We are celebrating 60 years of measuring and monitoring!
We are really proud of our history and it’s exciting to look back over the last 60 years and map out the key moments from conception in 1961 by Mr Mills, who started the company with his wife and seven employees in Littlehampton, UK to the present day.
Today we are a leading temperature measurement and monitoring brand for professionals across various verticals, seeking reliable, quality products that meet their developing needs.
We’ve not just been reflecting on 60 years of product evolution and innovation this year, but also looking back at the corporate milestones that shaped the company in to the Fluke business it is today and have seen how our commitment to service, quality and industry standards have been the hallmarks of our business throughout that time.
We’ve put together a short reflection on those key moments, which we hope you’ll enjoy.
Comark was formed in 1961 and the name Comark was said to have been derived from the idea that products would be designed for the ‘Common Market’. The company specialised in electronic measuring instruments, such as the 120S Millivoltmeter and in 1964 produced the ‘Type 160’, its first electronic thermometer.
Mr Mills took early retirement in 1972, but the company grew in strength in the 1970s with the 1600 range of electronic thermometers and by the 1980s was focusing on hand-held digital thermometers. The 1980’s also saw us developing some revolutionary instruments, such as our first microprocessor thermometer C6000 and our Commander CRT multi-channel data logger.
In 1989 Comark was purchased by the Kane May Group and the same year we launched the C9000 range of waterproof digital thermometers. The 1990s started in spectacular fashion with us achieving ISO 9001 quality management system accreditation in 1991. In 1992 we started to turn our focus to the food industry with the launch of a range of our white C9000 waterproof digital thermometers and produced more products aimed at foodservice and food production in 1994, the same year that the C8800 Multi channel scanning thermometer was also launched.
In 1994, Comark Ltd/Inc was formed after the sale of the Comark/Kane May food division and we achieved UKAS accreditation for temperature measurement, allowing us to also offer calibration to industry standards. In 1997 our UKAS accreditation was further extended to include humidity measurement.
Comark turned its attention to static temperature monitoring systems in the late 1990s and the early 2000s with the C8200 IceSpy range as well as a new range of data loggers and a handheld HACCP auditor. In 2006, we launched the RF500 Wireless Monitoring System which we hoped would serve industries beyond food such as pharmaceutical and healthcare. This caught the attention of Fluke who acquired Comark the same year.
Under Fluke, we cemented our position in both the food and healthcare industries with focus not only on hand-held instrumentation but also automated wireless monitoring systems, capable of monitoring, measuring and recording a wide range of parameters including temperature, humidity, pressure and CO2 levels.
With the introduction in 2013 of new WiFi based systems and Bluetooth products in 2016, Comark tapped into the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) and we have sought to bring smarter and more connected devices to the market to solve the needs of its customers.
The global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 hit us and our customers in the food industry hard, with the enforced closure of restaurants and foodservice outlets. The healthcare industry also struggled to meet the demands placed upon it, meaning we had to be more dynamic and flexible than ever before in our support of those facilities looking to safely store COVID-19 test samples and vaccines. Our wireless temperature monitoring systems have brought much needed peace of mind to the NHS, its existing and emergency response field hospitals, as well as pharmaceutical companies, with their low and ultra-low temperature storage facilities.
In 2021, we are more committed than ever, to providing quality, trusted and reliable temperature measurement and monitoring solutions aimed at our customers’ developing needs and we look forward to working with you in the years ahead.
Comark – The Professionals’ Choice