Waters Corporation

Waters Division creates business advantages for laboratory-dependent organizations by delivering ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), chromatography columns and chemistry products, mass spectrometry systems, laboratory informatics solutions, and comprehensive service programs to enable significant advancement in healthcare delivery, environmental management, food safety, and water quality. TA Instruments thermal analysis, rheometry and microcalorimetry solutions are used primarily in predicting the suitability of polymers and viscous liquids for various industrial, consumer goods and healthcare products.

Waters Corporation is a publicly traded Analytical Laboratory instrument and software company headquartered in Milford, Massachusetts. The company employs more than 7,800 people, with manufacturing facilities located in Milford, Taunton, Massachusetts; Wexford, Ireland and Wilmslow Cheshire. The company has sites in 35 countries globally including Frankfurt, Singapore, India, Germany and Japan.

1958: Waters took his earnings from the sale of J. L. Waters and, in September, established Waters Associates without a product to sell. The company was founded by James Logan Waters in 1958 and is headquartered in Milford, MA.

1961: The company’s first major breakthrough occurred when John Moore, a chemist at Dow Chemical Company, called for help.

1962: John Moore, a polymer chemist at Dow Chemical in Freeport, Texas, was told about the novel design of the Waters refractometer by his engineering colleagues and called the company to request a custom unit with unusual specifications. While from its start the company had been self-financed, with proceeds from an earlier business sale, Waters opened Waters Associates to external ownership.

1963: Moore convinced upper management in Midland, Michigan, who favoured a much larger firm, to contract with this tiny instrument company, and in January Waters made a $10,000 down payment on royalties for his exclusive license to the GPC technology.

1964: Dow Chemical invests $400,000 in Waters Associates.

1965: The company’s big breakthrough came this year when Waters licensed a refractometer from Dow Chemical for analyzing plastics.

1967: Waters appointed Dimitri D'Arbeloff, then president of Millipore Corporation, to WA's board of directors. The ALC 100, the first Waters LC system, was brought to market.

1968: According to Leslie S. Ettre in a review about Jim Waters, the LC system was formally introduced at the 1968 Pittsburgh Conference.

1969: Dimitri D’Arbeloff, then president of Millipore Corporation, joined the corporation's board of directors.

1970: Not only had Millipore's 1970 investment in WA upheld the fledgling company's entrepreneurial thrust (after the 1970 oil crisis), but Millipore President Dimitri D'Arbeloff's position on WA's board of directors helped to steer the company back to profitability. 

1972: Waters' next big break came when Doctor Helmut Hamberger, chief post-doc for Nobel Laureate Doctor Robert Woodward of Harvard University, sought Jim Waters’ help with the first synthesis of vitamin B12. Waters Associates appointed Frank Zenie president.

1973: Going Public, Merger and continuing recession. WA moved its headquarters from Framingham to Milford, Massachusetts, and made an initial public stock offering on NASDAQ. A publicity photo for Waters Associates' organic synthesis marketing program taken in Robert Burns Woodward’s chromatography lab.

1974: Columns packed with the latter, were introduced in their present form and became the best-selling columns in history.

1977: WA designed equipment modules for each of LC's separate stages and began to equip the modules with microprocessors. The company introduces the first variable-volume autosampler: WISP.

1979: According to the April 1979 issue of INC. magazine, Waters was now "constantly torn between his two most demanding tasks: overseeing production and designing new products." He hired Francis H. Zenie as production vice president. His tenure as President of Waters Associates lasted until this year when Millipore Corporation purchased the company.

1980: The company also developed the first solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridge and a new integrated high-temperature GPC system, known as the Waters 150C. Also this year, WA's sales outside the United States exceeded those from within the country. Waters became chairman and continued in that role until the company merged with Millipore, and was rechristened the Waters Chromatograph Division.

1985: The new division was highly profitable at the time of the merger, but around this year it became clear that the two companies lacked synergy.

