In the 21st century, and over 200 years after Davey Bickford Enaex became a company, who continues to light the way toward safer and more efficient detonation systems across a wide array of industries. We think William Bickford would be proud of where we’ve taken his vision, and enthusiastic about what our team can accomplish in years to come.
Davey Bickford Enaex has established its regional office for Euorpe, Russia & CIS, North & West Africa in Paris.
While celebrating the 20th anniversary of DaveyTronic®, Davey Bickford Enaex released the latest version of the 5th generation of DaveyTronic® Evolution.
Chilean-based Enaex acquired Davey Bickford. The two international companies merged sharing their values and know how. Davey Bickford becomes Davey Bickford Enaex.
The turn of the millennium saw a much-needed turn towards environmental safety. Our introduction of lead-free initiators was an industry first and we stressed how expert use of high-tech detonators could minimise environmental disturbances.
Davey Bickford built a programmable detonator with a built-in delay and command bus : Daveytronic system.
We created our own Automotive Safety division, pioneering and then manufacturing the initiators for airbags and seat belt pre-tensioners.
The 1970s were all about diversification. The wide-scale energy crisis of that decade forced a great number of mines to shut down. This compelled us to broaden our vision. It was time to think about how our innovations could be used in other fields—such as fireworks, weapon systems and car safety systems in order to make their operations more secure.
Davey Bickford Simth develops the first electric detonator.
The Davey Bickford Simth company acquires a pyrotechnics workshop in Héry where it will develop the manufacture of wick detonators and then detonating cord.
A major step forward in the field of initiators was the invention of the detonating cord by Jean Harlé, the eldest son of André Harlé, who was then at the head of the company. The black powder present in a traditional fuse was replaced by an explosive in order to further optimise the effectiveness of the shots.
The story of Davey Bickford Smith begins in 1831 in the heart of a major mining centre in England. William Bickford was looking for a new method of firing the “black powder” that caused so many fatal accidents in the mines of the 19th century.
On 6 September 1831, the patent for the “Cordon Bickford”, the first safety fuse for miners, was registered. William Bickford soon joined forces with his son John, his son-in-law George Smith and a mining engineer, Thomas Davey.
