Allen-Bradley
Allen-Bradley is the brand-name of a line of Factory Automation Equipment manufactured by Rockwell Automation (NYSE ROK). The company, with revenues of approximately US$6.4 billion in 2013, manufactures programmable logic controllers (PLC), human-machine interfaces, sensors, safety components and systems, software, drives and drive systems, contactors, motor control centers, and systems made of these and similar products. Rockwell Automation also provides asset management services including repair and consulting. Rockwell Automation's headquarters is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The Allen-Bradley Clock Tower is a Milwaukee landmark featuring the largest four-sided clock in the western hemisphere.
History
The company was founded in 1903 as the Compression Rheostat Company by Dr. Stanton Allen and Lynde Bradley with an initial investment of $1,000. In 1910 the firm was renamed Allen-Bradley Company; for close to the next century it provided the bulk of discrete resistors used for electronics and other products.[citation needed] In 1952 it opened a subsidiary in Galt, Ontario, Canada, that employs over 1000 people. In 1985 a company record was set as the fiscal year ended with $1 billion in sales. In February 1985, Rockwell International purchased Allen-Bradley for $1.651 billion, which is the largest acquisition in Wisconsin history.[1] For all intents and purposes, Allen-Bradley took over Rockwell's industrial automation division.
Rockwell eventually moved its headquarters to Milwaukee. In 2002, when Rockwell split into two companies, Allen-Bradley followed the automation division into Rockwell Automation.
References
- ^ Rockwell Automation. Our History.