A.O. Smith Corporation
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| Public | |
| Traded as | : AOS S&P 400 Component |
| Industry | Water technology |
| Founded | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, 1904 (original incorporation) |
| Founder | Arthur Oliver Smith |
| Headquarters | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States |
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Number of locations
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24 worldwide |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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| Products |
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| Revenue |
 US$ 2.5 billion (FY 2015)
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US$ 208.7 million (FY 2012)
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US$ 158.7 million (FY 2012)
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| Total assets |
US$ 2.27 billion (FY 2012)
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| Total equity |
US$ 1.19 billion (FY 2012)
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Number of employees
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10,900 (As of 11 December 2013[update]) |
| Divisions | Motor, Smith Fiberglass Products, Water Heater, Water Products |
| Website | www |
A. O. Smith Corporation is an American manufacturer of both residential and commercial water heaters and boilers. It is the largest manufacturer and marketer of water heaters in North America. It also supplies water treatment products in the Asian market. The company has 24 locations worldwide, including five manufacturing facilities in North America, as well as plants in Nanjing, China and Veldhoven, The Netherlands.
In the past, A. O. Smith has had numerous other product lines. Among them, it was the largest bomb maker in the United States by the end of World War I. Smith ranked 74th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts.
The A.O. Smith Corporation was founded in 1874 by Charles Jeremiah Smith as C. J. Smith and Sons, a baby carriage and bicycle parts manufacturer. They began forming steel tubing from sheet metal to make bicycle frames. By 1895, the company was the largest bicycle parts manufacturer. In 1899, Arthur Oliver Smith, a son of the founder, developed the world’s first pressed steel vehicle frame and they later began making frames for the Peerless Automobile Company, Cadillac, and Ford Motor Company. In 1904, the company incorporated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as A. O. Smith Company.
In 1913, Lloyd Raymond Smith took over, and in 1914, the company introduced the Smith Motor Wheel, a gasoline-powered device for bicycles and in 1915, they began manufacturing the Smith Flyer, which they later sold to Briggs & Stratton Company of Milwaukee. A year later in 1916, A.O. Smith was incorporated in New York, and in 1917, they began manufacturing bomb casings for World War I.
In the 1920s, company engineers developed the coated welding rod which they used in manufacturing until 1965, as well as the world’s first fully automated automobile frame factory, with the capability of making a frame every eight seconds, until 1958, the first arc-welded, high-pressure vessel used to refine oil, which the company produced until 1963, and oil supply line pipes, until 1972.
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Wikipedia