Suhner & Co. AG in Herisau

In 1864, Gottlieb Suhner, a machinist, opened a workshop on the ground floor of a rented dwelling house on Degersheimerstrasse. There, he produced metal components for hand looms, setting up what is later on to become Suhner & Co. AG. He soon shifted his activities to the construction of auxiliary equipment for the embroidery industry.

Following a number of difficult years during the textile industry crisis, Gottlieb Suhner recognised the new opportunities presented by the emerging electrical industry. In 1892, he purchased a wire factory in Basel and relocated it, along with its employees, to Herisau. But business did not really start booming before machinist Suhner constructed his own high precision braiding machine. He soon set up a branch of his factory in Brugg in order to improve his service to his best customer, the Brown Boveri Corporation. At the turn of the century, the company comprised of 77 employees. After purchasing a large lead press, the founder started production of lead cables. Dissatisfied with the quality of the imported rubber which was being used for insulating cables, Gottlieb Suhner set up his own rubber factory in 1905 to produce rubber compounds.

Following World War I, he gradually extended his line of products to hard and soft rubber mouldings for engineering applications, overhead conductor materials, container and pipe linings, and roller coatings. The company expanded continuously:

• 1928  Start-up of the injection moulding shop operating under the brand name “Suconit”
• 1933  Start of production of “Sucoflor” flooring
• 1938  Completion of the manufacturing range by addition of RF cables and connectors

In the years after 1948, the company opened new branches in Tiefe near Herisau, in Schwellbrunn and later on in Winkeln.

The internationalisation of Suhner & Co. AG was established during the sixties, when two subsidiaries were formed, one near Munich, the other near London. Their main activity was to market the company’s range of RF products under the company names SUHNER Elektronik GmbH and SUHNER Electronics Ltd, respectively.

In 1964, the company celebrated its 100th anniversary. With almost 900 employees, it had, in the meantime, grown to become the largest industrial employer in the Canton of Appenzell.