Eaton Corporation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eaton Corporation
Eaton Logo
Type Public
Founded 1911
Headquarters Cleveland, Ohio
Key people Alexander M. Cutler, Chairman, President & CEO
Industry Components
Products Transmissions
Circuit breakers
Fluid power components
Golf grips
Revenue $12.4 billion USD (2006)
Employees 59,000
Website www.eaton.com

This article is about an industrial manufacturer. For other meanings see Eaton.

Eaton Corporation (NYSE: ETN) is a diversified industrial manufacturer with 2006 sales of $12.4 billion, putting it at 210 on the Fortune 500 for 2006. Eaton is a global leader in electrical systems and components for power quality, distribution and control; fluid power systems and services for industrial, mobile and aircraft equipment; intelligent truck drivetrain systems for safety and fuel economy; and automotive engine air management systems, powertrain solutions and specialty controls for performance, fuel economy and safety. Eaton has 59,000 employees and sells products to customers in more than 125 countries.

Contents

In 1911 Joseph O. Eaton, brother-in-law Henning O. Taube and Viggo V. Torbensen incorporated the Torbensen Gear and Axle Co. in Bloomfield, New Jersey. With financial backing from his mother, the company was set to manufacture Torbensen's patented internal-gear truck axle. In 1914, the company moved to Cleveland, Ohio, to be closer to its core business, the automotive industry.

In 1916, The Torbensen Axle Company was incorporated in Ohio, succeeding the New Jersey Corporation. A year later, Republic Truck Company, Torbensen's largest customer, bought out the company. But, Eaton and Torbensen were not content and bowed out of Republic to form the Eaton Axle Company in 1919. A year later, in 1920, Eaton Axle Company merged with Standard Parts. Standard Parts went in receivership later the same year and was later liquidated. In 1923, Eaton bought the Torbensen Axle Co. back from Republic and changed the name to The Eaton Axle and Spring Company.

Eaton believed the quickest way to grow the business was through acquisitions and began buying companies in the automotive industry, By 1932, the diversified company changed its name to Eaton Manufacturing Company. In 1937, Eaton went international with a manufacturing plant in Canada. The company name changed once again in 1966 to Eaton Yale & Towne, Inc. after the acquisition of Yale & Towne Manufacturing Co. in 1963. Stockholders approved the change to the company's current name in 1971. Eaton Corp. continues its founder's philosophy of growth through acquisition along with divesting businesses that no longer fit the corporate vision.

Eaton Corporation is based in its 28-story office tower in Downtown Cleveland. Eaton from 1920s-1964 was based on East 152nd Street. In 1964, Eaton moved its headquarters into the new Erieview Tower from 1964-1984. In 1983, Eaton Corporation moved into its new tower.

Eaton Corporation is divided in several divisions:

Eaton spun off its semiconductor equipment business as Axcelis in 2000.

These divisions are spread over the world. In 2003 Eaton Electrical (formerly know as Cutler-Hammer) acquired the European Delta PLC's electrical division [1] (which held the following brands: HOLEC[2], M E M[3], TABULA[4], BILL[5], ELEK[6] and Westinghouse*) to get a hold of the IEC standards, one of the steps to get Global and grow more into a worldwide standard.

Not too long after that acquisition Eaton agreed in a JV with Caterpillar Inc., which followed several years later with the acquisition of Powerware.

The Westinghouse Distribution and Controls Business Unit was acquired by Eaton Electrical in 1994. The acquisition included all of the Westinghouse electrical distribution and control product business and also included stipulations that the Westinghouse name cannot be used by anyone else on these types of products for years. Today, Eaton Electrical manufactures leading electrical distribution and control products branded "Eaton" or "Cutler-Hammer" which can replace Westinghouse products in commercial and industrial applications.

The Los Angeles Aerospace division is mainly focused on manufacturing hydraulic pressure valves. Eaton supplies valves to all types of aircraft, ranging from military to commercial. Recently, Eaton qualified to manufacture the Airbus A380 actuation valves, which signifies trust within its supplier-customer network.

On June 22, 2006, Eaton announced a tentative decision to close its fluid power division hydraulics plant in Hutchinson, Kansas [7]

On August 22, 2006, Eaton announced they would keep the Hutchinson plant open pending a $1 million promised economic incentive from the City of Hutchinson and a likely $2 million incentive from the State of Kansas. 155 assembly jobs will be moved to the Reynosa, Mexico plant by June, 2007. [8] [9] [10]

The History of Eaton Corporation 1911-1985
Securities and Exchange Commission

Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.