APEM Inc.

Company profile and history   

Since its creation in 1952, APEM has become one of the leading worldwide manufacturers of man-machine interfaces. The group is present in 11 countries and has a network of more than 130 distributors and agents on five continents. With production plants in Europe, North Africa, America and Asia, APEM achieves 67 % of its turnover from export markets. 

APEM develops and manufactures professional switch products for diversified markets including instrumentation, medical, communications, industrial automation, defense and transport. The APEM group supplies more than 20,000 customers worldwide. 

History

APEM was created in 1952 in Montpezat de Quercy (Tarn et Garonne) for the manufacture of industrial switches.
In 1971, a new manufacturing Plant was built, specialized in miniature switches. 
In 1975, the Company began a strategy of international development and successively has created 3 subsidiaries in Europe and Tunisia : 
- Germany : 1975 
- United Kingdom and Tunisia : 1983 
- Benelux : 1989 
In 1984, APEM opened a new plant specialized in the production of switch panels to complement its product range.
In 1991, it purchased American Switch Corp. in Boston (USA) and created a subsidiary, APEM COMPONENTS Inc, to achieve a solid presence on the North- American market. This year, the swedish subsidiary was also created. 
In 1998, 1999 and 2000, APEM acquired companies presenting high commercial or technical interest : 
- MEC, a Danish manufacturer of high performance PCB tact switches, 
- WUJIN, near Shanghai, to create APEM (Wujin) Electronic, the Chinese subsidiary and operational base for APEM’s expansion into the Pacific Rim, 
- UNIFAB, in the USA, to expand its switch panel range.
In 2000, APEM created a new subsidiary in Mexico, APEM Mexico.
In 2002, APEM acquired a company producing stainless steel keyboards in Italy, which was given the name APEM Italia.
In 2005, APEM acquired OLIVER CONTROL SYSTEMS Ltd. in England, thus extending its offering with a wide range of panel mount industrial joysticks.
In 2008, acquisition of CH Products, USA, a leading manufacturer of joysticks, trackballs and simulation control devices