KEMET Celebrates 100 Years of Innovation Excellence
KEMET Corporation will mark 100 years in business this year with revenues of over $1.3 billion, 16,000 global employees, and 24 manufacturing locations.
History of Industry Leadership In "Making the World A Better, Safer, More Connected Place to Live”
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Feb. 12, 2019 - KEMET Corporation (“KEMET” or the “Company”), a leading global supplier of electronic components, will mark 100 years in business this year. With revenues of over $1.3 billion, KEMET has grown dramatically over the last century with 16,000 global employees and 24 manufacturing locations. In the last fiscal year, the Company has shipped 58 billion components to 138 countries.
KEMET was founded in 1919 by Hugh S. Cooper, a gifted chemist in Cleveland with an interest in rare metals. Working in his garage, he developed a process for producing elemental beryllium on an industrial scale and invented an alloy of beryllium and aluminum that he called “Cooperite.” In 1919, he sold his patents to Union Carbide, which formed KEMET (CHEmical-METallurgical) Laboratories with Cooper as its director.
For many decades, KEMET has played a leading role in driving passive component technology. Today, the Company offers one of the industry’s broadest and most advanced ranges of tantalum, ceramic, film and electrolytic capacitors underpinned by a deep understanding of and expertise in materials science. Through the acquisition of TOKIN, the Company now offers complementary, adjacent, and sensing, actuator and magnetic components and technologies. KEMET engineers, designs, manufactures and provides worldwide products and service that support the latest technologies. Additionally, KEMET components meet the needs of fast-moving market sectors including the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G and the electrification of the powertrain and other systems in automotive.
"Through the innovation and talent of our employees around the world and individuals who have served the Company throughout our history, along with great channel and business partners, we have reached a milestone few companies ever achieve,” said William M. Lowe, Jr., KEMET’s Chief Executive Officer. “KEMET has survived economic and industry cycles, to become a global leader in electronic component technology. Our centennial is an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to our mission: making the world a better, safer, more connected place to live. We look forward to our next century and continuing to develop and manufacture quality products, provide superior service to our customers and value to our shareholders."
KEMET will celebrate its 100-year anniversary throughout 2019 with stories, images and videos of the people, products, innovations and technologies that have transformed the company. The microsite, kemet100.com, will be updated regularly with new information about its rich history. Visitors to the site will have the opportunity to share their memories of KEMET through the years. Participate in the social conversation by including #KEMET100 in posts.
About KEMET
KEMET Electronics Corporation is a leading global supplier of electronic components. We offer our customers the broadest selection of capacitor technologies in the industry, along with an expanding range of electromechanical devices, electromagnetic compatibility solutions and supercapacitors. Our vision is to be the preferred supplier of electronic component solutions for customers demanding the highest standards of quality, delivery and service.
