News & Press Releases

coatmaster celebrates anniversary

It all started 10 years ago with a small observation: thick coatings feel warm and thin coatings feel cold. We transferred this principle of nature to technology. The human sense of touch became a technical solution that can measure coating thickness without contact – with high precision and reliability.
What started small has now become an indispensable tool in industry. More than 1000 customers worldwide rely on our solutions, and the number is growing every day.

Here is a brief summary of how our journey together has been so far:

2011 – Winterthur Instruments founded on January 13 by Andor Bariska and Prof. Dr. Nils A. Reinke

First prototype was developed in cooperation with large Swiss industrial companies such as Sulzer, ABB and Oerlikon and with the participation of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW).

The prototype was based on the ATO (Advanced Thermal Optics) process. The technology has been patented worldwide.

A first business plan was elaborated and first collaborations with leading manufacturers were established to adapt the technology to the needs of the market.

2012 – Business Plan Awards

The technology was soon recognized by many industry experts with awards and prizes. With over 20 national and international awards to the date, among which the contribution to environmental protection, sustainability and Industry 4.0 is valued.

2013 – Office in Switzerland

First official company headquarters with first employees, own development department and production area opened its doors in Technopark Winterthur.

Soon the space in Technopark Winterthur became too small. Today, the company employs more than 30 people at three locations on over 1000 square meters of business, development, and production areas.

2014 – First customers in the industry

More than 5 years passed from the first idea, through a working prototype to an industrial-ready product. The shining eyes of our customers and grateful feedbacks are the best rewards for the years of hard work.

Among the first customers are the world’s top 3 paint manufacturers.

Today, our customers use non-contact coating thickness measurement as a standard control in their production line to secure their coating processes and save coating material. This is not only sustainable, but also makes our customers more economically competitive.

2015 – Distribution partnerships

Thanks to the efforts of our worldwide distributors, shortly after the product launch in German-speaking countries, companies all over the world were already using our technology.

2016 – 1 million+ revenue

Reaching this number is generally considered an important stage for start-up companies. However, even more important for us are the sustainable benefits that early process control brings to our customers.

2017 – Office in Germany

Our office in Gottmadingen with logistics and service area facilitates cooperation with our customers in the EU. This reduces costly customs formalities and brings us closer to our customers.

2018 – Launch coatmaster Flex

Automated coating thickness measurement is not the optimal solution for all companies. Since coatmaster was founded, customers from all areas of the coating industry have approached us with the request for a handheld measuring device. A missing component for the development of the handheld device comes from the company coatchecker, which we have acquired in 2018.

2019 – Rebranding coatmaster AG

Following our growing international focus, we decided to rename our company from Winterthur Instruments to coatmaster. Along with the renaming came our new company mascot, an owl called Heidi, whom we have learned to love.

2020 – Launch coatmaster 3D

Once again, a unique innovation on the market with the 3D coating thickness measurement technology, which makes it possible to measure coating thickness not only at single points, but over extended areas and complex shapes. This makes our technology the digital eye of the coating industry and allows automated coating processes.

In the same year, we opened our office in Kyiv to better support customers and distributors in Eastern Europe.

2021 – 1000+ happy customers

As of this year, coatmaster technology is being used at more than 1000 facilities worldwide and is beginning to transform an entire industry. We are looking forward to seeing where our journey together will take us!

Andor Bariska, Prof. Dr. Nils A. Reinke
Co-CEOs and Founders

CONTACT

If you have any questions, please contact:

coatmaster AG
Marketing & PR
Flugplatzstrasse 4
CH-8404 Winterthur
E: [email protected]
T: +41 52 212 02 77