Strauss Waltz and 10 Million Cyclos Sold Mark Global Brand Launch in Japan

Sumitomo Drive Technologies’ global brand launch on September 19, 2003 in Nagoya, Japan was marked by two noteworthy events – the celebration of selling 10 million Cyclo speed reducers, and the public performance of an original Johann Strauss II waltz that was inspired by the Cyclo technology.

The parent company, Sumitomo Heavy Industries – Power Transmission and Control (SHI-PTC), marked the occasion of the Sumitomo Drive Technologies global brand launch with over 400 VIP customers, distributors and business partners, and celebrated the Cyclo’s unique and powerful history with the performance of Strauss’ composition Cycloiden Walzer Op. 207.

The waltz is believed to have been inspired by the very unique circular discs and interactive movements that he witnessed at the Vienna Institute of Technology.  The original composition was misplaced, and not rediscovered until many years later.  In the late 1970’s, in Markt Indersdorf, Germany, an engineer of Deutsch Cyclo (now part of Sumitomo Drive Technologies – Europe) was reading a biography of Johann Strauss II, when he encountered a waltz named “Cycloiden.”  Eventually, the first edition of the score was discovered in the Vienna City Library.  The cycloid gear etching on the score’s cover confirmed that indeed, it was the Sumitomo “Cyclo” that inspired his work.