The story
In 1910, the company was founded by Fritz Sauter in Grindelwald (CH), as a manufacturer of electrical time switches. The growing number of incoming orders led to an expansion and relocation of the operation to Basel. In 1920, the company was converted into a private limited company.
In 1912, Sauter brought its first product to the market in the form of a time-switch – an astronomical clock for switching city street lighting on and off. The lights were switched on and off in the evening and morning, at the seasonal hour for twilight.
In 1917, Sauter developed a boiler for the Basel power station, which was well received on the market. The company had already moved its workshop to Basel in 1916 because of its good relationship with the power station.
In 1935, Sauter took the step from time- or temperature-controlled activation of equipment to control technology, thus laying the foundation for its current main business.
In the early 1950s, Sauter started integrating electronics into the products. The product range comprised devices for controlling temperature, humidity and pressure.
In 1974, Sauter brought its first software-controlled building management system onto the market; in 1981, the first devices with microprocessors.
In 1984, Sauter Holding AG was founded to defend against a hostile takeover bid. The operational activities are consolidated under Fr. Sauter AG.
In 1997, the first Internet-based automation product, that enables the system to be controlled using a web browser, came onto the market.
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Starting in 2000, Sauter expanded its activities into the service sector. Facility management became an integral part of its key business. In 2002, Sauter began integrating the standardised BACnet communication protocol into the products. In 2009, Sauter brought its Energy Management Solution (EMS) onto the market. In 2012, the Sauter Vision Center software, a building management suite with a modular, scalable visualisation and management level, came onto the market.
On 1 April 2017, Sauter FM GmbH took over Pandomus AG in Cologne; Germany and its management properties. In 2018, WREN Ltd in Leatherhead, United Kingdom, and Sirus in Cork and Dublin, Ireland, were acquired, in 2020 Techne S.p.A Facility Management in Bergamo, Italy, in 2022 the Emtec Group in Glasgow, United Kingdom, and in 2023 T4 Mechanical & Electrical Ltd, Lidex Control Systems Ltd and React 4 Group Ltd in Redhill, United Kingdom.
In 2019, launch of the new modulo 6 building automation system. Since 2020, there is the new Smart Actuator, a valve and air damper actuator with integrated controller, IoT and cloud connection.
In 2023, the smart sensor viaSens, a multi-sensor for integrated room automation, was presented.
From Wikipedia’s article on Sauter AG, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4