The Hindu : Allen-Bradley completes 100 years

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 20, 2003

Business

Business

Allen-Bradley completes 100 years

By Our Corporate Reporter

CHENNAI FEB. 19 . Allen Bradley, the flagship brand of Rockwell Automation of the U.S., a global industrial automation company focussed on power, control and information solutions, has announced the successful completion of 100 years. The company is planning several special tributes throughout the year that will recognise the rich history of the brand and its many contributions to the automation industry.

Started as `Compression Rheostat Company' in 1903 with an initial investment of $1,000 by Lynde Bradley and Stanton Allen and renamed `Allen Bradley' in 1910, the Allen Bradley name had become one of the strong legacy brands among Rockwell Automation's offerings of automation control solutions for manufacturers, according to Greg Geiger, President, Asia Pacific, Rockwell Automation.

Allen Bradley Company was bought by Rockwell in 1985 for $1.65 billion and Allen-Bradley India started its manufacturing activity in Sahibabad, near New Delhi in that year, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Rockwell Automation.

Mr. Geiger told The Hindu that apart from Allen-Bradley, the other brands included Dodge (mechanical power transmission products), Reliance Electric (motors, drives and engineered systems) and Rockwell Software (factory management software). He said the company continued its strong growth in the Asia Pacific region with the highest adoption rate of new technology to support its infrastructure growth, especially in the areas of infrastructure development, power and energy.

Rockwell Automation employed more than 1,000 personnel in Asia at facilities in 12 countries and was represented in more than 20 countries throughout the region. With industrial production in the Asia Pacific region ranging from 20-40 per cent of gross domestic product, the region had good demand for Rockwell Automation's products, Mr. Geiger said. The company's growth was also aided by lot of acquisitions and it had recently acquired Samsung Controls business form Samsung Korea. Mr. Geiger, however, declined to divulge the cost of acquisition.

Early in the month Rockwell had also announced the manufacturing information solutions capability with the acquisition of Interwave Technology inc. a leading independent consulting integrators. According to Ranjan De, President & Country Manager, Rockwell Automation India, "Allen Bradley has been committed to the Indian market for the last two decades helping improve the manufacturing operations." The Allen Bradley products were successfully providing automation solution to various big companies in India ranging from diapers to blast furnaces.

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