It all started with an invention.

Piab´s founder Sven Tell and his love for the mathematical formula pi led to the development of the unique drawing compass. This also prompted the company name “Pi” and “AB” which is the Swedish word for Incorporated (Inc.). This was back in 1951 and Piab has been coming up with new inventions throughout the decades since.

By 1968, Sven´s son Peter Tell, had founded Piab´s vacuum division, which formed the basis for today´s company. He invented the first vacuum product, the PmS-Pistol. Piab´s first multistage vacuum ejector laid the foundation for a wide range of vacuum products that were to follow in the 1970s. With this new technology, Piab began expanding beyond Sweden, eventually becoming a global company with distributors and subsidiaries worldwide.

Other products like vacuum pumps, suction cups and vacuum conveyors, were added to the product line in subsequent decades and in recent years, multiple acquisitions have helped to expand the offering even further. Today, Piab offers ergonomic handling and robotic gripping solutions which complement the company’s traditional vacuum automation and vacuum conveying solutions.

Piab has registered more than 65 patents over the years and the pace of innovation is continuously increasing along with the demand for automated solutions. As Piab takes the lead in the industry, research and development is as important as ever, and we will continue to provide our customers with progressive gripping, lifting and moving solutions that help them evolve. 

Peter Tell and his family sold Piab in 2006, and today Piab is fully owned by Patricia Industries, part of Investor AB. The company still very much feels like a family. In fact, it is the familial feel alongside the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship that remain the heart of the company. Piab will always continue to follow its own inner compass.

The unique drawing compass from 1951.