HISTORY

Today the company is wholly owned and operated by Illinois Tool Works (ITW) and has been positioned under its Test & Measurement Group’s Instron® Division.

Dr. Mario P. Grosso founded CEAST S.p.A. in 1953. Initially, CEAST was involved with the refurbishment of technical instruments supplied to Italy by the USA under the Marshall Plan following World War II. These instruments were key in restarting the Italian Petrochemical Industry that had been destroyed by the war. The companies that CEAST began working with (and with whom today continue to work in their current corporate developments) include Montecatini, Edison, Snia-BPD, Rumianca, and Rhodiatoce, just to name a few. This close contact with his customers permitted Dr. Grosso to appreciate the need for his instruments to meet the performance and function of his customers’ needs. Based on this experience, Dr. Grosso started the development of a new generation of instruments for polymer characterization, research and quality control. For example, Dr. Grosso worked closely with the group of the Nobel-Prize winner, Dr. Natta, at the Politecnico Milano, developing and supplying instruments that were used for the world-rocking first synthesis of polypropylene.

As our presence world-wide continued to grow, it became evident that a physical presence was needed in order to better serve our customers. Thus, in 1988, CEAST opened CEAST USA Ltd., a sales-service-calibration center in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1994, CEAST moved to a new industrial park just outside the city limits of Turin in order to expand operations to meet customer demand and facilitate access to the company. The current production and offices occupy 4000 sqm.

In 2002, CEAST expanded its operative branches in Germany, China and Asia. The CEAST name has become recognized and prestigious all over the world in the field of laboratory instruments during the last 50 years.