Special Devices Incorporated (SDI™) entered the business of producing highly reliable pyrotechnic products in the 1950s. The business began producing pyrotechnic special effects for Hollywood movies from the original Newhall, CA location. From those beginnings' SDI™ grew to produce a variety of Aerospace devices for the US Space Programs and other aerospace applications. As advanced safety systems started to become part of the automotive industry SDI took that Aerospace pyrotechnic technology and evolved it to meet the needs of the growing automotive airbag market. Since that time SDI™ has produced Billions of initiators and other pyrotechnic products with an unprecedented quality and reliability record. From the 1980s onward that automotive safety systems technology became the core of SDI™'s business.

In 2012, Special Devices Inc. (SDI™) was acquired by Daicel Corporation and operates as part of the Safety Systems Company. Daicel Safety Systems Americas Inc. (DSSA) was formed in 2019 to consolidate the American pyrotechnic and safety systems operations of Daicel Group.

The Daicel Group is a Japanese company established in 1919. Daicel Group has 6 primary business segments, operating 76 companies in 14 different countries with over 11,000 employees. Annual revenue is approximately $3.4B and the pyrotechnics business segment comprises just over 25% of revenue.

DSSA currently produces high-reliability pyrotechnic products and energetic devices for both external customers and divisions of the Daicel Group. At DSSA we are constantly focused on world-class Safety, Quality, and Delivery standards as the driving forces behind our business. Our goal is to meet the needs of our global customers through the design and manufacture of pyrotechnic devices and systems which lead the industry in terms of quality and reliability.