Littelfuse, Inc is an American electronic manufacturing company headquartered in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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.
The company primarily produces circuit protection products but also manufactures a variety of electronic switches and automotive sensors.
Littelfuse was founded in 1927. In addition to its Chicago, Illinois, world headquarters, Littelfuse has more than 40 sales, distribution, manufacturing and engineering facilities in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Littelfuse is the developer of AutoFuse, the first blade-type automotive
fuse
Fuse or FUSE may refer to:
Devices
* Fuse (electrical), a device used in electrical systems to protect against excessive current
** Fuse (automotive), a class of fuses for vehicles
* Fuse (hydraulic), a device used in hydraulic systems to protect ...
.
History
Early history
Edward V. Sundt founded Littelfuse in 1927 in
Chicago Illinois
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as Littelfuse Laboratories.
Prior to founding Littelfuse, Sundt had worked for
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
and
Stewart-Warner, where he found diagnostic equipment frequently experienced electrical failure.
Sundt developed Littelfuse's first product, a small protective fuse, to regulate current in diagnostic equipment and prevent electrical failure.
When the US government refused Sundt a trademark for Little fuse (the small protective fuse) on the grounds that the words were too common, Sundt compromised by reversing the l and the e to form Littelfuse.
Littelfuse was incorporated and renamed Littelfuse, Inc. in 1938.
Littelfuse became a
public company
A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (l ...
in 1962.
The company retained founder Edward V. Sundt as the chairman of its board.
In 1963, Littelfuse moved its headquarters from Chicago to
Des Plaines, Illinois
Des Plaines is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 60,675. The city is a suburb of Chicago and is located just north of O'Hare International Airport. It is situated on and is named after the ...
.
Sundt retired in 1965 and was succeeded by Thomas Blake.
Tracor
Tracor was a major North American defense electronics contractor which was acquired by Marconi Electronic Systems (MES), a subsidiary of General Electric Company plc, in 1998. Following the purchase of MES by British Aerospace in November 1999 ...
purchased the company in 1968.
Blake was made president of Littelfuse, which operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Tracor.
1970–1991
The company expanded its manufacturing base in the 1970s with new factories opening in
Watseka, Illinois
Watseka is a city in and the county seat of Iroquois County, Illinois, United States. It is located approximately west of the Illinois-Indiana state line on U.S. Route 24.
The population of Watseka was 5,255 according to the 2010 census, which ...
and
Piedras Negras, Mexico.
In 1974, the company also introduced Littelites, electronic indicator lights used in industrial and office machinery, household appliances and computers.
In 1976, Littelfuse developed Autofuse, which was the first blade-type fuse used in automobiles.
The Autofuse brand was counterfeited heavily and in 1983 the company obtained an exclusionary order from the
United States International Trade Commission
The United States International Trade Commission (USITC or I.T.C.) is an agency of the United States federal government that advises the legislative and executive branches on matters of trade. It is an independent, bipartisan entity that analyze ...
, which barred the importation of counterfeit blade-type fuses.
In 1987, Westmark Systems purchased Tracor and its Littelfuse subsidiary in
leveraged buyout
A leveraged buyout (LBO) is one company's acquisition of another company using a significant amount of borrowed money ( leverage) to meet the cost of acquisition. The assets of the company being acquired are often used as collateral for the loa ...
.
Tracor filed for bankruptcy in 1991 and
spun off Littelfuse.
Modern history
Littelfuse reincorporated in November 1991 with Howard Witt as its president and CEO.
Witt had worked for Littelfuse since 1979 and had been president and CEO of Littelfuse since February 1990, when the company was still owned by Tracor.
[ In 1991, Littelfuse offered its second IPO in company history.]São Paulo, Brazil
SAO or Sao may refer to:
Places
* Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD
* Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso
* Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S. ...
.Consulting-Specifying Engineer
''Consulting-Specifying Engineer'' () is a trade publication and website owned by CFE Media, serving the information needs of engineering personnel who perform various consulting engineering activities.
The magazine is published monthly and cover ...
in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Arrow Electronics recognized Littelfuse with an award for Supplier Excellence in 2011. The company received TTI Supplier's Excellence Award in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Littelfuse received the Chicago Innovation Award in 2012. In 2013, the company received Processing Magazine's Breakthrough Product of the Year. Littelfuse was recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in Illinois in 2012, 2013 and 2014.
The company announced in November 2016 that COO Dave Heinzmann would succeed Hunter as president and CEO in January 2017.
Products
Littelfuse designs and manufactures circuit protection products for the electronics, automotive and electrical industries.[ The company operates between three business unit segments: Electronics, Industrial, and Automotive.][ Products include: fuses and protectors, suppressors, gas discharge tubes, electronic switches, solenoids, battery management devices, and protective relays.][
With the acquisition of Hamlin, Inc. in 2013, Littelfuse expanded its product offering to include sensors for the automotive, industrial and consumer industries.]
Acquisitions
Littelfuse has acquired multiple companies since 1999, including:
* 1999 – Harris Suppression Products.
* 2002 – Semitron.
* 2003 – Teccor, a manufacturer of circuit and overvoltage
When the voltage in a circuit or part of it is raised above its upper design limit, this is known as overvoltage. The conditions may be hazardous. Depending on its duration, the overvoltage event can be transient—a voltage spike—or perm ...
protection products.ground fault
In an electric power system, a fault or fault current is any abnormal electric current. For example, a short circuit is a fault in which a live wire touches a neutral or ground wire. An open-circuit fault occurs if a circuit is interrupted by a fa ...
protection technology.ON Semiconductor
onsemi (stylized in lowercase; legally ON Semiconductor Corporation; formerly ON Semiconductor until August 5, 2021) is an American semiconductor supplier company, based in Phoenix, Arizona and ranked #483 on the 2022 ''Fortune'' 500 based on it ...
, a semiconductors supplier company.
* 2017 – U.S. Sensor, Manufacturer of Temperature Sensors.
* 2017 – IXYS Corp., a power semiconductor manufacturer.
*2018 – Monolith Semiconductor Inc., a silicon carbide switch developer and manufacturer.
*2021 - Carling Technologies Inc., a electromechanical circuit breaker manufacturer.
*2022 – C&K Switches, an electromechanical switch manufacturer
References
{{reflist, 2
1927 establishments in Illinois
1960s initial public offerings
Companies listed on the Nasdaq
Manufacturing companies based in Chicago
Electronics companies established in 1927
Electrical engineering companies