Kaba Holding AG is a global security group based in Rümlang

Rümlang

Rümlang is a municipality in the district of Dielsdorf in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland, and belongs to the Glatt Valley . Zürich Airport is partially located in Rümlang.-Geography:...

, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, and employing around 8,000 staff in over 60 countries. They are a publicly-traded company listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange.

History

The company was founded in 1862 in Zurich by Franz Bauer as a locksmith shop and cash register factory. The firm was sold in 1915 to Leo Bodmer, who renamed the company to Bauer AG. In 1934, the inventor Fritz Schori created the first cylinder lock with reversible key. Bauer AG patented the invention and named the lock after the firm's founder Franz Bauer, known in German as 'Kassenbauer' (maker of cash registers) - in short 'Kaba'.

Over the years, the company gradually expanded its portfolio and established itself throughout Europe. In 1995, Bauer Holding AG was renamed Kaba Holding AG and the company's shares were listed on the Zurich stock exchange.

With the takeover of Unican Security Systems Ltd.

Unican Security Systems Ltd.

Unican Security Systems Ltd. was a Canadian-based company created by Aaron Fish in the 1960s and sold in 2000. At its sale , the company had over $800 million in sales annually and was the largest maker of key blanks and key copying machines in the world. Peter Blaikie was a major supporter of the...

 (Montreal) in 2001, Kaba gained a foothold in North America and added the Silca, Ilco and Kaba Mas brands as part of the merger

In 2006, the company acquired the Wah Yuet Group in China, the US company Computerized Security Systems (CSS) with its Saflok and La Gard brands, and the Dutch company H. Cillekens Zn. B.V. In addition, various joint ventures with the Indian Minda Group were entered.

Areas of operation

The Kaba Group produces components and systems for securing and organizing access as well as for recording enterprise and personnel data. The company has four divisions—Access and Data Systems, Key Systems, Industrial Locks, and Door Automation—providing the following groups of products:

• Cylinders
  Cylinder lock
  A cylinder lock is a lock constructed with a cylinder that a locksmith can easily unscrew to facilitate rekeying. The cylinder may contain any of a variety of locking mechanisms, including the pin tumbler lock, the wafer tumbler lock and the disc tumbler lock....
  
   and locks
  Lock (device)
  A lock is a mechanical or electronic fastening device that is released by a physical object or secret information , or combination of more than one of these....
  
  
• Keys
  Key (lock)
  A key is an instrument that is used to operate a lock. A typical key consists of two parts: the blade, which slides into the keyway of the lock and distinguishes between different keys, and the bow, which is left protruding so that torque can be applied by the user. The blade is usually intended to...
  
   and key cutting machines
• Automatic doors
• Industrial doors
• Access management and control systems
• Workforce management
  Workforce management
  Workforce management encompasses all the activities needed to maintain a productive workforce. Sometimes referred to as HRMS systems, or even part of ERP systems...
  
  
• Safe locks
• Safes
• Safe deposit installations
• Lodging products
• Physical access systems
  Physical security
  Physical security describes measures that are designed to deny access to unauthorized personnel from physically accessing a building, facility, resource, or stored information; and guidance on how to design structures to resist potentially hostile acts...
  
  
• Platform screen doors
  Platform screen doors
  Platform screen doors and platform edge doors at train or subway stations screen the platform from the train. They are a relatively new addition to many metro systems around the world, with some platform doors retrofitted rather than installed with the metro system itself. They are widely used in...
  
  
• Identification