Omega Engineering

OMEGA Engineering, Inc.
IndustryInstrumentation
FoundedStamford, Connecticut in 1962
FounderBetty Hollander
Headquarters
Norwalk, Connecticut
,
United States
Key people
Naoto Mizuta, CEO
Productsthermocouples
flow meters
pH meters
electric heaters
data collection
automation devices
Revenue$168 million (2010)
Number of employees
700
ParentArcline Investment Management
Websiteomega.com

OMEGA Engineering is an American instrumentation company headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut,[1] with its main factory in Swedesboro, New Jersey.[2]

It has sales offices in the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, China, Brazil, Singapore, Korea, Japan, and Mexico. Local websites are also available for customers in France, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Netherlands, Australia, India, and Chile.[2] OMEGA does business with the United States Navy, NASA and other industrial corporations.[3]

History

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The company was founded in 1962 by Betty Hollander at her kitchen table while she was raising four children.[4][5] OMEGA began as a thermocouple manufacturer but slowly transitioned to other types of instrumentation. As of 2014, OMEGA manufactures and sells devices that measure everything from temperature to pH.[6] In 2016, as the company moved their headquarters to Norwalk, Connecticut, President Joe Vorih publicly stated that Omega would be "moving from being a traditional industrial sensor company to a wireless technology company.”[7]

Hacking

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In 1996, Tim Lloyd, an 11-year employee of OMEGA and a network administrator within the company, was fired. Three weeks after he was fired,[8] he unleashed a hacking "time bomb" within OMEGA's computer systems, deleting the software that ran all of OMEGA's manufacturing operations at its factory in Bridgeport, New Jersey.[3][9][10] Law enforcement was contacted by Omega executives during the second week of the incident and the U.S. Secret Service found suspicious activity early on, including deliberate data erasure and reformatting of critical files.[8] OMEGA spent nearly $2 million repairing the programs and lost nearly $10 million in revenue, resulting in 80 employee layoffs, though Lloyd's lawyer stated that OMEGA's losses were far smaller.[3][9][10] Tim Lloyd was convicted of computer sabotage and was sentenced to 41 months in Federal prison.[10] The Tim Lloyd hacking case is considered one of the largest employee sabotage cases in United States business history.[9] The case also aired in a Forensic Files episode "Hack Attack", episode 39 of season 8.

Sale to Spectris

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In April 2011, Betty Hollander died, and the company was turned over to her husband Milton Hollander.[4] Later that year, he sold OMEGA Engineering – which had recorded revenue of US$168 million (equivalent to $229 million in 2024) the prior year[11] – to British-based Spectris plc for $475 million (equivalent to $635 million in 2024).[12][11] Then, in March 2017, Spectris was forced to recognize an impairment charge of £115 million (equivalent to £141 million in 2023) with relation to the past acquisition. This charge decreased goodwill and other intangible assets on Spectris' balance sheet. The charge also decreased its 2016 net income.[13]

Sale to Arcline

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On April 19, 2022, Spectris announced the sale of Omega Engineering to US-based Arcline Investment Management for US$525 million (equivalent to $702 million in 2024).[14] This was more than $100 million (equivalent to $104 million in 2024) above the Net Book Value subsequent to the goodwill writeoff that Spectris previously took.[15] Omega Engineering was merged into the Arcline's Dwyer Group, renamed DwyerOmega.

References

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  1. ^ https://www.concord-sots.ct.gov/CONCORD/online?sn=PublicInquiry&eid=9740 [dead link]
  2. ^ a b "OMEGA Engineering Global Contacts". omega.com. OMEGA Engineering. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  3. ^ a b c Gaudin, Sharon. "Case Study of Insider Sabotage: The Tim Lloyd/OMEGA Case" (PDF). craigchamberlain.com. Craig Chamberlain Security Do-er. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  4. ^ a b Lieberman, Sen. Joseph I. (2 May 2011). "Remembering Betty Hollander". Sunlight Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 September 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
  5. ^ "Betty Ruth Hollander". Obituaries. Stamford Advocate. 9 April 2011. Archived from the original on 15 November 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2025.
  6. ^ "OMEGA Website Homepage". omega.com. Omega Engineering. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  7. ^ Soule, Alexander (16 November 2016). "Company makes official Norwalk HQ bringing 120 jobs". The Norwalk Hour. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  8. ^ a b Gaudin, Sharon (27 June 2000). "The Omega files: A true story". CNN. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  9. ^ a b c "Notable Hacks". pbs.org. Public Broadcasting Station. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  10. ^ a b c Strunsky, Steve. "Prison Sentence in Computer Case". New York Times Company. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  11. ^ a b Ebrahami, Helia (16 August 2011). "Spectris buys US rival for $475m". The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  12. ^ Sen, Anirban (15 August 2011). "UPDATE 1-Spectris Buys OMEGA Engineering for $475 mln". Reuters. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  13. ^ Baba, Razak Musah (14 February 2017). "Spectris 2016 profit falls; but hikes dividend". MarketWatch. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  14. ^ "Arcline Investment Management to Acquire Omega Engineering from Spectris PLC". PR Newswire (Cision). 19 April 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  15. ^ "Spectris Sells Omega Engineering for $525 MLN; Plans $390 MLN Share Buyback".
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