Hexagon, parent company of Leica Geosystems, celebrates 100 years of innovation

The company "Heinrich Wild, Werkstätte für Feinmechanik und Optik," the forerunner of today's Leica Geosystems, is celebrating its centennial anniversary. Founded in Heerbrugg on April 26, 1921, the company's history is characterized by important, technical innovations and many changes, but precisely because of that eventful history, Leica Geosystems AG has now become an important part of the Hexagon technology group.

The innovation factory in Heerbrugg still symbolizes the start of Leica Geosystems' success story. That is why the company is proudly celebrating "100 years of innovation in Heerbrugg" with a series of publications and events around the world. In the Benelux, Leica Geosystems organizes a year-round photo contest on four themes: history, surveying, machine control and vertical construction. On the website of Hexagon is more information about the photo contest. 

Over the past 100 years, the Heerbrugg location has continued to develop thanks to the engineering and production of new sensor technology, software and equipment, but also the global organization has experienced strong growth.

The exciting history of Leica Geosystems shows extraordinary achievements and remarkable developments. From challenging beginnings-a joint initiative of Heinrich Wild (the inventor), Jacob Schmidheiny (the financier) and Robert Helbling (the user)-to countless product innovations for surveyors and related customer groups around the world. Heinrich Wild described this unstoppable drive for innovation in the 1930s as, "The greatest incentive and at the same time the greatest encouragement is competition for yourself."

Innovations have always been successfully responded to changes in the marketplace over the past 100 years. The goal has been and remains the accurate recording of the world. Nowadays especially also to be able to work with it in the digital world. Land surveying, however, is and remains the core of the business. 100 years of passion for surveying demonstrates Leica's ability to provide accurate and reliable instruments, advanced software and trusted services to those who want to shape the future of the world. Learn more about our surveying solutions at: https://leica-geosystems.com/nl-be/industries/pure-surveying.

All innovations - from the evolution of theodolites to total stations and from the development of laser scanners to handheld equipment for practical everyday use - were aimed at increasing productivity, improving workflows and delivering valuable products.

"As contemporary witnesses, we ourselves were able to experience and shape part of the company's history," emphasizes Thomas Harring, CEO of Leica Geosystems and President of Hexagon's Geosystems Division, "Especially in high-tech companies, current successes are always based on the achievements of predecessors. This is one of the reasons why we can honor many unforgettable people and moments this year. We would like to thank not only our employees and our suppliers, but also the many partners in the market, in science, politics and in government, who accompanied us on our path and shaped the future with us. But we would especially like to thank our customers, who have trusted us for 100 years and encourage us time and again to grow together with them and shape technological change."