The company specializes in laboratory automation. As an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), it develops and manufactures OEM instruments, components and medical devices that are then distributed by partner companies.
In 2021, Tecan generated sales of CHF 946 million.[1] Registered shares of Tecan Group are traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange (TECN; ISIN CH0012100191).
History
Engineers Heinz Abplanalp, Heini Maurer, Heinz Möckli and Gallus Blater founded Tecan (Technische Analysegeräte) on March 18, 1980, with the aim of developing measuring, analysis and laboratory automation devices. The first company office was in the home of the CEO, Heinz Abplanalp, in Hombrechtikon, Switzerland. Tecan soon also started to produce instruments for laboratory automation and environmental analysis. The first instruments were made in renovated barns, apartments and warehouses spread across the whole village of Hombrechtikon. In 1982, the company opened Tecan US in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for sales and marketing in North America, and Tecan Production Corp. to manufacture for the US marketplace. Two years later, 48% of the share capital was taken over by the finance company Zelux. In 1985, Tecan entered the market with the Tecan Sampler 500 series, the first process-controlled and fully automated pipetting devices. Other products included pH-electrodes, the Tecan Plant SAP Extractor 400 and the Tecan RSP 5052.
In 1986, Tecan was nominated as the Swiss Company of the Year by Zurich industrialists Branco Weiss and by publishers Jean Frey and Ringier, and awarded the Branco-Weiss Prize for innovative companies (TV broadcast). In the same year, Tecan Holding AG was founded, and Tecan Asia opened in Singapore. With 80 employees, Tecan achieved a turnohares in the company. Tecan also acquired ten companies, including OEM liquid handling component manufacturer Cavro Scientific Instruments in the USA (today Tecan Systems, Inc.).
In 1988, Tecan acquired SLT Laborinstrumente GmbH in Grödig near Salzburg, Austria (today Tecan Austria). At the end of the year, Tecan Holding included 29 companies. By the middle of 1989, Tecan was in financial difficulties, and trading in shares was temporarily suspended.
In 1990, under CEO Hans Widmer, Tecan sold a large proportion of its daughter companies. Concentrating on its laboratory automation business, the company only retained its liquid handling robotics production sites in Switzerland, the USA and Austria, together with sales centers in Germany, the UK and the USA. The company returned to profit following this consolidation.
Later in 1990, founder Heinz Abplanalp left the company, and Peter Bollmann become CEO. A year later, the other founding members also left the company.
In 1993, Gottlieb Knoch took over the majority of Tecan shares as an industrial investor. He became President of the board and CEO of the Tecan Group.
In 1994, all production sites were certified to ISO 9001.
In 1995, the Genesis series of laboratory automation workstations was launched, based on new technology (electronics, communication protocols, new storage systems, etc.).
In 1997, the life-sciences company Perkin-Elmer acquired the package of shares from Gottlieb Knoch and thus the majority of voting shares.
In 1998, a collaboration followed with Abbott Laboratories in marketing Genesis FE 500 Workcell.
In 1999, Emile Sutcliffe became CEO, and Perkin-Elmer sold its Tecan shares on the open market. Tecan was restructured and went public for the second time, listed in the main sector of the SWX Swiss Exchange.
In 2001, Tecan moved to new headquarters in Männedorf. Within two years, more than 5,000 Genesis platforms were sold.
In 2003, the launch of the new Freedom EVO platform took place and Aitor Galdos became CEO, leaving the company at the end of 2004.
In 2005, Tecan celebrated its 25th anniversary. Thomas Bachmann became CEO. Tecan took over REMP, a company based in Oberdiessbach, Switzerland, supplying automated laboratory and logistics systems in the life sciences sector.
In 2006, Tecan Austria received two awards from the Federal State Salzburg, Chamber of Commerce. The first award cited Tecan Austria for being the most innovative company in industry with its ‘Infinite’ series of multimode readers. The second award was the federal state winner of the innovation prize for the state of Austria.[2]
In 2007, more than 1,000 Freedom EVO platforms sold.
In 2010, Tecan celebrated its 30th anniversary.
In 2014, the company acquired IBL International, a leading immunoassay company, for €29.0 million. [3]
In 2015, Tecan acquired Sias, a leading OEM supplier of laboratory automation solutions[buzzword], for approximately CHF 25 million. [4],
In 2016, the company acquired SPEware, a company that offers sample preparation solutions[buzzword] to the laboratory by combining chemistry consumables with automation, for $50 million cash and potential earn-out payments up to $10 million. [6]
In 2017, the company acquired Pulssar Technologies, a company that develops, manufactures and markets high performance piston pumps for IVD and Scientific analysis instruments. [7]
In 2018, the company acquired NuGEN Technologies, a company offering NGS kits and consumables
In 2021, the company acquired Paramit, a leading OEM developer and manufacturer of medical devices and life sciences instruments. [8]
Related Research Articles
Siemens AG is a German multinational technology conglomerate. Its operations encompass automation and digitalization in the process and manufacturing industries, intelligent infrastructure for buildings and distributed energy systems, rail transport solutions, as well as health technology and digital healthcare services. Siemens is the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe, and holds the position of global market leader in industrial automation and industrial software.
Sulzer Ltd. is a Swiss industrial engineering and manufacturing firm, founded by Salomon Sulzer-Bernet in 1775 and established as Sulzer Brothers Ltd. in 1834 in Winterthur, Switzerland. Today it is a publicly traded company with some 180 manufacturing facilities and service centers around the world. The company's shares are listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange.
