Littelfuse

#2633

Rank

$5.08B

Marketcap

United States

Country

Leadership team

Mr. David W. Heinzmann (Pres, CEO & Director)

Ms. Meenal Anil Sethna (Exec. VP & CFO)

Mr. Ryan K. Stafford Esq. (Exec. VP of Mergers and Acquisitions, Chief Legal Officer & Corp. Sec.)

Products/ Services

Electronics, Manufacturing

Number of Employees

1,000 - 20,000

Headquarters

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Established

1927

Company Registration

SEC CIK number: 0000889331

Net Income

100M - 500M

Revenue

Above - 1B

Traded as

LFUS

Social Media

URL

https://www.littelfuse.com

Overview

Location

Recognition and Award

References

Summary

Littelfuse, Inc. manufactures and sells circuit protection, power control, and sensing products in the Asia-Pacific, the Americas, and Europe. The company's Electronics segment offers fuses and fuse accessories, positive temperature coefficient resettable fuses, polymer electrostatic discharge suppressors, varistors, reed switch based magnetic sensing products, and gas discharge tubes; and discrete transient voltage suppressor (TVS) diodes, TVS diode arrays, protection and switching thyristors, metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors and diodes, and insulated gate bipolar transistors. This segment serves industrial motor drives and power conversion, automotive electronics, electric vehicle and related infrastructure, power supplies, data centers, telecommunications, medical devices, alternative energy, building and home automation, appliances, and mobile electronics markets. Its Transportation segment provides blade, resettable, and high-current and high-voltage fuses, as well as battery cable protectors for hybrid and electric vehicles; fuses, switches, relays, circuit breakers, and power distribution modules for the commercial vehicles; and sensor products. This segment serves original equipment manufacturers, Tier-I suppliers, and parts distributors in the passenger car, heavy duty truck, off-road vehicles, material handling, agricultural, construction, and other commercial vehicle end markets. The company's Industrial segment offers industrial fuses, protection relays, contactors, transformers, and temperature sensors for use in renewable energy and energy storage systems, electric vehicle infrastructure, HVAC systems, industrial safety, non-residential construction, MRO, mining, and industrial automation. It sells its products through distributors, direct sales force, and manufacturers' representatives. Littelfuse, Inc. was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

History

Early history

Edward V. Sundt founded Littelfuse in 1927 in Chicago Illinois as Littelfuse Laboratories. Prior to founding Littelfuse, Sundt had worked for General Electric and Stewart-Warner, where he found diagnostic equipment frequently experienced electrical failure. Sundt developed Littelfuse's first product, a small protective fuse, to regulate current in diagnostic equipment and prevent electrical failure. When the US government refused Sundt a trademark for Little fuse on the grounds that the words were too common, Sundt compromised by reversing the l and the e to form Littelfuse.Littelfuse was incorporated and renamed Littelfuse, Inc. in 1938.Littelfuse became a public company in 1962. The company retained founder Edward V. Sundt as the chairman of its board. In 1963, Littelfuse moved its headquarters from Chicago to Des Plaines, Illinois. Sundt retired in 1965 and was succeeded by Thomas Blake. Tracor purchased the company in 1968. Blake was made president of Littelfuse, which operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Tracor.

1970–1991

The company expanded its manufacturing base in the 1970s with new factories opening in Watseka, Illinois and Piedras Negras, Mexico. In 1974, the company also introduced Littelites, electronic indicator lights used in industrial and office machinery, household appliances and computers.In 1976, Littelfuse developed Autofuse, which was the first blade-type fuse used in automobiles. The Autofuse brand was counterfeited heavily and in 1983 the company obtained an exclusionary order from the United States International Trade Commission, which barred the importation of counterfeit blade-type fuses.In 1987, Westmark Systems purchased Tracor and its Littelfuse subsidiary in leveraged buyout. Tracor filed for bankruptcy in 1991 and spun off Littelfuse.

Modern history

Littelfuse reincorporated in November 1991 with Howard Witt as its president and CEO. Witt had worked for Littelfuse since 1979 and had been president and CEO of Littelfuse since February 1990, when the company was still owned by Tracor. In 1991, Littelfuse offered its second IPO in company history. The company's profits rose throughout the 1990s and the company expanded its operations in Europe and Asia. Littelfuse also expanded into South America with a distribution and engineering center in São Paulo, Brazil.Gordon Hunter replaced Witt as president and CEO of Littelfuse at the end of 2004. In 2008, Littelfuse restructured its manufacturing operations, closing 16 small manufacturing plants and opening 6 new, larger plants. The company moved its headquarters from Des Plaines, Illinois, to Chicago, Illinois, the same year.The company was recognized as Product of the Year by Consulting-Specifying Engineer in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Arrow Electronics recognized Littelfuse with an award for Supplier Excellence in 2011. The company received TTI Supplier's Excellence Award in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013. Littelfuse received the Chicago Innovation Award in 2012. In 2013, the company received Processing Magazine's Breakthrough Product of the Year. Littelfuse was recognized as one of the Best Places to Work in Illinois in 2012, 2013 and 2014.The company announced in November 2016 that COO Dave Heinzmann would succeed Hunter as president and CEO in January 2017.

Mission

“Our mission through the years has been to develop innovative circuit protection solutions that meet the unique needs of our customers, while maintaining the highest business standards. This philosophy has served us well and will continue to drive our growth in the years ahead,” said Hunter. “We owe our success to our talented associates, whose expertise, dedication and support have helped to grow the company from our founder’s first sale for $1.10 to a global competitor with revenues of $665 million in 2011.”

Vision

Littelfuse's vision is to be the global leader in circuit protection, power control and sensing solutions, dedicated to improving the performance of our customers.

Key Team

Ms. Maggie Chu (Sr. VP & Chief HR Officer)

Mr. Deepak Nayar (Sr. VP & GM of Electronics Bus.)

Mr. Jeffrey G. Gorski (Chief Accounting Officer & Corp. Controller)

Ms. Trisha Lee Tuntland (Head of Investor Relations)

Steve Schrier (Head of Corp. Communications)

Mr. Matthew J. Cole (Sr. VP of eMobility & Corp. Strategy)

Mr. Alexander Conrad (Sr. VP & GM of Passenger Vehicle Bus.)

Recognition and Awards

Littelfuse consistently receives awards and recognitions for its commitment to sustainability, diversity and innovation. These include the United Nations Global Compact LEAD Award for Sustainable Practices, the NAM Award for Sustainability and the Nordstrom Supplier Diversity award.