Our History
1930 1960 1980 1990 2000
1922
Louis Desloge Sr. founds Watlow Electric Manufacturing Company in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, to manufacture electric heating elements for the shoe industry.
Watlow produced its first heaters in rented corner space on the second floor of a machine shop.
1923
Watlow pioneers the use of electric heat in brick presses with strip and standard cartridge heaters, replacing the more costly steam process.
1924
Watlow builds its first factory.
The company introduces a line of consumer products, including electric irons and heating pads, under the name of Queen Quality.
The company name Watlow is selected referring to "low-watt" heaters to replace steam heat.
1925
Watlow improves the process of shaping the popular harvest hat by replacing gas heat – both hard to control and confine – with special electric heating units designed to fit the shape of the dies.
1931
Watlow introduces electric immersion heaters replacing cumbersome steam pipes and fire-hazardous gas.
1945
Watlow begins selling products outside the United States.
1948
George Desloge, with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering, joins Watlow at his father's request.
1950
George Desloge, Louis' son, invents the narrow band cylindrical heater with its patented clamping strap for use in plastics processing.
1951
Watlow expands into a larger manufacturing facility; more than 15,000 square feet.
1954
George Desloge invents, and later patents, the FIREROD® cartridge heater, improving heat transfer efficiency in shoe manufacturing. Since 1954, over 500,000 FIRERODs have been produced for packaging, plastics, medical, aerospace and semiconductor processing.
1958
David Desloge establishes a facility in California and begins manufacturing silicone rubber heaters for the aerospace industry.
1961
Watlow builds a new 30,000 square foot facility on a 28-acre tract in St. Louis County, Missouri.
1963
Louis Desloge Jr. joins Watlow and proceeds to build an international 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 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 U.S. in Germany to produce metric diameter cartridge heaters.
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, USA. Watlow now offers complete in-house cast-in aluminum heater design and manufacturing.
1979
Watlow opens a new facility in Columbia, Missouri, USA, to manufacture flexible and ceramic fiber heaters.
Watlow begins manufacturing metric FIREROD® cartridge heaters in Weihner, West Germany.
1981
Watlow purchases Adlake's mercury displacement relay division which adds power switching ability to the product mix.
Watlow expands its St. Louis, Missouri, manufacturing facility to over 185,000 square feet.
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 of Pacific, Missouri, USA, a manufacturer of cartridge heaters.
Watlow introduces its high performance mineral insulated band and strip heater product line to improve efficiencies in plastic processing.
1984
Watlow doubles the size of its Winona, Minnesota, facility.
1985
Watlow acquires the Claud S. Gordon Company of Richmond, Illinois (founded 1914), the nation's leading manufacturer of temperature measurement devices.
Watlow designs and manufactures the longest cartridge heater to date: 1 inch diameter by 52 feet long.
Watlow Gordon introduces the multipoint temperature sensor to closely monitor multiple locations along a process.
1986
Watlow purchases IR-ONICS in Providence, Rhode Island, adding infrared temperature measurement capabilities.
Watlow establishes a sales office in Milan, Italy.
Watlow produces its first microprocessor-based temperature controller.
1987
Watlow opens a new sales office in England.
Watlow's expanded plant in Kronau, West Germany, replaces the Weihner facility.
1988
Watlow opens a new sales office in France.Watlow introduces the patented FIREBAR® flat tubular heater improving frying productivity in restaurant fryers.
Watlow opens a new 170,000 square foot facility in Hannibal, Missouri, for manufacturing tubular heaters and assemblies.
1989
Watlow purchases Loyola of Orange, California, an original developer of SCR control technology.
Watlow purchases its largest British distributor and establishes manufacturing capabilities in Great Britain.
A new sales office is established in Taiwan.
Watlow moves its aluminum casting operation into a larger facility.
1990
Watlow opens a new facility in Troy, Missouri, USA, dedicated to process system design and fabrication.
The patented Watlow THINBAND® heater's flexible, one-piece design makes installation faster on plastics processing machinery.
Watlow opens a new sales office in Seoul South Korea.
Watlow introduces the Series 945, a microprocessor-based, single-input controller featuring dual control output, dual alarm output and data/serial communication.
Watlow introduces Total Quality as a key operational strategy.
1991
Gary Neal becomes president of Watlow. George Desloge becomes chairman of the board and Louis Desloge Jr. becomes vice chairman.
Watlow acquires AOV Industries of Anaheim, California, and begins manufacturing high temperature multicell heaters.
Watlow opens a sales office and manufacturing facility in Singapore.
