Sauter AG

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.

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.

In 2018, acquisition of WREN Ltd and Sirus Ireland.[2][3]

In 2019, launch of the new modulo 6 building automation system.[4] Since 2020, there is the new Smart Actuator, a valve and air damper actuator with integrated controller, IoT and cloud connection.[5]

The Sauter Group includes 16 subsidiaries in Europe, joint ventures in China and the Middle East, and local agencies in other countries. Countries with Sauter subsidiaries: Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Austria, Slovakia, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia. The portfolio includes the four specialist fields of Systems, Components, Services and Facility Management. The Facility Management business in Germany is managed by Sauter FM GmbH with headquarters in Augsburg, a 100-percent owned subsidiary of the German Sauter branch.

Sauter produces hardware and software for regulation, control and building management systems for applications in the fields of heating, ventilation and air conditioning. The product range includes room sensors, transducers, thermostats, pressure switches, electrical actuators, pneumatic actuators, valves, mixing valves, and dampers. On the management level, Sauter develops software for building management, as well as systems and room automation stations for individual room control and room management. Development and production takes place at the factory in Basel.

The area of building services includes services such as contracting, maintenance and monitoring. An increasingly important mainstay are services in the field of energy-conscious, technical, infrastructural and commercial facility management.

• 
  World War II
• 
  Up to 1994
• 
  1994 to 2008
• 
  Since 2008

Christian Brückner, Markus Brückner: Aus eigener Kraft – Rückblick auf 100 Jahre Firmengeschichte der Fr. Sauter AG, Basel, Basel 2010, ISBN 3-9522350-9-1, online, in German (PDF; 5.0 MB)