Swiss Precision Measurement Company Celebrates 50 Years In Business

How it all began

Graduate engineer Hans Speglitz established Rotronic AG in Zurich in the summer of 1965. Asked to explain the name, he told Vice President Susanne Schroff: “Rotronic is a combination of the word electronic and rot, which is German for red and is also the colour of the company’s logo - catchy and easy to remember.” Rotronic was the first foreign distributor of the German company Schroff, which Susanne’s parents founded three years earlier to manufacture 19” rack systems. In 1967 a chemist working for a famous Swiss paper manufacturer got so frustrated that there was no precision instrument available on the market to measure relative humidity that he developed his own capacitive humidity sensor and then contacted Hans Speglitz to develop the electronics to evaluate its data for him. This resulted in Rotronic‘s first humidity meter, the GTS sword hygrometer.

The story continues …

Rotronic‘s trading activities, which later also incorporated the sale of IT accessories, grew so quickly in Switzerland that the field of instruments was somewhat neglected. Thanks to the high accuracy and long-term stability of the sensor, however, the products nevertheless found niche markets worldwide. The focus was increasingly placed on humidity and temperature measurement. With its portfolio ranging from hand-held meters and measurement transmitters to laboratory solutions and dataloggers, Rotronic became one of the strongest players worldwide. Whenever reliable and repeatable humidity measurement is critical Rotronic’s humidity sensors are the clear choice.

The company created a worldwide sales network and established numerous subsidiaries (the latest being in Canada 2015). In order to offer our customers the best measurement solutions, Rotronic prides itself on the fact that it is continuously enhancing its products and parameter portfolio. Over the past few years, Rotronic has taken on various other measurement parameters such as CO2, differential pressure and low dew point.

A promise for the future …

Rotronic sells its measurement solutions in over 60 countries around the globe and is becoming even more international in its alignment. In the upcoming years the company will be widening its sales network further, as well as its portfolio offering products covering the parameters of pressure, airflow and more.