Watlow doubles the size of its Columbia, Missouri, plant.
1992
Watlow's new Series 733 menu-driven cooking computer is developed to meet the needs of the food service industry.
Watlow's new Series 92 limit/temperature controller features DIN rail mounting.
1993
Watlow introduces the Series 988 process controller to provide greater application versatility with two universal analog inputs and one event input in an 1/8 DIN size.
Watlow's new DIN-A-MITE® power controller switches up to 100 amps in a DIN rail mount, compact package.
The FIREROD® MI lead option for high temperature and contamination resistance is patented.
Watlow Gordon's new NSF-approved RTD meat piercing probe is rated to 500°F (260°C).
1994
Watlow dedicates a new facility to research and development in Fenton, Missouri.
Watlow opens a sales office in Querétaro, Mexico.
The Watlow Series 998 1/8 DIN dual channel process controller offers two channels of PID control in a single package.
Watlow Gordon's new XACTEMP® surface probe measures temperatures over 1000°F (593°C).
Watlow's new Series 935 controller combines a compact 1/32 DIN size with NEMA 4X and simple operation.
Watlow’s facility in Batavia, IL becomes ISO:9001 certified.
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.
1996
MINICHEF™ 2000 is a food industry first in a time/temperature/machine function controller.
The new MICRODIN™ DIN rail mount controller interfaces with personal computers and PLCs.
Watlow de Mexico begins manufacturing FIREROD® cartridge heaters.
1997
Watlow celebrates its 75th anniversary.
Watlow and Watlow Anafaze again top the preferred supplier list for multi-loop and single-loop analog temperature controllers in North America according to The Worldwide Market for Industrial Temperature Controllers, published by Venture Development Corporation.
Watlow pump line heaters keep vacuum piping systems running smoothly in semiconductor processing.
Watlow opens a new sales office in Japan.
1998
FREEFLEX® miniature tubing heater offers flexibility, so small heated tubing can be formed to fit into small spaces.
Watlow Anafaze introduces PPC-2000, a programmable process controller.
Watlow introduces thick film heating technology on several substrate, including quartz, ceramic and 300/400 series stainless steel.
Watlow acquires Energy Converters, Inc. (Encon), Dallas, Pennsylvania. Watlow Polymer Technologies, Inc. is formed. WPT moves to 1265 East Sanborn Street, Winona, Minnesota, the original home of Waynco and Watlow Controls.
1999
Peter T. Desloge becomes Chairman of the Board and George B. Desloge becomes Co-chairman of the Board.
Watlow introduces the MULTICOIL heater, the first tubular heater to combine multiple resistance coils and thermocouples with three-phase capability.
Thick film technology is expanded to include in-line quartz tubing for aggressive chemical heating.
Watlow introduces a high-purity aluminum pedestal heater for more accurate heating and increased yield in the semiconductor manufacturing process.
Watlow opens a new sales office in Australia.
2000
Watlow Polymer Technologies introduces the patented THERMOPOLYMER® heaters, made from reinforced plastics that can be shaped and molded to provide unique thermal benefits to the heated parts.
Watlow is awarded winner of the Mississippi Valley Family Business of the Year Award, in the large Missouri business category by Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Watlow expands its manufacturing, sales and marketing and R&D operations in Singapore.
2001
Watlow moves to a new 20,000 square foot silicone rubber heater manufacturing facility in Anaheim, California.
Watlow's Board of Directors decided to continue the tradition of strong family leadership and appointed Peter Desloge to serve as the permanent CEO of Watlow.
2002
Watlow Process Systems moves to a new 50,000 square foot facility to better support process and power generation customers.
Watlow launches Single Iteration as a new division, located in Fenton, Missouri. Single Iteration provides consulting services using advanced computation tools and a disciplined project based approach solving difficult thermal problems in a shorter period of time.
Watlow Engineering honored with "Technology & Business Vision" award by Start Magazine.
2003
Watlow opens Watlow Iberica S.L., a new sales office in Madrid, Spain.
2004
Watlow launches a smart sensing capability and connectivity product line.
Watlow introduces layered heater technologies.
Watlow celebrates FIREROD's 50th anniversary.
2005
Watlow Acquires Austrian-Based RHV Heizsysteme GmbH.
2006
Watlow introduces integrated controller technology.
Watlow opens a new manufacturing facility in Shanghai, China.
Advance ceramic heater technology is developed and launched to customers.
2007
Watlow opens a new Asia Application and Design Center in Singapore.
Watlow opens a semiconductor technology design center in Los Gatos, California.