Rockwell Automation
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Rockwell Automation NYSE: ROK is a leading industrial automation company focused to be the most valued global provider of power, control and information solutions. With a focus on automation solutions that help customers meet productivity objectives, the company brings together leading brands in industrial automation, including Dodge mechanical power transmission products, Reliance Electric motors and drives, Allen-Bradley controls and engineered services and Rockwell Software factory management software. Global technical and customer service is an integral part of Rockwell Automation, with nearly 5,600 distributors, system integrators and agents serving customers in 80 countries. The company headquarters are located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Rockwell Automation announced in June 2006 that they will sell off the PowerSystems Division which consists of Dodge mechanical and Reliance Electric motors with headquarters in Greenville, South Carolina.
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[edit] Sponsorships
Rockwell Automation is the sponsor of #20 car in the NASCAR Busch Series driven by Denny Hamlin and owned by Joe Gibbs Racing. Their logos have also appeared on the #26 car in the Indy Racing League driven by Marco Andretti and owned by Andretti Green Racing. In the past, they sponsored the #21 car in the NASCAR Busch Series driven by Mike Dillon and owned by Richard Childress Racing.
[edit] History
Rockwell Automation's history dates back as early as 1880 when DODGE Manufacturing Company was incorporated.
Rockwell Automation brands represent a deep history of product innovation and customer service. Here are the milestones in the evolution of Rockwell Automation.
1903
- Lynde Bradley and Dr. Stanton Allen form the Compression Rheostat Company with an initial investment of $1,000.
1904
- One of the first commercially manufactured Allen-Bradley brand of crane controllers is shipped for exhibition at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
1909
- Compression Rheostat Company renamed Allen-Bradley Company and moved to Milwaukee. - Dr. Allen appointed president, Lynde Bradley, vice president and treasurer, and Harry Bradley, secretary and superintendent of Allen-Bradley.
1914
- Allen-Bradley's first sales office established in New York.
1915
- Allen-Bradley sales reach $86,000.
1916
- Dr. Stanton Allen dies.
1917
- Allen-Bradley sales grow to $404,683.
1920
- The "Bradleystat," a rheostat for use in automobile dashboards and radios is first offered.
1923
- The octagon logo becomes the Allen-Bradley company trademark.
1924
- Bradleystat sales reach $1,161,380.
1937
- Allen-Bradley employment rebounds to pre-depression levels and company sales reach nearly $4 million.
1942
- Lynde Bradley passes away.
1944
- Eighty percent of company's orders are war related and center on two broad lines of products, industrial controls and electrical components.
1962
- Harry Bradley throws the switch to illuminate the largest four-faced clock in the world.
1965
- Harry Bradley Passes away.
1969
- Allen-Bradley U.K. Ltd., located in Bletchley England, becomes the company's first operation outside North America.
1980
- Allen-Bradley enters the new decade as a global company. International operations expand rapidly throughout the 1980s.
1985
- Allen-Bradley sets a new fiscal record with sales of $1 billion. - Allen-Bradley purchases Electronics Corporation of America and acquires the Photoswitch line of photoelectric sensors. - Rockwell International purchases Allen-Bradley, the North American leader in the industrial automation equipment market, for $1.651 billion, marking the largest acquisition in Wisconsin's history. (February 20, 1985)
1993
- The company launches DeviceNet, an open device-level network that quickly becomes the de facto standard in North America.
1994
- The Allen-Bradley line of software is merged with the ICOM lines to form Rockwell Software Inc., the world leader in development and support of software for the automation marketplace.
1999
- Enterprise Technology Group is acquired. A Pittsburgh based software development and consulting company known for client-server Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) applications. - Rockwell purchases Anorad Corporation, a market-leader in linear motor based precision positioning equipment. - Company acquires Dynapro, expanding human machine interface hardware and software offering. - Acquisition of EJA, a U.K. based firm brings the expertise of the Guardmaster brand to the safety product portfolio.
2000
- Rockwell acquires Entek, adding predictive monitoring technology to its automation controls offerings. - Acquires Systems Modeling Corporation, known for discrete event and process simulation software and for finite-capacity scheduling software.
2001
- Rockwell Automation becomes an independent, publicly traded company using the New York Stock Exchange symbol ROK. - Sequencia acquisition is completed, adding batch control software, services and support.
2002
- Tesch (Germany) is acquired, bolstering safety hardware lines. - Propack Data (Germany) acquisition adds tracking and tracing software capabilities. - Samsung Controller Division (Korea) acquisition adds world-class programmable logic controller design and development center in Asia
2003
- The Allen-Bradley brand celebrates its 100th anniversary. The celebration culminates with Rockwell Automation's annual customer trade show and education event, known as Automation Fair. The event is held for the first time in its 12 year history in Milwaukee, the home town of Rockwell Automation. Over 15,000 people attend.
2004
- Rockwell Automation and Intel Corporation begin working together to expand the use of Intel's new high-performance network processor technology in industrial automation applications.
2005
- DataSweep acquisition adds more manufacturing systems information capabilities to software portfolio.
2006
- Acquisition of GEPA mbH, a leading provider of software in the change management marketplace, expands the capabilities of Rockwell Automation's FactoryTalk integrated production and performance suite.
[edit] See also
- Retro-Encabulator, fictional Rockwell Automation device
