The history of ESAB Corporation.

A relentless legacy of innovation.

Voice of the customer: People, Tools, Process: Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, Growth

In 1904, Swedish engineer Oscar Kjellberg solved a common problem with a pioneering solution: he produced the world’s first welding electrode, a heavily fluxed electrode that substantially improved the quality of weld metal. With his founding of Elektriska Svetsnings-Aktiebolaget (ESAB), Kjellberg spearheaded more than a century of technological innovation.

ESAB reflects both a rich heritage of design leadership and the historic union of several welding industry leaders. In 1989, Alloy Rods Corporation, L-TEC Welding and Cutting Systems, All-State Welding Products, ESAB Automation, and ESAB Welding Products merged to create a powerful welding alliance. Together, our welding and fabrication portfolio has more than 300 years of experience and is a most-trusted brand for personal and industrial customers around the world.

Dramatic growth and diversification.

Entering the new millennium, ESAB was poised for significant expansion, which it successfully achieved through organic growth and complementary acquisitions. And our company continues to grow with successful acquisitions including Ohio Medical and Swift-Cut Automation to strengthen offerings in our gas control and fabrication technology portfolios.

At the beginning of 2012, Colfax Corporation, one of the world’s leading diversified industrial manufacturing companies, acquired ESAB. For 10 years, ESAB and Colfax united around our shared drive for endless improvement and our commitment to customer-led design and decision-making.

What fabricators needed, we created – safely, sustainably, and with uncompromising standards. Throughout our entire history, including our alliance with Victor Technologies in 2014 and GCE in 2018, we have designed for our customers the most complete line of products and solutions for virtually every fabrication technology, welding, and cutting process, as well as specialty gas control products and solutions for industrial and healthcare applications.

Our transformation.

esab | Creating better together

In 2022, ESAB became an independent, publicly traded company, as part of a separation from Colfax Corporation. As ESAB Corporation, we seek to strengthen our position as global pioneers in world-class manufacturing technology – a reputation we’ve strived to achieve and sustain since our founding. Today, with 9,000 employees located across 47 countries, ESAB brands have been innovating new technologies, reaching new milestones, and writing the history of welding for more than a century. And our company continues to grow with successful acquisitions including Ohio Medical and Swift-Cut Automation to strengthen offerings in our gas control and fabrication technology portfolios.

Adopting the proven principles of continuous improvement, we utilize ESAB Business Excellence (EBX) as our operating model, based on the Danaher Business System. EBX is fueled by our core values and is the foundation of our approach to business, and its implementation has set the stage for rapid growth.

While continuing to build a global team as diverse and talented as those we serve – and with relentless accountability for positive results to ourselves, our customers, and the communities in which we operate – we aim to become a $4 billion enterprise and expand into adjacent industrial technology segments over the next several years.

As our founder Oscar Kjellberg shaped the history of welding, ESAB is eager to shape the future of our industry.

Our bright future.

As a premier leader in fabrication and specialty gas control technology, ESAB Corporation is focused on compounding shareholder value through relentlessly focusing on talent, embracing EBX with continuous improvement, and investing in acquisitions and innovations that improve and expand our company.

Guided by our purpose of Shaping the world we imagine, ESAB Corporation will continue to drive innovation for the future of fabrication technology and specialty gas solutions to serve as a paradigm for what the future holds for these industries and the industries they serve.

Meet our leadership team.

Today, our leadership team continues to embrace the ESAB Business System to propel our businesses forward and seek new strategic opportunities for growth.