ABOUT maxon
A view of maxon’s headquarters in Switzerland: idyllically situated on the outskirts of Sachseln, with Lake Sarnen on the left.
We are maxon
maxon’s story began in Switzerland in 1961 with eight employees. The company soon invested in its first premises and a small production facility of its own. Today, 3,200 people work for maxon.
Every journey has a beginning, and maxon’s began with an order from the authorities. The German company Braun operated a sales subsidiary in Switzerland. In the 1950s, the Swiss authorities approached Braun with an ultimatum: if the company wanted to distribute its products in Switzerland, it would also have to operate a pro- duction facility here. Ideally, this facility was to be established in an economically disadvantaged re- gion of the country. The Braun family complied, choosing the can- ton of Obwalden in the heart of Switzerland. Inte- relectric AG, later renamed maxon, was founded in 1961 with eight employees. Production began
soon afterwards, initially with shaving foils for Braun electric shavers. Then the future of the young company was sud- denly at stake. In 1967, Braun was sold to the Amer- ican Gillette Company. Gillette wanted to manu- facture the shaving foils itself, but granted maxon a transition period. The ironless winding A new idea was needed, and maxon’s pioneering era began. The management team at the time saw a fu- ture in manufacturing small, precise electric motors. Following a period of research, an entire range of DC motors was developed in a remarkably short time.
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maxon insights # 1
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