Galion Iron Works
| Industry | Heavy machinery |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Galion, Ohio |
| Products | Construction Equipment Graders Rollers |
The Galion Iron Works Company of Galion, Ohio, was founded by David Charles Boyd in 1907. In it's early years, the Galion name appeared on a wide range of road-building and other construction equiptment, such as drag scrapers, plows, wagons, stone unloaders, rock crushers, and a variety of other "experimental machines".By 1911, Galion had begun production of a light-duty, horse-drawn road grader.
History
Komatsu Iron Works was started by Takeuchi Mining Industry as a subsidiary to make industrial tools for the parent company. Komatsu eventually became large enough to sell to the public, and was spun off on 1921-05-13 as Komatsu Ltd.
Komatsu produced its first agricultural tractor prototype in 1931. Through the 1930s, Komatsu also produced military tractors for the Japanese military, as well as bulldozers, tanks and howitzers. After World War II, Komatsu added non-militarybulldozers and forklifts to its line of equipment. Its growth as a company was aided by the strong demand for its bulldozer during Japan's post-war reconstruction in the 1950s. By 1957 was advanced enough technologically that all of its models were also using Komatsu engines.
Komatsu began exporting its products in the 1960s, looking to counteract the postwar image of Japanese products as being cheap and poorly made, and entered the U.S. market in July 1967, taking on Caterpillar, the world's largest bulldozer maker, in its home market, under the leadership of President Yashinari Kawai. Komatsu did so under the rallying cry "Maru-C", translating into English as "encircle Caterpillar" (in the context of Go (board game) encircling an opponent results in capture of their territory).
Komatsu and Dresser Industries established Komatsu Dresser to make mining tractors and related equipment. This 50–50 ownership lasted from September 1988 to August 1994, when Komatsu bought out Dresser's share, and Komatsu's mining products were consolidated under the name Komatsu Mining Systems in 1997. To prevent brand name confusion during corporate changes, the name "Haulpak" is used for the product line Komatsu began with Dresser.
See also
- Hanomag — now a Komatsu subsidiary
External links
- Komatsu Global - official site
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