COMPANY·HISTORIES
SIC 3823

Industrial Instruments for Measure-ment, Display, and Control of Process Variables

How the companies in this industry began, and the forces that shaped them.

22companies1868–1992founding years22still active0no longer operating
§ 01

The industry over time

Companies foundedEconomyTechnologyEnvironmentHistory
FoundedBrown & Sharpe Manufacturing Co.
1868
FoundedRexnord Corporation
1892
1903
TechnologyThe Wright brothers achieve powered flight.
FoundedGeneral Signal Corporation
1904
FoundedBadger Meter, Inc.
1905
FoundedFoxboro Company
1908
1914
EconomyWorld War I begins; global trade reorders.
FoundedTokheim Corporation
1918
FoundedGEA AG
1920
FoundedHarris Corporation
1926
FoundedRockwell International Corporation
1928
1929
EconomyThe stock market crashes; the Great Depression spreads worldwide.
1939
EconomyWorld War II begins; wartime production surges.
1945
EconomyThe war ends; a long global expansion begins.
1947
TechnologyThe transistor is invented.
FoundedHach Co.
1951
FoundedFluke Corporation
1953
FoundedAnam GroupFoundedRosemount Inc.FoundedThermo Electron Corporation
1956
1958
TechnologyThe integrated circuit is demonstrated.
1962
EnvironmentSilent Spring launches the modern environmental movement.
FoundedSchneider S.A.
1966
FoundedEsterline Technologies Corp.
1967
1971
EconomyThe dollar leaves the gold standard; currencies float.
1973
EconomyThe OPEC oil embargo triggers a global shock.
1975
TechnologyThe personal-computer era begins.
1979
EconomyA second oil crisis drives inflation higher worldwide.
1981
TechnologyThe IBM PC launches and sets a standard.
1984
TechnologyApple ships the Macintosh; the GUI era begins.
1987
EconomyBlack Monday: markets fall sharply around the world.
FoundedABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd.
1988
1989
HistoryThe Berlin Wall falls; global markets open up.
1991
TechnologyThe World Wide Web is released to the public.
FoundedChart Industries, Inc.
1992
1993
TechnologyThe Mosaic browser brings the web to everyone.
1995
TechnologyWindows 95 launches; the internet goes mainstream.
1997
EconomyThe Asian financial crisis rattles global markets.
EnvironmentThe Kyoto Protocol sets the first climate targets.
2000
EconomyThe dot-com bubble bursts.
2004
TechnologySocial media and Web 2.0 take hold.
2007
TechnologyThe iPhone launches the smartphone era.
2008
EconomyThe global financial crisis freezes credit worldwide.
2010
TechnologyCloud computing goes mainstream for business.
2015
EnvironmentThe Paris Agreement sets global climate targets.
2020
EconomyThe COVID-19 pandemic upends the global economy.
2022
EconomyInflation spikes; central banks raise rates sharply.
2023
TechnologyGenerative AI reaches mainstream business use.
§ 02

The companies

Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Co. →
Active · founded 1868
Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Co.
Rexnord Corporation →
Active · founded 1892
A wholly owned subsidiary of BTR PLC, an international holding company based in London, England, since 1994, the…
General Signal Corporation →
Active · founded 1904
The General Signal Corporation is the leading manufacturer of equipment and instruments for process control, and…
Badger Meter, Inc. →
Active · founded 1905
Badger Meter, Inc.
Foxboro Company →
Active · founded 1908
The Foxboro Company is a leading manufacturer of industrial controls.
Smiths Industries PLC →
Active · founded 1914 · England
Smiths Industries PLC is a diversified multinational corporation with core businesses in aerospace electronics; medical…
Tokheim Corporation →
Active · founded 1918
Tokheim Corporation is one of the fastest growing and most successful firms in the global petroleum equipment industry.
GEA AG →
Active · founded 1920 · Germany
GEA AG is one of the world's leading suppliers for food and process engineering, and thermal engineering technology.
Harris Corporation →
Active · founded 1926
The origin of the Harris Corporation, a leading American electronics company, is actually to be found in the printing…
Rockwell International Corporation →
Active · founded 1928
One of five companies in the United States supplying the federal government with military aircraft fighters and bombers…
Grundig AG →
Active · founded 1945 · Germany
Grundig AG is a German consumer electronics manufacturer with significant shares in the market for television sets,…
Hach Co. →
Active · founded 1951
Hach Co.
Fluke Corporation →
Active · founded 1953
Fluke Corporation is a leading designer, developer, manufacturer, and seller of commercial electronic test and…
Anam Group →
Active · founded 1956
With an estimated one-third of the global semiconductor assembly market, the Anam Group ranks among South Korea's…
Rosemount Inc. →
Active · founded 1956
Rosemount Inc., which began as a space-age engineering company, designs and produces measurement instrumentation for…
Thermo Electron Corporation →
Active · founded 1956
Thermo Electron Corporation is a leading innovator in the practical application of heat science and energy conversion…
Analogic Corporation →
Active · founded 1964
Analogic Corporation is a leading custom designer, manufacturer, and seller of sophisticated precision instruments for…
Schneider S.A. →
Active · founded 1966 · France
After a dizzying series of complicated restructurings, acquisitions, and divestments that began in 1980 when the…
Esterline Technologies Corp. →
Active · founded 1967
A diversified manufacturing company divided into three business groups--Automation, Aerospace and Defense, and…
ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd. →
Active · founded 1988 · Switzerland
Formerly fierce competitors in the heavy-electrical and power-generation fields, Sweden's ASEA AB (which changed its…
Chart Industries, Inc. →
Active · founded 1992
Chart Industries, Inc.
Thermo Fibertek, Inc. →
Active · founded 1992
Thermo Fibertek, Inc.
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