Rockwell Automation
Listen.Think.Solve
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| Public | |
| Traded as | : ROK S&P 500 Component |
| Headquarters | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.A. |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Keith Nosbusch (Chairman) Blake Moret (CEO) |
| Products |
Industrial Automation Manufacturing Execution System |
| Revenue | US$ 6.62 billion (2014) |
| US$ 826.8 million (2014) | |
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Number of employees
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About 22,500 (2014) |
| Website | www.rockwellautomation.com |
Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), is an American provider of industrial automation and information products. Brands include Allen-Bradley and Rockwell Software.
Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rockwell Automation employs over 22,000 people and has customers in more than 80 countries worldwide. The Fortune 500 company reported $6.35 billion in sales during fiscal 2013.
Rockwell Automation traces its history to 1903 and the formation of the Compression Rheostat Company, founded by Lynde Bradley and Dr. Stanton Allen with an initial investment of $1000.
In 1904, 19-year-old Harry Bradley joined his brother in the business.
The company’s first patented product was a carbon disc compression-type motor controller for industrial cranes. The crane controller was demonstrated at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904.
In 1909, the company was renamed the Allen-Bradley Company.
Allen-Bradley expanded rapidly during World War I in response to government-contracted work. Its product line grew to include automatic starters and switches, circuit breakers, relays and other electric equipment.
In 1914, Fred Loock established the company’s first sales office in New York.
Upon co-founder Stanton Allen’s death in 1916, Lynde Bradley became president. Harry Bradley was appointed vice president and attorney Louis Quarles was named corporate secretary.
In 1918 Allen-Bradley hired its first female factory worker, Julia Bizewski Polczynski, who was promoted to foreman the following year.
During the 1920s, the company grew its miniature rheostat business to support the burgeoning radio industry. By the middle of this decade, nearly 50 percent of the company’s sales were attributed to the radio department. The decade closed with record company sales of $3 million.
By 1932, the Great Depression had taken its toll and the company posted record losses. Amid growing economic pressure, Allen-Bradley reduced its workforce from 800 to 550 and cut wages by 50 percent. To lessen the financial burden, Lynde and Harry Bradley implemented a unique program: the company replaced employees’ lost wages with preferred stock. Eventually, the company bought back all stock at six percent interest.
Throughout this period, Lynde Bradley supported an aggressive research and development approach intended to “develop the company out of the Depression.” Lynde Bradley’s R&D strategy was successful. By 1937, Allen-Bradley employment had rebounded to pre-Depression levels and company sales reached an all-time high of nearly $4 million.
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Wikipedia