CBI ELECTRIC EUROPE
Circuit Breaker Industries
CBi-electric: low voltage, formerly Circuit Breaker Industries (CBI), is a wholly owned subsidiary of the South African industrial group Reunert, a publicly listed company on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).
The company’s origins date back to 1949, when it was established as a joint venture within the Heinemann Electric Company in Trenton, New Jersey, USA. In 1986, following a merger with Fuchs Electrical Industries, the company was renamed as Circuit Breaker Industries (CBI). For more than 75 years, CBi-electric has developed extensive expertise in the design and manufacture of a comprehensive range of technologically advanced hydraulic-magnetic (Hy-Mag) circuit breakers for electrical protection.
Today, Cbi-electric is a global leader in circuit breakers and residual current devices (RCDs) for a wide range of market segments and applications where high reliability and precision are critical.
Cbi-electric has established itself as a technology leader through continuous and significant investment in research and development (R&D), with a strong commitment to the ongoing improvement of product design and the development of new technologies.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is at the core of CBI’s business. This expertise has enabled the company to secure strong market positions across all sectors in which it operates. The company is vertically integrated, and is responsible for all aspects of the products life cycle, from the component design, through tooling of press and mould tools, jigs and fixtures and test equipment for testing the final product. This is all made possible through a collection of technical experts who enable these processes to remain in-house. As a result, CBI retains full intellectual property rights to all products it manufactures, reinforcing its position as a global leader in electrical protection solutions based on hydraulic-magnetic technology. CBI operates manufacturing facilities in South Africa and Lesotho.
Cbi-electric operates a world-class test center accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 by the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS), a signatory to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC). The competence of the CBI test center is recognized by UL, VDE, SABS, CQC, NSW, TÜV, and other international certification bodies. The facility is equipped to perform a wide range of tests in compliance with international standards and includes a 65 kA high-current short circuit test bay.
Quality is fundamental to CBi-electric’s operations and a key factor behind the company’s long-term success. With dedicated teams at its production facilities, CBI conforms to ISO 9001 quality management standards. The entire organization is driven by a culture of quality, ensuring compliance with both international standards and specific customer requirements. All CBI products are subjected to 100% testing on the production line prior to shipment. The majority of products manufactured by CBI are packaged and shipped to customers worldwide.
CBi-electric: low voltage maintains regional offices in Australia, India, and the United States. Business activities in Europe, as well as in selected other countries for specific market segments and OEM customers, are managed by Emcomp International AB, headquartered in Sweden.
Partnership with Emcomp
In the late 1990’s, Emcomp and CBI began collaborating in Scandinavia to develop a new generation of stable, robust, and high-quality hydraulic-magnetic circuit breakers for the rapidly growing telecommunications industry. As telecom equipment design and manufacturing gradually shifted to Asia and Eastern Europe, Emcomp’s support and business activities expanded accordingly.
Since 2009, Emcomp has held commercial responsibility for the CBI business in Europe, while also supporting international OEM customers on a global scale.
Today, CBI and Emcomp continue their close partnership, delivering reliable and trusted electrical protection solutions that support critical infrastructure, industrial applications, and technological innovation worldwide.