Piab founder Sven Tell and his love for the mathematical formula Pi gave birth to the emergence of this drawing compass, which made the company name "Pi" and "AB", which means "company" in Swedish. This goes back to 1951, and Piab has been released for decades since then.

In 1968, Sven's son Peter Tell established the Piab vacuum division, which formed the foundation of today's companies. He invented the vacuum product PmS-Pistol. Piab's multi-stage vacuum generator set the stage for a number of vacuum products developed in the 1970s. With this new technology, Piab began to expand in Sweden and became a global company with distributors and subsidiaries around the world.

In the following decades, the product line added other products such as vacuum pumps, suction cups and vacuum conveyors, and further expanded its product range through multiple acquisitions. Today, Piab has launched ergonomic handling hoists and robotic grasping solutions, complementing the company's traditional vacuum automation and vacuum delivery solutions.

In recent years, Piab has registered more than 65 patented products, and with the increase in demand for automation solutions, the pace of innovation is also accelerating. As Piab gradually moves to the forefront of the industry, R&D is becoming more and more important, and will continue to provide customers with advanced crawling, upgrading and mobile solutions to help them continue to grow. Peter Tell and his family sold Piab in 2006, and now Piab is wholly owned by Patricia Industries, a subsidiary of Investor AB.