EAO History.
Fascination HMI. For more than 75 years.
The family-owned company EAO in Olten is rich in tradition and can look back on more than 75 years of company history. On 10 August 1947, the friends Kurt Loosli Senior and René A. Thalmann founded Elektro-Apparatebau Olten, today's EAO AG. 75 years later, the company is one of the world's leading manufacturers of HMI Products and HMI Solutions, counting on around 600 dedicated employees at four production sites and ten sales companies worldwide and a global network of over 50 specialised distributors.
Tradition meets innovation.
In 1947 in the town of Olten, located on the Swiss Plateau, Kurt Loosli Senior and René Thalmann successfully combined typical Swiss values. With precision, innovativeness, and outstanding engineering, the two pioneers developed, in addition to high-voltage rectifiers, static converters and transformers, the first illuminated push button.
This revolutionary new idea soon established itself on the international market. The journey from initially slow-selling, hand-manufactured products to the first fully automated serial production and the establishing of international sales companies still took a few years. In 1958, the second product generation of the 02 series became an international industry standard that is still in place today.
Quality and responsibility are the cornerstones of a successful tradition. Continuous innovation, clear preferences, and powerful motivation are the key factors for developing high-quality products. During the course of our company’s history, we have set many international standards and benchmarks. As a Swiss, family-owned company, we can look back on a 75-year history of success, which has been, and continues to be, characterized by our fascination with the interface between humans and machines. This fascination allows us to manufacture innovative, intuitive, and reliable products. It is people that are always the key focus of our activities. Their needs are our motivation. Our passion is at the heart of our success and our partnerships with leading manufacturers in a variety of industries.
Contact us.
Globally active – with local points of contact.
Contact: Do you have questions about EAO, our products and our solutions? We will be happy to help – after all, we know that working closely with our customers alongside excellent service are key to our success.