Our History

Established in 1969, SPAN’s founder Leo Whitson began making the first American made liquid filled gauges in Plano, Texas for the “Oil Patch” industry. SPAN Instruments also pioneered the use of liquid filled pressure gauges in the fire truck industry in the 1980’s. The SPAN gauge became the “standard” of the industry and was used by most fire manufacturers through-out the country.

SPAN shifted its focus on the 90’s to new fields such as the growing electronic and semi-conductor marketplace. In 1998 the Thuemling Instrument Group, Inc. purchased the industrial pressure gauge portion of SPAN Instruments. The Thuemling family has been associated with SPAN since 1971 and had over 40 years experience in the OEM pressure and temperature gauge field. From their new facility in Waukesha, Wisconsin, over the last 13 years, Thuemling has supplied over 1 Million new generation SPAN gauges in the harshest environments such as construction equipment, shipbuilding, mining and process industries as well as numerous equipment manufacturers through-out North America.

We pride ourselves in offering prompt personal service and you will always talk to a live person when you call in!

In 2005 SPAN entered back into the Fire Truck Market with the “original” gauge that started it all. Along with the trusted ruggedness of the SPAN gauge we have also introduced other NEW innovative products and features unique to the fire fighting environment.

Our company is built on a wealth of experience in product and application knowledge. We strive to be a resource to our customers when designing new applications or problem solving their existing ones.