January 25, 2016, Frankfort, NY - Twenty-five years ago SoftNoze was just an idea in the head of then 29 year-old company founder Brett Truett. Working as a Project Engineer, Brett was tasked with helping to automate processes in a nearly 100 year-old factory. This mile-long plant in Frankfort, NY was producing shovels, rakes and pitchforks being sold at major retailers across North America.Brett’s concept was very simple; use a spring-loaded bracket to mount “non-contact” type inductive proximity sensors. In multiple locations in various local plants, Truett saw sensor damage and the resulting machine downtime. Sensors designed to function without contact, which are widely in automated equipment, were accidentally damaged by abrasion and physical impacts. These sensors stop functioning, production equipment and staff goes idle and very significant periods of lost time and profits are incurred. Costs were; reoccurring sensor damage, necessary troubleshooting and MRO repairs, the replacement sensor inventory, and in some cases damaged equipment and or product- Truett had a solution!
Brett’s dream since college was to become an independent inventor, so he was versed in patents. Therefore Truett set out filing for a patent, had a friend machine a prototype, and then he headed to a Chicago-based tradeshow Sensor Expo. Returning, a company called SoftNoze USA Inc was founded. Resources were few, and so Truett created an initial press release using a photograph of a colorized-2D AutoCAD screen capture- it was a small start!
However it worked, as the industrial media pick-up the story and small orders began to flow-in. Over the first two years, numerous major manufacturers in the USA and Canada began purchasing. The installation of inductive sensors with a SoftNoze Cushioned Sensor Mount had begun! All this as Truett began learning every aspect of company startup and product delivery. The fragile tales of small company germination are many, but the company made it through and today offers a wide variety of Sensor Integration Components that are used worldwide.
SoftNoze wishes to thank all its customers, past investors, suppliers, supporters, and its staff today for a 25 year-old company story that’s really just getting started!
Please let us know how we can help you Mount, Apply Position and Protect your automation sensors
Thank you,
SoftNoze USA Inc
