MBW was founded in 1962 as a manufacturer of precise instrumentation for textile, heat treatment and humidity measurement applications. Based in Wettingen Switzerland, at its heart are the core Swiss principles of precision, quality and sustainability. In 1969 MBW became a private limited company.

During the 1960s and 70s, MBW products expanded in range and capability and they started to reach export markets thanks to their excellent performance and reliability.  Within the 1980s and 1990s, MBWs international reputation led to our products becoming established transfer standards at National Metrology Institutes (NMI) worldwide, with many instruments remaining in service for up to 30 years. In partnership with US company RH Systems, the 373 dew point hygrometer was introduced in 1999 as the ultimate instrument for measuring humidity, and today it remains the transfer standard of choice throughout the worlds NMIs, calibration laboratories and high end research organizations.

Swiss based companies such as Brown Boveri & Cie, Sprecher und Schuh, ABB and Alstom have been at the heart of the Electrical Power industry for many years. With the expansion of the use of Sulphur Hexafluoride in switchgear as an insulator and arc suppressor, and the need to maintain its quality through the measurement of SF₆ humidity, in the early 1970s MBW began its long association with Electrical Power industry. In 2005, MBW introduced the 973-SF₆, the world’s first SF₆ gas analyzer to include full gas recovery and pump back. Today, the 973-SF₆ continues to be the reference throughout the High Voltage industry.

In 2015, MBW was confirmed as the Designated Institute for humidity calibration in Switzerland. This position cements MBWs position as a trusted and credible source of low uncertainty humidity calibration and underpins the performance of our humidity measurement and generation equipment.