The Kistler Group: global market leader for dynamic measurement technology

“To achieve the possible, we must attempt the impossible” – this was already clear to German author and Nobel Prize winner Hermann Hesse. Engineers Walter P. Kistler and Hans Conrad Sonderegger achieved something seemingly impossible in 1950 when they invented and patented the world’s first charge amplifier (charge/voltage converter) – a breakthrough that ushered in the widespread industrial use of piezoelectric measurement technology and laid the foundation for the success story of the Kistler Group that was established nine years later in Winterthur (Switzerland).

Agile and close to our customers

Today, more than 60 years after its founding, the Kistler Group leads the global market for dynamic pressure, force, torque and acceleration measurement technology. This owner-managed company has continued to grow over the years and has evolved from a mere component manufacturer into a development partner for industry and scientific research. We offer more than just products – we also provide the necessary application know-how. We have always remained true to our roots: some 2,050 employees at more than 60 facilities around the world develop new solutions every day and offer application-specific services at the local level.

Space travel, competitive sports, vehicle safety – just three areas of application that depend on high-tech measurement solutions from Kistler.

1. Kistler for safe roads
   Singling out potentially overloaded vehicles is now a thing of the past. Today, these traffic offenders can be identified using automatic cameras.
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2. Kistler for the right dosage of insulin
   “Everyone makes mistakes” – except in the field of medical technology. In the worst-case scenario, defects in the production of insulin pens could put patients’ safety at risk.
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3. Kistler for crash-safe cars
   Stunned pigs, self-experimentation with showers of glass splinters – these were just some of the ways that vehicles were crash-tested in the first half of the 20th century. Today, crash testing involves high-tech crash dummies.
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4. Kistler for effective therapies
   Preventing ligament tears with advanced technology: tailoring training and physiotherapy precisely to the athlete or patient using highly sophisticated measurement technology is becoming increasingly popular.
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5. Kistler for a secure stop on a steep hill
   Turn, press or tilt: control elements such as hand brakes are put to the test before being installed in vehicles.
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6. Kistler for stable connections
   If the fasteners that secure the swiveling arm of a crane were to fail, people could be injured – or even lose their lives. Our inspection systems make sure that this could never happen.
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7. Kistler for safety in space
   Space is the environment that presents the most challenging possible conditions for technical equipment. In order for spacecraft to withstand these extremes and safely transport their crews, our sensors guarantee reliability before the launch.
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8. Kistler for more climate-neutral ships
   While container ships, tankers and freighters are essential for the international transport of goods, they are also responsible for around 3 percent of global CO₂ emissions. However, our sensors can significantly reduce this.
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Understand – and then you can change: ideas for tomorrow’s world

Our close contact with our customers lets us keep our finger on the pulse of industry and develop tailored solutions that help our customers achieve top performance and innovations. Our claim – measure. analyze. innovate. – captures our entire approach in three words: to measure means to understand; to understand means to change – the basis for innovation. We are already working on the next phase of our development: we are tapping into new business opportunities with big data, data mining and “Information as a Service.” We look forward to writing the next chapters in our success story together with you.

As well as validating the path we have chosen, the Group’s strong growth over the last 20 years spurs us on to write the next chapters of our success story.

• Turnover in 2020: CHF 361 million; EUR 338 million; USD 385 million
• Investments in Research and Development in 2020 (given as a percentage of turnover): 9%
• Number of (full-time) employees worldwide (as at January 2021): around 2,050
• Number of trainees in Switzerland and Germany: around 60
• Number of external R&D partners (universities and colleges): around 30
• Number of patents applied for and granted: 863