How has Sulzer incubated technologies and businesses as an innovative pioneer over almost 200 years one might ask.

One theme remains particularly constant throughout Sulzer’s history: the company has never been afraid to reinvent itself. As times, industries and technologies change, so does Sulzer – constantly reshaping its business as new opportunities arise – and others mature – to meet the evolving needs of our society.

The first steam and diesel engines

In 1851, the visionary British engineer Charles Brown moved from the UK to Switzerland to join Sulzer – which had already established an international reputation for engineering. Brown worked for 20 years at Sulzer, during which time he carried out pioneering work developing early steam engines. In 1871, Brown co-founded the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works, which was eventually taken over by Sulzer in 1961 to continue a legacy of over 100 years of railway engineering. In 1998, Sulzer sold its railway business in parts to Stadler Rail and Bombardier, to focus on faster growing core activities and provide a better fit for the further development of the businesses.

A similar chain of events has played out in other industries, with Sulzer innovating and developing solutions to societies’ problems. This is how Sulzer’s name came to be inseparably linked to some of the most iimportant developments of the last two centuries. In 1898, Rudolf Diesel’s work at Sulzer led to the invention of the first diesel engine and 100 years of diesel engineering for Sulzer, until the company once again recalibrated its core focus and sold the diesel business to Wärtsilä in 1997. Sulzer began producing turbo compressors as well as gas turbines in the mid-twentieth century, and while the production parts of the business were variously sold to MAN and ABB, and later to Alstom and Siemens, the decades-long expertise with the machinery still forms a core part of Sulzer’s Services division in 2021.

From military planes to prosthetics

Sulzer's precision casting, used for example in the 20th century for specialized parts in military planes, was the spark that ignited Sulzer's activities in a completely new field – orthopaedic implants. Thanks to a great deal of research and innovation over the following decades, Sulzer Medica's portfolio included cardiac pacemakers, vascular prostheses and heart valves in addition to more than 400 different prosthesis variants by the time it was sold to Zimmer in 2003 – where it remains a very successful part of the business. These are but a few examples of how Sulzer’s legacy endures across industries – and how the technologies it incubated are still central to today’s products and machinery.

Sulzer’s latest creation: medmix

Fast forward to 2021, and Sulzer has successfully completed the spinoff of its Applicator Systems division, renamed medmix. As part of the Sulzer family, medmix became a global leader in high precision delivery devices for markets ranging from healthcare to adhesives and beauty. The division’s roots trace back to 2006 when Sulzer acquired Mixpac, Werfo, and Mold. These acquisitions, combined with the expertise of Sulzer’s Chemtech division, allowed Sulzer to revolutionize the mixing, dispensing and application of multi-component materials. Sulzer created the Applicator Systems division in 2017 to encompass this newest niche, and in 2021 the business was ready to stand on its own. With a valuation close to CHF 2 billion, profit margins of 25% and over 900 active patents, medmix’s success and innovations touch billions of people’s lives – from its contributions to healthcare devices to the glue that sticks the pieces of your car together, and even to your make-up.