Over 100 years of industrial history
Schrader Pacific Advanced Valves’s history was originally that of a family enterprise. August Schrader left his native Hanover (Germany) around 1840 to emigrate to the United States. A mechanic by trade, he opened his first workshop for the turning of brass parts in New York in 1844. He designed brass parts for his New York neighbours, the Goodyear Brothers, as early as 1845, making valves and fittings for air cushions and other rubber products. In 1891, August Schrader turned his attention to bicycles and their new tyres, inventing a bicycle valve (the same as that still used today on many models!) and filed several patents. His son George took over in 1892, and further developed the production of valves for the bicycle and then automotive industries.
In 1895 he registered the “SCHRADER UNIVERSAL” trademark. The year 1898 marked a turning point for the company, with the creation of the valve with its standardized interchangeable core that would definitively ensure the success of the brand.
That same year, a certain Paul-Edouard Dubied, a Swiss manufacturer of knitting machines based in Couvet, decided to create a first subsidiary in Pontarlier in the Doubs department of France. The factory, which would go on to specialize in bar turning and the manufacture of rivets, bolts, keys, and bicycle rack nuts in their millions, was first located in the city centre before moving in 1908 to the current site on Rue de Salins.
At that time, the company’s customers were primarily tyre manufacturers, mainly Michelin, as well as Continental, Hutchinson, Bergougnan, Jouvence, Samson, Le Vulcain and Dunlop. But the company also counted several car manufacturers among its clients, with Peugeot, Les Fils de Peugeot Frères, Panhard et Levassor, Berliet and Zedel, as well as such bicycle and motorbike manufacturers as Terrot, Cycles Griffon, La Française, Cycles La Foudre, La Durandal Schlogel, Rochet and Raleigh.
In 1960, the subsidiary of the Swiss group Dubied was bought out by the American Schrader.
Brief History
| 1898 | Creation of a valves, bolts, rivets and screws manufacturing unit (a subsidiary of a Swiss company) in Pontarlier, with three workers and one foreman, reaching 42 employees by 1905. |
| 1908 | Edouard Dubied & Cie S.A. acquires land along the Rue de Salins and begins construction of the buildings.
Some 100 workers are involved in the construction and begin the manufacturing of bicycle parts and sewing machines. |
| 1914-1918 | 1,600 people working for the wartime industry. |
| 1931 | 530 employees. Diversification of production: refrigerators, the assembly of knitting machines, spark plugs and weapons parts are added to the company’s traditional production lines. Creation of a brass foundry workshop. |
| 1936 | 700 people, a period of strong growth until 1939. |
| 1939-1945 | Compulsory labour for the war effort with 1,100 people, mainly women working 60 hours a week in the manufacture of warheads for rockets and bombs as well as valves for army vehicles. |
| 1946 | Launch of the manufacture of rubber valves for inner tubes |
| 1955 |
Launch of new products such as rubber valves for tubeless tyres. |
| 1960 |
Scovill USA takes over 60% of Dubied France, which then becomes known as Valves et Produits Industriels - Schrader S.A. |
| 1970 | Growth accelerates. Manufacture of rubberized tubeless valves for passenger vehicles. |
| 1980 | Launch of tyre repair parts and the first electronic inflation gauge. |
| 1984 | Schrader Pacific Advanced Valves acquires its French competitor Pingeot-Bardin. Resumption of the manufacture of pressure gauges, notably under “Michelin license”. |
| 1990 | Manufacture of valves and fittings for air conditioning and car injection systems. |
| 1998 |
Schrader S.A becomes part of Tomkins Holding (UK). |
| 1999 |
The Pontarlier site begins the series production of TPMS pressure control valves. |
| 2006 |
Strong increase in the production of valves for pressure sensors in aluminium or rubber Snap-In version, in collaboration with Schrader Electronics and Siemens VDO, mainly for the North American market. |
| 2010 | Tomkins sells Schrader International to Pinafore (Canada). |
| 2012 |
Madison Dearborn Partners (MDP) acquires the Schrader International Group as part of the new increase in production of pressure sensor valves for the European market (new TPMS regulation in Europe). |
| 2014 |
Acquisition of Schrader International Group by the Sensata Technologies Group. The Schrader International Group is the recognized leader on the European and North American markets for the equipping of vehicles in pressure sensors. |
| 2018 |
Acquisition of Schrader France & Altavista by Pacific Group. The brands merge (Schrader Pacific Advanced Valves) to become leader on the markets of valve cores, tubeless valves and air-conditioning tank valves |
| 2021 |
1 billion TPMS valves sold worldwide |