SoftSwitching Technologies

About SoftSwitching Technologies

SoftSwitching Technologies, founded in 1995 by Dr. Deepak Divan, specialized in power quality and monitoring products for industrial applications. The company's technology originated from research conducted at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where Dr. Divan's expertise in power electronics laid the groundwork for the firm's offerings. SoftSwitching Technologies developed a portfolio of solutions aimed at mitigating the costly effects of unscheduled downtime in manufacturing.

The company's core business centered on identifying and correcting brief power disruptions known as voltage sags. These power quality issues could cause computerized machinery, precision instruments, and control systems to fail, leading to significant financial losses for its clients. The customer base included Fortune 500 companies in sectors such as semiconductor, automotive, food and beverage, and pharmaceuticals. One of its notable products was the Dynamic Sag Corrector (DySC®), an R&D 100 Award winner, which was available in various ratings to protect equipment ranging from a single industrial controller to an entire production line.

The company's products were designed to be battery-free, offering performance and cost advantages over traditional uninterruptible power supplies. In addition to hardware, SoftSwitching Technologies provided a global, centralized intelligent network system that issued power grid alerts. This allowed manufacturers to monitor power quality events and correlate them with production downtime, streamlining diagnostics. Over its history, the company raised significant private equity, including a $17 million Series C round in 2002 led by GE Capital. A significant milestone occurred on March 12, 2012, when Rockwell Automation acquired the assets of SoftSwitching Technologies, integrating the company into its Control Products & Solutions segment to enhance its plant-wide optimization and power quality solutions.