1986: WCD launches the first data networking software: ExpertEase.

1993: Millipore decided to reorganize its operation, placed many capital spending plans on hold, and put WCD up for sale. Waters returned to independence under the leadership of Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer Douglas A. Berthiaume.

1994: Under the aegis of Douglas A. Berthiaume, the company began to renew its focus and regain its entrepreneurial spirit with the introduction of Symmetry HPLC columns for the future. An investor group led by WCD's management bought WCD for $360 million, forming the independent Waters Corporation. Millipore, in turn, divested the Waters Division.

1995: Since this year, the company has reported 21 consecutive quarters of double-digit earnings growth and twice effected a two-for-one stock split. Waters had focused aggressively on the HPLC market. Having been sold by Millipore, WCD becomes Waters Corporation and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

1996: Waters partnered with Bio-Rad Laboratories to introduce an integrated proteomics workstation and analysis system, anchored by Waters's industry-leading Q-TOF mass spectrometer, first introduced this year as a tandem quadruple time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Also, Waters morphed from a minor player to a major leader in mass spectrometry by acquiring Micromass Ltd., of Manchester, England.

1997: These systems had been designed for “analytical method flexibility, superior sensitivity, and the information-rich detection required for bioanalysis,” according to the September issue of Chemical Business. Waters entered the mass spectrometry market with the acquisition of Micromass for $176 million.

1998: Waters launched Millennium 32, a 32-bit updated version of Millennium software for Microsoft Windows 95 and NT environments. Net income was $121.88 million, compared to $74.4 million. Net sales peaked at $618.81 million, compared to net sales of $465.47 million in 1997. Thus, Waters celebrated 40 years of innovation in technology and chromatography and entered the ranks of New England’s top 50 publicly held corporations.

1999: In June, Waters entered into an agreement with Mantra Software Corporation to develop and market a NuGenesis Archive software application for Waters Millennium 32 Chromatography. Waters Corporation was named to the Standard & Poors Midcap 400 Index and announced a two-for-one stock split.

2000: The 2000 R&D 100 Award was for XTerra reversed-phase HPLC columns that extended the limits of HPLC performance. Waters announced its second two-for-one stock split. Earnings per diluted share were $0.28 for the quarter, representing a 27 percent increase over those of the first quarter.

2001: Waters reported that in the first quarter sales increased by 17 percent, as measured in local currencies.

2002: James Logan Waters grew up a headstrong and independent child in Lincoln, Nebraska, during the Great Depression. “Once the drought came, everyone suffered,” recalled Waters in an oral history conducted in 2002 by the Chemical Heritage Foundation.

2004: The most recent of these system innovations, introduced this year, has pushed the limits of separation science from high to ultra-performance and was inspired by investigations into materials science.

2006: Waters acquired Vicam, a provider of bioseparation and rapid detection products for improving food safety and quality.

2012: On 11 June, Waters India celebrated its silver jubilee anniversary in India.

2017: In his honour, Waters Corporation established the Jim Waters Society to recognize employees for scientific achievement.

2019: At a ceremony this year, Northeastern University acknowledged Jim with a Pioneer Award for his continued service toward furthering the university’s mission of developing young scientists and contributing to the advancement of STEM education and careers.

2020: In January, Waters acquired Andrew Alliance, an innovative company in speciality laboratory automation technology, including software and robotics. In September, Waters announced Udit Batra, PhD as the company's President and Chief Executive Officer. WCD launched its first personal computer software (known as ExpertEase) and introduced Millennium 2020 Chromatography Software for networked data management.

“Customer success is our mission. Waters creates business advantages for laboratory-dependent organizations by delivering practical and sustainable scientific innovation to enable significant advancements in such areas as healthcare delivery, environmental management, food safety, water quality, consumer products, and high value-added chemicals.”

“Waters Corporation unlocks the potential of science through analytical measurement technology, deep scientific expertise and reliable insights to enhance human health and well-being.”