HDL

HDL Automation was founded in 1985 in Guangzhou, in southern China, by a university professor who, according to the company, had already developed China's first digital dimming controller back in the 1980s. The company remains headquartered in Guangzhou and today designs and sells automation systems for homes, hotels and commercial buildings, the three areas in which it organises its offer on its website. In press releases, HDL says it has more than three decades of experience in the sector and presents itself as a global provider of smart living solutions.

HDL created two proprietary protocols: Buspro, wired and based on RS485, and Buspro Wireless, which can be combined with it for project flexibility. In 2006 the company joined the international KNX standard, becoming, according to KNX's own directory, the first Chinese company to join the association. HDL says that three years later it launched China's first complete line of KNX products, and in 2017 it set up a KNX test laboratory.

According to the company itself, its solutions have gone into more than 500,000 projects, and its service network has 106 branches and representative offices around the world. Projects cited in a 2024 press release include the Czech State Opera, BMW Welt and Baiyun railway station in Guangzhou. The company also highlights the design of its panels, such as the Source 7, with a rotary knob.