Our History
Modern Systems Management Ltd. was incorporated in 1978 to serve as an independent field office for Barber-Colman, and we have represented that same factory and its successors to this day.
Early Years: Barber-Colman & Robertshaw
Howard D. Colman was an inventor who began his career in the textile industry.
Aided by a $100.00 loan from W.A. Barber he invented a hand knotter for textile
mill spool operators. By 1901 they were being turned out at the rate of 500 per
month in the Rockford factory which was founded a year earlier. One hundred years
later, eighty-five per cent of all cotton weaving mills in the United States have
installations of Barber-Colman machinery. Over the past century Barber-Colman
entered into such diverse fields of manufacturing as products for automobiles,
aviation, machine tool, temperature control, plastic molding and industrial
instrumentation.
In 1978, when Modern Systems became a Barber-Colman factory field office, the
commercial controls industry recognized Barber-Colman as being one of the "Big 5".
At that time the world's largest temperature controls manufacturers were Honeywell,
Johnsons, Powers, Barber-Colman and Robertshaw. Since that time HCL and JCL have
remained intact while Powers became Siemens and Barber-Colman merged with Robertshaw.
From Siebe to Invensys
In 1986 Britain's Siebe Plc purchased Robertshaw and the following year purchased two
more U.S. companies, Ranco and Barber-Colman. The Ranco and Barber-Colman acquisitions
pushed Siebe's turnover past the £1 billion mark in 1988. Another significant
acquisition came in 1992, with the purchase of the Foxboro Company, a world leading
process controls automation company. Between 1992 and 1996 Siebe would conclude an
impressive number of acquisitions, nearing £2.6 billion in revenues.
Invensys Building Systems, formerly Siebe Environmental Controls, manufactured
temperature control products and intelligent automation systems for commercial,
industrial, and institutional buildings in North America and around the world.
With over 200 years of Barber-Colman Environmental Controls and Robertshaw Control
Systems expertise, Invensys Building Systems was a leader in the HVAC industry and
carried one of the largest selections of building controls in the world. These products
were marketed by a global group of over 500 sales offices to ensure worldwide availability.
Today: Schneider Electric
Our factory began its second century of operation with a new owner. TAC has more than
5,000 employees worldwide with partners and branches in 80 countries. TAC's parent company,
Schneider Electric, is the world leader in automation and electricity management,
with 112,000 employees worldwide and operations in 190 countries.
At the end of the day, we have represented the same factory for the past four decades.