Lear Corporation is an American company that manufactures automotive seating and automotive electrical systems. In 2019, it ranked #147 and in 2018, it ranked #148 on the Fortune 500 list.
ams-OSRAM AG, formerly known as austriamicrosystems AG and ams AG, is an Austrian electronics company that designs and manufactures sensors for small form factor, low power, highest sensitivity and multi-sensor applications. Products include sensors, sensor ICs, interfaces and related software for mobile, consumer, communications, industrial, medical, and automotive markets.
HID Global is an American manufacturer of secure identity products. The company is an independent brand of Assa Abloy, a Swedish door and access control conglomerate. Björn Lidefelt was appointed CEO on 27 January 2020. He succeeded Stefan Widing, who led HID Global for over four years.
Siemens Healthineers is a German company which provides healthcare solutions and services. It was spun off from its parent company Siemens in 2017, which retains a 75% stake. Siemens Healthineers is the parent company for several medical technology companies and is headquartered in Erlangen, Germany.
Integrated Micro-electronics, Inc. provides electronics manufacturing services (EMS) and power semiconductor assembly and test services (SATS) with manufacturing facilities in Asia, Europe, and North America. Its headquarters is located in Biñan, Laguna.
Endress+Hauser is a Swiss-based globally operating process and laboratory instrumentation and automation supplier. The family company achieved net sales of approximately 2.9 billion euros in 2021 with a total workforce of more than 15,000.
Schleuniger is a technology company and a supplier to the wire processing industry. With its subsidiary DiIT, Schleuniger is in involved in digitalization and industrial IoT.
KEBA AG is an international developer and manufacturer of automation solutions for the industrial, banking, services and energy automation areas. The Austrian company was founded in 1968 and is privately owned. The company has annual sales revenues averaging €315,4 million, of which over 90% are obtained in export markets.
Myriad Group AG, headquartered in Switzerland, is a software company specializing in the mobile communications sector. The company provides a range of applications tailored for consumer use, as well as solutions related to social media, messaging, and embedded software. These offerings are targeted towards Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), mobile operators, and pay TV providers. Myriad organizes its operations into three distinct product divisions: Versy, Myriad Connect, and Device Solutions.
dormakaba Holding AG is a global security group based in Rümlang, Switzerland. It employs more than 15,000 people in over 50 countries. It formed as the result of a merger between former Kaba and former Dorma in September 2015 and is publicly traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange.
Vector Informatik develops software tools and components for networking of electronic systems based on the serial bus systems CAN, LIN, FlexRay, MOST, Ethernet, AFDX, ARINC 429, and SAE J1708 as well as on CAN-based protocols such as SAE J1939, SAE J1587, ISO 11783, NMEA 2000, ARINC 825, CANaerospace, CANopen and more. The headquarters of the company Vector Informatik GmbH is in Stuttgart, Germany. Subsidiaries include Braunschweig, Munich, Hamburg, Regensburg along with international subsidiaries in Brazil, China, France, Italy, England, India, Japan, South Korea, Austria, Sweden, and the USA. Vector Informatik also includes Vector Consulting Services GmbH, a consultation firm specializing in optimization of technical product development. Altogether, these companies are referred to as the Vector Group.
Elron Electronic Industries is an Israeli technology holding company based in Tel Aviv; since 1962 the company has been involved in setting up, funding and developing over 30 companies and is considered one of the foundation stones of the high-tech industry in Israel. The company's sectors of interest include clean technology, software, semiconductors, medical technology, telecommunications, defence and aerospace. Today, the combined annual revenues of the companies established by Elron are approximately $5 billion.
Creation Technologies is a global electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
Analytik Jena AG, based in Jena, is a provider of analytical, bioanalytical and optical systems for industrial and scientific applications. Analytik Jena was founded in 1990 as a sales and service company for analytical technology. The company has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange from July 3, 2000 until March 27, 2015. Analytik Jena and its subsidiaries employ about 1,000 people in more than 90 countries. The international Group earns two-thirds of sales abroad and maintains business relationships in more than 120 countries around the globe.
TGW Logistics Group is a systems integrator of automated warehouse solutions, headquartered in Marchtrenk, Austria. The company designs, manufactures, implements and maintains end-to-end fulfillment solutions - including everything from goods receipt to storage and order picking to shipping. The company name TGW comes from its original German name Transportgeräte Wels.
Mettler Toledo is a multinational manufacturer of scales and analytical instruments. It is the largest provider of weighing instruments for use in laboratory, industrial, and food retailing applications. The company also provides various analytical instruments, process analytics instruments, and end-of-line inspection systems. The company operates worldwide with 70% of net sales, derived in equal parts, from Europe and from the Americas. Asian business is included in the remaining 30%. Mettler Toledo is headquartered in Switzerland and incorporated in the United States.
Bossard Group is an international Swiss fastener technology and logistics company with its headquarters in Zug. Their activities include worldwide sales, technical consulting and inventory management. The Group employs more than 2,700 people at 84 locations in Europe, America and Asia/Pacific and generated a turnover of 1.15 billion Swiss francs in 2022. Bossard Group is listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange SIX Swiss Exchange.
STRATEC SE is a company with worldwide operations that develops and produces analyzer systems and automation systems in the field of in-vitro-diagnostics. As a classic OEM supplier, STRATEC produces its systems almost exclusively on behalf of its customers. Alongside the systems themselves, the company also develops system software and software to connect the systems to laboratory software (Middleware). STRATEC is also responsible for development documentation, testing and delivering the systems, and supplying spare parts and consumables. STRATEC's customers are well known diagnostic companies like SIEMENS, Bio-Rad or Hologic.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
