Yorkshire firm celebrates 50 years in business
Some of the Pulsar Fiftieth team celebrating their 50th anniversary.
PULSAR Instruments plc (UK) is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Since its inception as a wholly engineer-led concern in Silicon Valley, California in 1969, Pulsar Instruments has represented the gold standard for noise measurement and has contributed significantly to a change in the way noise, and in particular noise at work, is currently monitored, helping protect worker’s hearing and improving the quality of their environment.
The original design group was responsible for a number of world firsts and key innovations in the field of noise measurement including being the first company to display the maximum sound exposure time allowed on a coloured scale as well as the actual sound level – a revolutionary idea at the time but now relied upon by Health and Safety professionals around the world and since replicated by all of their competitors. It also pioneered the use of integrated circuitry in place of discrete transistors and fitted it all into a beautiful moulded case. It was also one of the first companies to include a quasi-rms circuit to meet the then standard of IEC 123 and the original Pulsar Acoustic Calibrator was the most copied instrument in the field.
In common with most sound level meter manufacturers in the early 1970's, the company owners wildly over-estimated the market size and so designed their meters for mass production. It soon became clear that Silicon Valley was not the ideal location for such a very specialised product, especially as Asia and Europe were the largest markets, and so the whole operation was transferred to the UK.
Based for the last 42 years in Yorkshire, the company sells their products to more than 50 countries and has forged relationships with some of the biggest brands in the industrial, entertainment, transport and construction industries.
“Our innovative technology and strong desire to expand our business globally have certainly been key factors but the real foundation of our success lies in the long-term relationships we have established with Health and Safety professionals, Safety Consultants and Company owners”, said Simon Rehill, General Manager for Pulsar Instruments plc. “We have always existed not only as a vendor of noise measurement products but as a company with a strong commitment towards continuous research and development to benefit the industries we serve”.
“It’s great to look back and see how far Pulsar Instruments has come from our early days”, added Simon. “We have introduced many new products in the last 50 years from the very basic to the highly innovative. They have all contributed to a change in the way noise at work is now being monitored.”
“From the start, we have always worked closely with customers and listened to their needs. And, to this day, we have remained faithful to our original commitment to them which was to produce easy to use, durable and reliable instrumentation”.
The company is expected to increase its portfolio of noise measurement products in coming years in order to meet its growth objectives.
Simon added: “We are proud to be a UK company with a very strong global presence, the key drivers to our success have been our customer loyalty and our in-house team of highly skilled and talented individuals who are committed and hard-working”. He added further: “The fact that Pulsar Instruments is a manufacturing company with 50 years of successful history speaks for itself. We are stronger than ever - still growing, innovating and capturing market shares around the world despite the current uncertainty. There are many good reasons to be excited about the future and we are looking forward to the next 50 years!”
