The Merging Of Andover Controls, TAC, & Schneider Electric
Andover Controls
Even though Andover Controls operated independently for a long time, in 2004 it became a part of TAC, which was the industry’s most innovative and fastest growing building automation company, as well as the leader in open integrated solutions for a variety of facilities.
Andover Controls was founded in 1975 and installed over 100,000 facility management systems all over the world in a vast array of applications that include manufacturing sites, hospitals, correctional facilities, sports arenas, retail locations, offices, and just about any other type of facility, regardless of size.
Also, after Andover Controls was founded as the manufacturer of Sunkeeper, which is a programmable building control system, it created dozens of other innovations within the dynamic controls industry. It was the first company to start promoting direct digital control (DDC) in the 1980’s, and it was also the first business to offer a fully user-programmable line of products. This technology was geared towards the automation of building equipment systems with its second generation of offerings, known as the AC256 system.
By the 1990s, Andover Controls had introduced an Ethernet-based third generation of products known as Infinity, along with the first controller-based web server.
TAC
Founded in 1925 in Stockholm, Sweden, TAC grew through acquisitions and partnerships, bringing major innovations to the market. The first major development by TA Control arrived in 1996 with TAC Xenta, a programmable control system featuring graphical programming. The following year TA Control changed its name to TAC and focused equally on its services and systems operations in addition to its international partner networks. TAC acquired Norwegian major systems integration company Solberg Andersen in 1998 shortly before being bought by investment company EQT.
Between 1998 and 2006, several more acquisitions and mergers took place, beginning with TAC’s acquisition of Danish-based Danfoss System Automatik. It then merged with CSI—an American company based in Dallas, Texas—in 2000 to create a new company of 2,000 employees covering three major regions: Europe, the Americas and the Pacific. This merger was extremely successful and led to consulting firm Frost & Sullivan awarding its 2001 ‘Market Engineering Merger & Acquisition Strategy Award’ to the newly formed TAC Group.
The years 2002 and 2003 brought further development for TAC Group with its acquisition of both Control Solutions and MicroSign in 2002 before TAC Group was itself acquired by French-based Schneider Electric in 2003. In 2004, the company bought Seattle-based Abacus Engineered Systems which was then merged with the Energy Solutions Division of TAC. In the same year TAC’s parent company, Schneider Electric, acquired Andover Controls which was then merged with TAC to boost its security operations in addition to expanding its building automation activities. The company became Tour Andover Controls and merged with three more companies over the next two years: Satchwell Controls and the European division of Invensys Advanced Building Systems in 2005, and Invensys Building Systems (IBS) in 2006. It became TAC Satchwell for a brief period between 2005 and 2007 during the integration of Satchwell Controls into the company.
Schneider Electric
In 2009, TAC’s products, services and solutions were migrated to the Schneider Electric brand. Under a single brand, Schneider Electric offers customers a full range of energy-management solutions that help customers make the most of their energy and achieve more while using less of the common planet.
To upgrade your building automation system or learn more about our services & solutions, contact TMBA today.
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