30 h from Mettlach
Region
ZRH·Greater Zurich

Zurich

Machinery & plant engineering · OEM

  • Bühler · Schindler
  • Sulzer · Rieter
  • ABB · Siemens CH
550 km·05:15 h from Mettlach
Region
LUC·Central Switzerland

Lucerne

Mid-market · packaging · metal processing

  • Schurter · Trisa
  • Bossard · Pilatus
  • Komax · maxon
590 km·05:45 h from Mettlach
Region
About the Region

Automation Engineering in Switzerland

German-speaking Switzerland is one of Europe's densest machinery and plant engineering markets – with pharma players like Roche, Lonza and Novartis around Basel, OEMs like Bühler, Schindler and Sulzer in greater Zurich, and a strong mid-market between Lucerne and Zug. Swiss engineering offices are typically at full capacity; external PLC engineering capacity with a retrofit and reverse-engineering focus is in regular demand. As a Luxembourg sole proprietorship with an operations base in Mettlach, I serve Swiss customers as a flexibly deployable engineering partner – without setting up a Swiss subsidiary, with clear travel times from 4:30 h to Basel up to 5:45 h to Lucerne. Focus areas: retrofit of S5 and S7-Classic controllers to S7-1500 with TIA Portal, HMI retrofit to WinCC Unified, commissioning of new plants and AI-supported re-documentation for plants without symbols (typical for 20+ year-old controllers). The legal cross-border framework (notification procedure, A1, reverse charge) is in place and documented in writing before each assignment.

Cities & Regions

Service Area

Basel
Zurich
Lucerne
Bern
Zug
Aarau
St. Gallen
Winterthur
Olten
Solothurn
Related pages

More background

This Switzerland page is meant as an entry point – services, references and profile are fully documented on the main pages.

Services

PLC programming, commissioning, retrofit, reverse engineering, AI workflows – the complete service portfolio.

View services →

References

30+ international commissionings. Project examples from pharma, machinery and packaging.

View references →

About me

David Prybisch – Luxembourg-based automation engineer. Background, working style, tools.

Read about me →
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Retrofit of S5 and S7-Classic controllers to S7-1200/1500 with TIA Portal, HMI retrofit to WinCC Unified, commissioning of new plants, reverse engineering without symbols and AI-supported re-documentation. Plus drive technology (SEW, SINAMICS) and functional safety per EN ISO 13849. I work remotely and on-site – either as an extension of your engineering team or as a standalone project partner.

Siemens focus: TIA Portal V17/V18/V19, STEP 7 Classic (S7-300/400) and migration to S7-1200/1500. WinCC Classic and WinCC Unified for visualisation. TIA Openness for AI-supported engineering workflows. I know both worlds (S7-Classic and TIA) – essential for retrofit projects, where partial symbols and legacy hardware are typical.

I travel by car: 4:30 h driving time to Basel, 5:15 h to Zurich, 5:45 h to Lucerne from Mettlach – with tools, programming device and measurement equipment on board, no air-travel logistics. For short-notice requests I typically confirm a free slot within 24 h and come back with a concrete proposal. Initial preparation (data analysis, concept) can start remotely immediately; on-site work is possible after the notification lead time (8 days).

Yes. I do not hold a formal GMP certification, but I have long-standing experience in regulated, documentation-heavy environments. What I bring: clean versioning, traceable change documentation and AI-accelerated creation of validation and engineering documents (functional specs, test reports, manuals). Plus: recovery of lost PLC programs from online dumps – typical in 20+ year-old API plants without offline symbols. For classic validation documentation (IQ/OQ/PQ) I work alongside your internal quality team or a GMP validation specialist on request.

Hourly rate, daily rate or fixed-price contract – depending on assignment type (service support, commissioning, retrofit) and project scope. Invoicing in EUR or CHF on request. After a short project description you receive a concrete quote tailored to your project within 1–2 working days, with all conditions included.

Three regional clusters: Basel (pharma, specialty chemicals, plant engineering – Roche, Lonza, SKAN, Bachem), Zurich (machinery and plant engineering, OEMs – Bühler, Schindler, Sulzer) and Lucerne (mid-market, packaging, metal processing – Schurter, Trisa, Bossard). Each cluster has its own detail page with project examples and typical use cases.

Cross-border setup is standard: SEM notification procedure (8-day lead time, up to 90 days/calendar year without a permit), A1 certificate via CCSS Luxembourg, reverse-charge VAT under the place-of-recipient principle (Luxembourg VAT number without VAT; Swiss recipient declares 8.1% acquisition tax with the Swiss FTA), ATA Carnet for mobile engineering devices. All five points are detailed in the cross-border setup block further down – confirmed in writing to your purchasing team before each assignment.
LUXCHEFor your purchasing team · Cross-border setup

Legal framework: all prepared

So your purchasing team can sign off – five fixed points, confirmed in writing before each assignment.

  1. 01.

    Notification procedure · 8-day lead

    90 days / calendar year

    EU/EFTA self-employed workers register assignments online with SEM. Notification 8 days before work starts, no permit required.

    SEM · Art. 6 EntsG
  2. 02.

    A1 certificate

    Social insurance in LU

    The Centre commun de la sécurité sociale (CCSS) issues the A1 for EU/EEA/CH/UK – no double insurance in Switzerland.

    EU Reg. 883/2004 · CCSS LU
  3. 03.

    Reverse charge · 8.1%

    Place-of-recipient principle

    Engineering services are taxed at the CH customer. Invoice with LU VAT number without VAT – the CH recipient declares the acquisition tax themselves.

    Art. 45 MWSTG
  4. 04.

    EUR invoicing

    CHF on request

    Default currency Euro. On request CHF at the official FTA daily rate on the invoice date.

    ISO 4217 · FTA rate
  5. 05.

    ATA Carnet

    12 months · 1 document

    Notebook and programming device travel duty-free with an ATA Carnet via the House of Entrepreneurship at Chambre de Commerce Luxembourg.

    WCO convention · CC LU

Standard process: before each assignment period your purchasing team receives the current status of all five points as a PDF.

Project in Switzerland?

Let's discuss your cross-border automation project – including a clear compliance setup before the assignment starts.

Send request