About us

Katko. Built for what can't fail.

We have always been there.

Two thousand meters underground; on offshore platforms; in faraway solar installations. But also in the quiet reliability of everyday systems: the switches that simply work, the connections you never think about. This is where our engineering proves itself. Where reliability becomes everything.

For over eight decades, we've been the engineers, designers and technicians who master applications that work when and where they must. As a family-owned company, we've built our reputation on the world's most demanding requirements. We design with purpose, so every detail delivers performance, safety, and intuitiveness. From the factory floor to the final product, we make complex things work.

While others pursue theoretical breakthroughs in laboratories, we innovate through real-world problem solving. We build applications that don't just perform. They become indispensable.

Generations after generation. Installation after installation.

We have always been there.

Our values

RESPONSIVENESS
We work at human scale. While others build layers, we build trust. We pick up the phone, remember your project, and solve challenges in real conversations.
Under one roof, there's always someone who knows your challenge and can make decisions that matter. That's what family-owned means. Real people solving real problems.
PRECISION
We perfect, we don't just produce. Every switch, every connection gets iterated until it's right.
We take pride in the work itself: the engineering puzzle, the manufacturing precision, the conversations that lead to the right solution – the systems that simply work. Decade after decade.
OWNERSHIP
We stand behind everything we make. Not just through warranties or processes, but through people who care about the outcome. If something needs fixing, we fix it. If it needs perfecting, we perfect it.
Because when systems must work, we deliver.

Because when systems must work, we deliver.

We manufacture all of our switching and installation solutions in our own production plants in Finland and Poland. A high level of automation is part of Katko’s DNA that ensures a consistent quality level in our products. Katko’s flexible and adaptive production philosophy even facilitates the manufacture of smaller batches in a competitive manner. Furthermore, we can provide our customers with more tailored products, and we are ready to do so. This is where Katko’s motivated and professional staff come in. We employ approximately 150 people, two thirds of whom are in Finland.

We work at human scale.

Taking care of people and the environment are among the most important values of our family business. Our environmental thinking is guided by factors such as efficient raw material use, energy-efficient production and the quality and life cycle of the end product. All of the materials used in our production processes are 100% recyclable.

Katko’s History from 1938: A One Cause Movement.

Katko’s predecessor Auto-Koneistamo Oy was founded in 1938 to repair car engines. The company did not know about switches in its formative years, but the seed of automation that guides Katko’s operations to this day was already planted back then. The founders of the company, Kauko and Tauno Hyryläinen, were interested in new manufacturing methods and were able to automate work phases that used to be carried out as manual labour. Switches entered the scene partially by chance, as the Ministry of Welfare was giving thought to Finland’s self-sufficiency and charting suitable switch manufacturers after the war.

Katko’s operations have always been guided by strong product development. The company became a pioneer in its field no later than 1959, when Kauko Hyryläinen invented the modern fused switch. When the construction of Katko’s business premises in Vantaa was completed in 1972, the company was already focused on manufacturing switches and related accessories. With equipment investments made in 1989, the same premises entered the era of modern automation. The first switches were exported to Sweden in 1960, but the company’s true internationalisation began in the late 1980s. The Polish factory located in Nidzica was opened in 2006, and a sales office was opened in Dubai in 2007. In 2019 the main factory and office were relocated to Helsinki. Today, Katko products are sold in more than 60 countries on all continents.