''Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget'' (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

translation: General Swedish Electrical Limited Company;

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

abbreviation: ASEA) was a

industrial company.

History

ASEA was founded in 1883 by Ludvig Fredholm in

Västerås Västerås () is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 158,653, over 100,000 mo ...

as a manufacturer of electrical light and generators. After merging with Wenström's & Granström's Electrical Power Company (''Wenströms & Granströms Elektriska Kraftbolag'') the name was changed to ''Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget'', literally the "General Swedish Electrical Limited Company", or ''ASEA'' for short. In 1987, it announced a merger with the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

company

Brown, Boveri & Cie Brown, Boveri & Cie. (Brown, Boveri & Company; BBC) was a Swiss group of electrical engineering companies. It was founded in Baden bei Zürich, in 1891 by Charles Eugene Lancelot Brown and Walter Boveri who worked at the Maschinenfabrik Oer ...

(BBC) to form

ABB ABB Group is a Swedish-Swiss multinational electrical engineering corporation. Incorporated in Switzerland as ABB Ltd., and headquartered in Zurich, it is dual-listed on the Nasdaq Nordic exchange in Stockholm, Sweden, and the SIX Swiss Excha ...

. The merge took effect on 1 January 1988.ASEA-BBC merger ''

Modern Railways ''Modern Railways'' is a monthly British magazine covering the rail transport industry, which was published by Ian Allan until March 2012 and Key Publishing since then. It has been published since 1962. The magazine was based originally in Shep ...

'' issue 472 January 1988 page 34 After this merger, ABB acquired several companies, including the power transmission and distribution operations of the

Westinghouse Electric Corporation The Westinghouse Electric Corporation was an American manufacturing company founded in 1886 by George Westinghouse and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was originally named "Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company" and was ...

and the Combustion Engineering Group. *1889 – the partner

Jonas Wenström Jonas Wenström (4 August 1855 in Hällefors – 22 December 1893 in Västerås) was a Swedish engineer and inventor, who in 1890 received a Swedish patent on the same three-phase system independently developed by Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky ...

creates

3-phase Three-phase electric power (abbreviated 3ϕ) is a common type of alternating current (AC) used in electricity generation, transmission, and distribution. It is a type of polyphase system employing three wires (or four including an optional neut ...

d generators, motors and transformers. *1933 – The company removes the

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...

from its logo, due to the symbol's association with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. *1953 – ASEA creates the first

industrial diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of electricity, and insol ...

. *1954 –

HVDC Gotland The HVDC Gotland, on the Swedish east coast, was the first fully commercial static plant for high-voltage direct current transmission (HVDC) in the world. Gotland 1 The first HVDC Gotland link (Gotland 1) went into service in 1954. It could t ...

project, first static high-voltage DC system *1960s – ASEA builds nine of 12 nuclear plants in Sweden. *1968 – ASEA's

elevator An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems suc ...

business gets acquired by Kone *1974 –

Industrial robot An industrial robot is a robot system used for manufacturing. Industrial robots are automated, programmable and capable of movement on three or more axes. Typical applications of robots include robot welding, welding, painting, assembly, Circu ...

s are introduced by ASEA *1987 – Acquires Finnish Oy Strömberg Ab *1988 – Merges with

, Asea Cylinda laundry appliances branch bought by Finnish furniture maker Asko, renamed Asko ASEA.

Business management

CEOs

*1883–1891 – Ludvig Fredholm *1891–1903 – Göran Wenström *1903–1933 –

Sigfrid Edström Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...

*1934–1942 – Arthur Lindén *1942–1949 – Thorsten Ericson *1949–1961 – Åke Vrethem *1961–1976 –

Curt Nicolin Curt René Nicolin (10 March 1921 – 8 September 2006) was a Swedish businessman. He served as the chairman of ASEA and the Swedish Employers Association. Early life Nicolin was born on 10 March 1921 in Stockholm, Sweden, the son of Felix Nicol ...

*1976–1980 – Torsten L. Lindström *1980–1988 –

Percy Barnevik Percy Nils Barnevik HonFREng (born 13 February 1941) is a Swedish business executive, best known as CEO and later Chairman of ABB 1988–2002, and for being the centre of a giant pension dispute that shook Sweden in 2003. He is the co-founder o ...

Chairman of the Board

*1891–1891 – Ludvig Fredholm *1892–1909 – Oscar Fredrik Wijkman *1910–1914 –

Oscar Wallenberg The Wallenberg family is a prominent Swedish family of bankers, industrialists, politicians, bureaucrats and diplomats, present in most large Swedish industrial groups, including EQT AB, Ericsson, Electrolux, ABB, SAS Group, SKF, Atlas Copco, Saa ...

*1914–1933 – Sten Ankarcrona *1934–1949 –

*1949–1956 – Thorsten Ericson *1956–1976 – Marcus Wallenberg *1976–1991 –

History

Business management

CEOs

Chairman of the Board

See also

References

Further reading