South Bend Lathe Works

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South Bend Lathe is today a division of LeBlond Ltd, which is part of the Makino corporation, a multinational machine tool–building firm. Today's South Bend Lathe corporation is the successor to the original South Bend Lathe Works, an American machine tool–building firm that for many decades was one of the most important builders of metalworking lathes in the U.S. and in the world.

The South Bend Lathe Works was established in 1906 in South Bend, Indiana by twin brothers named O'Brien. By 1930, the company was building 47% of the engine lathes sold each year in the United States.^[1] In a quarter century, South Bend Lathe Works had become the largest exclusive manufacturer of metalworking precision lathes in the world.

The company made an interesting case study for business-management academics during the mid-1970s when it became employee-owned under an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) model.

Today South Bend Lathe still produces precision machine tools, although it is not the giant of market share that it once was.

[edit] References

1. ^ South Bend History per LeBlond USA website

[edit] External links

• Official site: http://www.southbendlathe.com/