A Family History

From a marine engineering office in imperial Mannheim to a leading global provider of safety solutions in a digitally connected world. Learn about the history of HIMA Paul Hildebrandt GmbH and the milestones spanning four generations of a family business full of passionate safety specialists.

1908

The young engineer Johannes Hildebrandt founds a marine engineering office in Mannheim named Johannes Hildebrandt OHG, selling shipping equipment in Mannheim's harbor.

1929
Paul Hildebrandt

Paul Hildebrandt takes over his father's business and starts producing control panels, pressure and temperature controls, and control and monitoring systems for heavy industry. In 1936, HIMA (Hildebrandt Mannheim) is registered as a business in the city of Mannheim.

1965

Bernhard Philipp, Paul Hildebrandt's son-in-law takes over as the managing director of HIMA. From this point onwards, the company builds upon new transistor technology. In the 1960s, the safety of the chemical industry moves into the foreground. In 1967, HIMA presents the transistor system "Planar P".

1999
Steffen Philipp

Steffen Philipp becomes managing partner. He takes the company into the fourth generation. Under his leadership, HIMA becomes a world's leading global solution provider for safety-related automation.

HIMA is positioned worldwide

YearLocations
1993HIMA Malaysia
2003HIMA Australia
2003HIMA France
2005HIMA Americas
2006HIMA Middle East, Dubai
2006HIMA Shanghai
2007HIMA Italia
2007HIMA Slovakia
2008HIMA Benelux
2010HIMA Middle East, Oman
2011HIMA Asia Pacific, Singapur
2021HIMA Innovation LAB himalaya
2022HIMA Argentina
2022Customer Solutions Center Germany und Singapore
2023HIMA Group acquires Sella Controls
2023HIMA Saudi Arabia
2023HIMA Taiwan

Our journey to becoming a global provider of safety-related automation solutions

YearTechnological milestones
1970World's first hard-wired safety system and world's first TÜV-certified safety system (Planar F)
1986World's first programmable safety controller and world's first TÜV-certified programmable safety system (H50)
1998World's first 2oo4D safety system for maximum availability (HIQuad)
1998World's first safety-related communication via Ethernet and world's first TÜV-tested safety-related Ethernet communication up to SIL 3 (SafeEthernet)
2002World's first TÜV-tested safety controller for distributed automation solutions in the process industry and factory automation up to SIL 3/PL e (HIMatrix)
2008World's first non-stop safety system up to SIL 3 (HIMax).
2008In-house developed engineering, maintenance and diagnostic tools for HIMA safety systems (SILworX)
2009Achilles Level 1 Security Certificate for the HIMax safety system
2013World's first programmable SIL 3 safety system-on-chip (HICore 1)
2017Cyber Security Certificate from TÜV Rheinland and ISAsecure for the SL 1 in accordance with IEC 62443-4-1/2 (HIMax safety system)
2018Extension of the proven 2oo4D technology with the 4th generation of HIQuad safety systems (HIQuad X)
2018Launch of a cross-system platform concept for all HIMA safety controllers (Smart Safety Platform)
2020SILworX engineering tool extended to all HIMA system families to enable digitalization and integration of industry 4.0 features (API, Smart Safety Test)
2022Expansion with PROFINET/PROFIsafe, OPC UA as part of the Independent Open Integration approach.
2023Integration of external plug-ins in SILworX automation projects