Watlow history

1923 - Watlow pioneers the use of electric heat in brick presses with strip heaters and standard cartridge heaters, replacing the more costly steam process.

In 1924, Watlow built its first factory and introduced a line of consumer products, including electric irons and heating pads, under the name of Queen Quality.

In 1931 Watlow began manufacturing electric immersion heaters, replacing cumbersome steam pipes and fire-hazardous gas.

1945 - Watlow begins selling products outside the United States.

George Watlow, Louis´s son, joined the firm in 1948 and engineered many new products for the company, as well as equipment to manufacture them.

1950 - George Desloge invents the narrow band cylindrical heater with its patented clamping strap for use in plastics processing.

1951 - Watlow expands into a larger manufacturing facility, which is more than 15,000 square feet.

1954 - George Desloge invents, and later patents, the FIREROD® cartridge heater, improving heat transfer efficiency in shoe manufacturing.

1958 - Watlow opens a facility in California and begins manufacturing silicone rubber heaters to service the aerospace industry.

The company moved to its location in the Westport area of St Louis County in 1961 and has expanded several times to its present size of more than 185,000 square feet.

Another son, Louis Desloge, Jr. joined the company in 1963 and was responsible for expanding Watlow´s global sales and distribution network of direct sales engineers and distributors.

1965 - George Desloge becomes president and Louis Desloge Jr. vice president of Watlow.

1967 - Watlow designs and manufactures the first high watt density cartridge pressurized heater for use in nuclear power plants.

1969 - Watlow expands its headquarters and St Louis, Missouri, manufacturing location to 95,000 square feet.

1970 - Watlow's radiant heater line, RAYMAX®, is introduced.

1972 - Watlow opens a manufacturing facility in Hannibal, Missouri, to produce tubular heaters.

1973 - Watlow opens its first manufacturing facility outside of the United States, in Germany, to produce metric diameter cartridge heaters.

1974 - Watlow introduces its thermocouple product line for the plastics industry.

1976 - Watlow purchases Waynco, Inc. of Winona, Minnesota, a manufacturer of electronic controllers.

1977 - Watlow purchases Aten Limited and begins producing ceramic fiber heaters.

1978 - Watlow acquires Magne-Cast, an aluminum mold foundry in Batavia, Illinois.

1979 - Watlow opens a new facility in Columbia, Missouri, to manufacture flexible and ceramic fiber heaters.

1981 - Watlow purchases Adlake's mercury displacement relay division, which adds power switching ability.

1982 - The patented Lead Adapter (LA) manufacturing process allows same-day shipment on more than 150,000 configurations of stock FIREROD cartridge heaters and lead combinations.

1983 - Watlow begins Pacific Heater Company in Pacific, Missouri, a manufacturer of cartridge heaters.

1984 - Watlow doubles the size of its Winona, Minnesota, facility.

1986 - Watlow purchases IR-ONICS in Providence, Rhode Island, adding infrared temperature measurement capabilities.

1987 - Watlow opens a new sales office in Nottingham, England.

1988 - Watlow opens a new sales office in France.

1989 - Watlow purchases Loyola of Orange, California, an original developer of silicone controlled rectifier (SCR) control technology.

1990 - Watlow opens a new facility in Troy, Missouri, dedicated to process system design and fabrication.

1992 - Watlow launches the new SERIES 92 limit/temperature controller and the SERIES 733 menu-driven cooking computer for the foodservice industry.

1993 - Watlow introduces the SERIES 988 process controller and the new DIN-A-MITE® power controller.

Watlow's new NSF-approved RTD meat piercing probe is rated up to 500°F (260°C). 1994 - Watlow dedicates a new facility to research and development in Fenton, Missouri.

1995 - Watlow becomes a majority investor in Anafaze of Watsonville, California, a designer and manufacturer of multi-loop controllers and PC-based control operating software.

1997 - Watlow celebrates its 75th anniversary.

1999 - Peter T. Desloge becomes chairman of the board and George B. Desloge becomes co-chairman of the Board.

2000 - Watlow Polymer Technologies introduces its patented THERMOPOLYMER® heaters to provide unique heated parts.

2001 - Watlow moves to a new 20,000 square foot silicone rubber heater manufacturing facility in Anaheim, California.

2003 - Watlow opens Watlow Iberica S.L., a new sales office in Madrid, Spain.

2004 - Watlow launches a smart sensing capability product line.

2005 - Watlow acquires Austrian-Based RHV Heizsysteme GmbH,for facilitating thermal spray technology.

2006 - Watlow introduces integrated controller technology with the new line of EZ-ZONE®controllers.

2007 - Watlow opens a new Asia Application and Design Center in Singapore.

2010 - Watlow introduces its EXACTSENSE® thermocouple for high-temperature exhaust gas temperature sensing.

2012 - Watlow acquires Semiconductor Tooling Services, Inc. (STS) of San Jose, CA., a leader in ion implant refurbishment, elastomer bonding and high-precision cleaning technologies.

2013 - Watlow Introduces the HYDROSAFE® compact indirect heat exchanger

2014 - Watlow introduces the F4T process controller with touch-screen technology.

2016 - Watlow opens its Advanced Technology Center (ATC) in St Louis, MO. And rebrands Watlow to the current day logo

2017 - Watlow introduces WATCONNECT® pre-engineered control panels.

2018 - Watlow acquires Yarbrough Solutions Worldwide of Austin, TX to serve the end user semiconductor market.

2021 - Watlow was acquired by the Tinicum investment group to propel the company into the next century of innovation.