From gas to components
The history of Phoenix Mecano began with the foundation of "Phoenix Maschinentechnik AG" in 1975. The company initially specialised in manufacturing and selling gases for the welding industry. Gas was our stepping stone to welding torches. Many manufacturers produced high-technology welding tools, but due to a lack of materials technology expertise their torches were of mediocre or poor quality. We began to study the welding torch and found a neglected market. We had embarked on a new path as a components manufacturer, which was to be the foundation of Phoenix Mecano's success. In 1976, our company found another opportunity to excel: enclosures for electronic devices. This market also came into being as a result of the expansion of microelectronics.

Discovering enclosures
Sensitive electronic devices require enclosures that provide a particularly high level of protection, which had hitherto been the exception. Our diecast and plastic enclosures set new standards and naturally also attracted imitators. We won our first competitive struggle in 1976, when we succeeded in taking over our fiercest competitor. Our next, decisive step was to extend our range of models, systematically develop an entire generation of modular enclosures and rationalise our manufacturing process.

Phoenix Mecano AG
With the acquisition of Hartmann, a manufacturer of electromechanical components, we consolidated our position as a components manufacturer for industrial electronics. By now the name Phoenix Maschinentechnik (Phoenix Machine Technology) had become to narrow. In 1986 we decided to rename our company Phoenix Mecano AG.

Going public
In 1988 Phoenix Mecano, well known to its customers and the competition but unknown in the financial community, took the bold step of going public on the pre-market of the Zurich Stock Exchange on 14 September 1988. Three months later we went public on the main Zurich Stock Exchange. Our IPO caused a stir. No restriction of transferability, no registered shares, no restriction of voting rights - all this was new in Switzerland. Since we went public the value of our share has risen more than thirteenfold.

Success with conventional products
Components are small things used every day by every mechanical engineer, engineer and developer. Because they are not very technologically demanding and are not considered to be decisive for market success, their systematic improvement is often neglected. Phoenix Mecano has made this field its own. The company has largely created its own market and is now concentrating on offering these "small things" with better quality and at a lower price than has been possible to date.