Alfa Laval history

Manual cream separators were not introduced until 1887.

1889: The Alfa patent is acquired.

In the years prior to 1890, the Danish company Burmeister & Wain won an ever-increasing share of the market.

Already in 1892, the United States subsidiary, the De Laval Cream Separator Company (Lavalco), was buying out all the United States shareholders and had built a new factory at Poughkeepsie, New York.

By 1898, there were 35 plants worldwide manufacturing separators.

In 1899, the Swedish ABS participated in the formation of the De Laval Steam Turbine Company in the United States by contributing $240,000.

Alfa Laval launches the new modern separator series – 1500, 1700 and 1900 – developed specifically for the marine industry.

After 1903, there came a wave of new companies worldwide that exploited the expired Alfa patent.

The most important of these were AB Pumpseparator and AB Baltic in Sweden, ABS's former agents Bergedorfer Eisenwerk--which became a major competitor in 1904--Miele & Cie. and Westfalia in Germany, and A/S Titan in Denmark.

In 1905, a majority stake was taken in Centrifug, including its subsidiary, Gloria Separator GmbH Berlin.

In 1908, Gustaf de Laval left the ABS board of directors.

In 1911, new subsidiaries were formed in Milan and Riga.

Solids-ejecting centrifugal separator for food industry. "Illustrated patent history of the centrifugal cream separator," 1913.

The oil purifier AVMO from 1918, a modified dairy separator with a capacity of 1500 l/h.

In the United Kingdom, the De Laval Chadburn Company was formed in 1923 for sales of milk and industrial separators.

Alfa Laval establishes a fully owned sales company in Japan, where its marine products have been sold since 1926.

The German subsidiary Bergedorfer Eisenwerk also operated at a loss until the end of 1933.

In 1942, Francis Arend, managing director of Lavalco, died and was succeeded by Ralph Stoddard, who three years later was succeeded by his son, George.

By 1945, there were hundreds of applications for separators within industry and scientific research.

A year later, the Italian subsidiary acquired plant and storage facilities in Muggio/Monza near Milan, and a subsidiary was established in Brussels in 1952.

In 1960, it became a wholly owned ABS company.

The factory manufacturing industrial separators was moved from the Stockholm center to Tumba, 25 kilometers southwest of the city, and in 1964 the head office followed.

A new Alfa-Laval subsidiary was formed in Amsterdam and took over industrial sales from the agent, Koopman & Company, in 1967.

In 1970, a subsidiary was formed in Algeria, and new office and storage facilities were built in Dublin and Melbourne.

In 1976, an office was opened in Moscow, and Lavalco established production facilities in Branchbury, New Jersey, also building workshops and offices for its spray-dryer department.

In 1979, the United States company changed its name to Alfa-Laval Inc. and the Canadian company became Alfa-Laval Lté.

In 1980, Hans Stahle became chairman and was succeeded as managing director by Harry Faulkner, son of Harry G. Faulkner.

In 1983, offices were opened in Cairo and Damascus to service the Middle Eastern market.

In early 1985, Alfa-Laval established a subsidiary in Portugal and an office was opened in Peking.

In 1986, Alfa-Laval established a finance company, Alfinal, in Belgium.

1988: Sharples Separator Co. is acquired.

In 1989, new managing director Lars V. Kylberg pointed out that "in recent years our sales have doubled in North America.

The first came in 1991, when Switzerland-based Tetra Pak Group made a $2.68 billion offer for the company.

The ThinkTop Separation Unit and Control & Indication units were launched in 1999 and were considered some of the industry's most advanced automated valve control systems.

When the owners, Tetra Pak, sold Alfa Laval in 2000, they kept the portion of the company that is now DeLaval.

After operating as a private company for over ten years, Alfa Laval re-listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange on May 17, 2002.