Products

Employment

Timeline

1930s

Dr. Arnold O. Beckman invents the "acidimeter," and establishes National Technical Laboratories in Pasadena, California.

Acidimeter

Dr. Arnold O. Beckman leaves his post at California Institute of Technology to devote full time to his growing business.
Company introduces the ultraviolet photoelectric Beckman DU® spectrophotometer to automate chemical analysis.
Dr. Beckman patents the Helipot® precision potentiometer and produces it for the war effort under the company name, Helipot Corporation.
A new company, Arnold O. Beckman, Inc., is established to produce oxygen analyzers.

Company changes name to "Beckman Instruments, Inc."
Acquires ten companies, including Berkeley Scientific Corporation and Specialized Instruments Corporation (Spinco).
First public stock offering at $12.50 per share on the New York Curb Exchange.
First international subsidiary established in Munich, Germany.
Company moves to new facility in Fullerton, California.
Establishes Shockley Semiconductor Laboratories in Palo Alto, California — considered to be the genesis of Silicon Valley.

Beckman as young scientist (sitting)

Establishes subsidiaries in Europe, South Africa and Latin America.
Creates first analytical instrument U.S. Direct Sales and Service force.
Dr. Arnold O. Beckman elected chairman of the board and chief executive officer; Dr. William F. Ballhaus elected president in 1965.
Acquires seven more companies, including Offner Electronics, Inc., Sharp Laboratories and General Instruments Company.
Opens manufacturing plant in Porterville, California.
Glucose Analyzer to automate patient blood sugar measurement is invented.
Forms Clinical Instruments Operation to develop and manufacture diagnostic products.

Establishes subsidiaries in Asia, and adds more in key European countries.
Aligns operations into worldwide business groups: Process Instruments and Controls, Analytical Instruments and Electro-Products.
Acquires three scientific companies, including Altex Scientific, Inc.
Raises $52 million through additional public stock sale.
Opens new plants in Irvine, California for Scientific Instruments Division; and in Brea, California for Clinical Instruments Division.
Introduces ASTRA (Automated STAT Routine Analyzer) to provide hospitals with an automated system for the seven most common clinical tests.

Merges with SmithKline Corporation in 1982 to create SmithKline Beckman. Beckman Instruments, Inc. becomes subsidiary of the global healthcare corporation.
Dr. Arnold O. Beckman elected vice-chairman of SmithKline Beckman; Louis T. Rosso becomes president and chief operating officer of Beckman Instruments, Inc.
Beckman industrial businesses sold to "Emerson Electric Company" for $196 million.
Beckman at first partially, then fully, spun off in 1989 from SmithKline. Trades on New York Stock Exchange under symbol BEC.
Louis T. Rosso becomes chairman, president and chief executive officer.
During the decade, the company introduces major clinical products, including: Auto ICS™ immunochemistry system, System E4A™ electrolyte analyzer, ARRAY® protein system, Paragon® electrophoresis system and the SYNCHRON CX®3, 4 and 5 clinical systems.
Significant bioresearch products launched, including: DU®50, 60 and 70 spectrophotometers, Biomek® 1000 automated laboratory workstation, System 6300 Amino Acid analyzer, System 1 DNA synthesizer, TL-100 Benchtop and Optima™ Floor ultracentrifuges, P/ACE™ Series capillary electrophoresis systems and System Gold® HPLC line.

Beckman redirects strategy — focuses on diagnostics, centrifugation and biotechnology.
John P. Wareham named president and chief operating officer.
Beckman presence established on the Internet.
Company is certified to ISO 9000 Quality Standards.
Annual sales reach $1 billion.
Company launches key new products, including: SYNCHRON CX®7, CX®9 ALX, and LX™ 20 clinical systems, IMMAGE® immunochemistry system, SAGIAN™ Core System, Avanti® high performance centrifuges, Oligo Series 1000 DNA synthesizer, FlexSure® HP H. pylori test and Hybritech® free PSA prostate cancer test.
Beckman acquires Genomyx, Inc., Sagian, Inc. and the Access® product line from Sanofi Diagnostics Pasteur.

Coulter Counter

Wallace Coulter invents the "Coulter Principle," an electronic, automated way of counting and measuring microscopic particles.

Wallace and Joseph Coulter design and introduce the COULTER COUNTER® Model A, the first automated blood cell counter.
The brothers found Coulter Electronics, Inc. and Coulter Sales Corporation in Chicago, Illinois.

Company relocates operations from Chicago, Illinois to Hialeah, Florida.
Coultronics, France is established.
Company opens Coulter Diagnostics.
Coulter introduces COULTER COUNTER® Model S, first automated hematology instrument.

COULTER COUNTER® Model S-Plus and Model Z Series introduced.
Coulter acquires Curtin Scientific/Matheson Scientific, a distributor of laboratory supplies (resold in 1984).

Coulter brothers

Coulter introduces COULTER COUNTER® S-Plus II, the first two-part differential hematology system; COULTER COUNTER® Model T series, a fully automated hematology system requiring no routine maintenance; and the COULTER® STKR™ , five-part differential analyzer, the industry’s first fully automated, walkaway sample handling system.
Creates revolutionary technology, VCS (Volume, Conductivity and Size), allowing white blood cells to be studied in their "near native" state.
Introduces COULTER® epics® Profile II and later COULTER® epics® Elite, significant advancements in flow cytometry for research and clinical applications.
Company releases COULTER® STKS™for the hematology market.

Enters into an agreement with Instrumentation Laboratory S.p.A. to distribute coagulation and blood gas systems.
Company introduces COULTER® MD™, ONYX™ and MAXM™ hematology systems.
Company forms Coulter Pharmaceuticals to develop monoclonal antibody-based cancer therapies for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other cancers.
Relocates headquarters to Coulter Technology Center in Miami, FL.
Acquires Immunotech S.A. to expand monoclonal and other products.
Installs first U.S. complete laboratory automation systems at Quest Diagnostics.
Releases COULTER® Gen· S™ hematology system with automated reticulocytes for mid- to high-volume labs and COULTER® A^c·T™ , economical hematology analyzers.
Coulter Corporation acquired by Beckman Instruments, Inc., Wallace Coulter and family relinquish management of the company.

Beckman and Coulter

April 4, 1998 — New name approved by stockholders at annual meeting
Louis T. Rosso retires. John P. Wareham named chairman, president and chief executive officer.
First "Beckman Coulter" hematology products introduced: A^c·T diff²™ and COULTER® HmX hematology systems.
Beckman Coulter introduces CEQ™ 2000 DNA Analysis Systems as a reentry into the genetic analysis market and revitalizes F ® Series of pH meters.
Jack Wareham retires. Scott Garrett named Chief Executive Officer.

Today Beckman Coulter is a leading manufacturer of instrument systems, chemistries and supplies that simplify and automate laboratory processes. At the forefront of medical discovery, in clinical research and through the often life-saving process of clinical diagnostics, Beckman Coulter's 200,000 installed systems provide essential biomedical intelligence to enhance health care around the world. For 2002, the company reported annual sales of $2.06 billion with 62 percent of this amount generated by recurring revenue from supplies, test kits and services.