Milestones in The Torrington Company’s History
IV - 4th Period, Timken 2003 Onward
-Torrington was part of the Engineered Solutions segment of the IR operations
2003, February 18.......... (intent previously announced October 16, 2002)
- The Torrington Company acquired by The Timken Company
- Timken completed its acquisition of The Torrington Company from Ingersoll-Rand for $840 million, consisting of:
.....- Cash $700 - Raised through
- .........................Public offering of 12.65 million Timken shares
- .........................Issue of $250 million seven-year senior unsecured notes
- .........................Five-year revolving credit facility
- .........................$125 million securities accounts receivable facility
.....- Timken shares, approx. 9.4 million, valued at $140 million, giving IR an about 11 percent ownership of Timken
- Torrington 2002 sales were $1.204 billion with Operating Income of $85.2 million
- $20 million pretax savings expected in the first 12 months from consolidating purchasing activities and distribution channels and $80 million by the end of 2005 when operations are combined and redundancies are eliminated
2003 cont’d
- Timken agreed to
…..sell the airframe operations in Torrington, Conn
…..sell the assets of the Rockford, Ill bearing plant (built in 1989).
…..move production from the Darlington, England bearing plant to other facilities and shut it down (built in 1965)
….continued integration of engineering, customer service and administrative functions
- NSK Ltd. exercised its right to acquire Torrington’s share in the NSK Torrington Co. Ltd. (NTC) from Timken for $146 million. For the fiscal year ended in March 2003, NTC had sales of $212.2 million. It was henceforward to be known as NSK Needle Bearings Co., Ltd.
- Note that in 1963 there were 360 Yen per US $ whereas by 2003 the value of the Yen had increased (or the value of the dollar had decreased) to 110 per $. That is a +325% increase in US Dollar value solely due to the rates of exchange even without considering growth. Thus, over the years, the strengthening of the Yen had a very beneficial effect on any Yen denominated dividends paid by NTC to its US owner or even on the ultimate value of its investment.
- Finding no buyers, Timken closed the Fafnir Division ball bearing facility in Rockford, Illinois
2004
- Kilian Manufacturing Corporation and its affiliate of Toronto, Canada are sold.
Kilian sales in 2003 were $40 million. They produced machined-race bearings, ball and roller, for sliding and overhead doors, furniture, appliance, conveyor and automotive steering applications.
2005
- Closed the automotive engineering center in Torrington, CT and Norcross, Georgia
- Closed manufacturing facility in Clinton, South Carolina (built in 1961).
- Downsized manufacturing facility in Vierzon, France
2006
- Closed administrative facilities in Torrington, CT
- Sold Nova Friburgo, Brazil facility (acquired in 1962)
- Timken completed divestiture of its automotive steering business located in Watertown, CT
- The Timken Company
.....................Net Sales.......Oper. Inc.....Net Income
..... 2006.....$4,973,365...$219,350....$222,527
..... 2005.....$4,823,167...$326,960....$260,281
..... 2004.....$4,287,197...$234,928....$135,656
..... 2003...$3,626,490..$101,875.....$36,481
..... 2002.....$2,384,077.....$85,657......$38,749
..... 2001.....$2,447.2........($17.7).........($41.7)
..... 2000.....$2,643.0.......$105.6..........$38.73
..... 1999......$2,495.0.......$132.8................x
..... 1998......$2,679.8........$225.0...............x
- Torrington
..... 2002.....$1,203.75........$85.15..............x
..... 2001......$1,077.8........$102.1................x
..... 2000.....$1,161.0.........$172.6................x
..... 1999......$1,239.5.........$145.7................x
..... 1998......$1,239.5.........$137.2................x
2007
- May 23, 2007 Ingersoll-Rand Torrington Unit will stay in Connecticut and build an automotive parts plant in Watertown consolidating manufacturing operations from three local facilities.
2007
- RBC Bearings (Mike Hartnett’c company) builds new 137,000 square foot aircraft products facility in Torrington on the Winsted Road and will relocate its operations from its current leased (from Timken) facility.
End
Please enter your corrections, observations, additional events under Comments for this subject. Your participation is deeply appreciated.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Friday, June 15, 2007
Milestones in History - III - 3rd Period & Timken's Announcement
Milestones in The Torrington Company’s History
III - Third Period to 2002 & Timken’s Announcement
1966
- Sales amounted to $106 million.
- Constructed a sewing machine needle plant, Torrington Portuguesa S.A.R.L., in Aboboda, Portugal for cost reduction purposes.
- Leased a small factory for needle bearing assembly in Llagostera, Spain
1967
-Milton E. Berglund elected Chairman, William R. (Bob) Reid, Jr. named President with Don Lewis and Ray O’Connell as Executive Vice Presidents
-As U.S. knitting machine manufacturers failed to improve and speed up their machines, foreign manufacturers invaded the U.S. market with their superior machines and their own needle sources.
- Purchased Thomaston Special Tool and Manufacturing Company with its three plants in the vicinity of Torrington
1968
- Expanded the NTC plant in Takasaki, Japan.
- Introduced the heavy-wall drawn cup wheel bearing for cost savings on automotive axles and planet pinion shafts for automatic transmissions
- Acquired Vaill Engineering Company, a Waterbury, Connecticut manufacturer of machine tools used in the fabrication of tubular components thereby adding to its swaging expertise and to where the swaging operations were relocated to form the Machinery Division.
- Announced the signing of an agreement in principle (October 10, 1968) to merge with Ingersoll-Rand Company with final approval on December 30th. The Torrington Company becomes a wholly subsidiary of Ingersoll-Rand and after 102 years ceased to exist as an independent company.
-Torrington shareholders received one share of I-R $2.35 preferred stock plus .4 share of I-R common stock for each share of Torrington stock. The new dividend amounted to $3.15 per share vs. the $1.60 paid by Torrington.
1969
-Built a new plant for the Specialties Division in Honea Path, South Carolina freeing space at the Standard and Broad Street plants.
1970
- Construction of a new headquarters building in Torrington, Connecticut was completed
- Resumed production of ball bearings at the Standard Plant for GM’s telescoping tilt-wheel mechanism.
- Demand for flatstock latch type knitting needles sharply increased. Fully struck tufting needles were introduced.
- Super precision helicopter needle bearings were also in great demand.
- The Bantam Division grew its production of large O.D. tapered roller bearings.
- Acquired Harrington Tool & Die Co., Ltd. Of Lachine, Quebec, supplier of needle-making machinery..
- Volume production of steering column U-joints is established at the Thomaston Special Products subsidiary.
- Hawksbury Gauge & Tool Company, Ltd. acquired to expand Coventry’s tooling capacity.
- Established the manufacture of needle bearings in an addition to the Ingersoll-Rand facility in Dandenong, Australia.
1971
- Torrington International Needle Bearing Sales and Planning Office (TISPO) set up in Coventry coordinating the production of needle bearings at Wurselen and Coventry.
1972
- Moved the U-joint operations from Coventry to Binley and shut down the spoke, nipple, screw, bolt and knitting needle business
- The Torrington Company, Ltd. purchased the closed down plant of the Lightning Fastener Division of Textron near Bedford to manufacture needle rollers and to assemble needle bearings for Canadian customers; expanded it in 1973.
- Acquired Wesco Industries Corporation of Plainview, Long Island, a maker of stop-motion devices for knitting machines.
- Sales of $115.8 million
1973
- A new plant in Sylvania, Georgia was constructed to concentrate on high-volume, pressed-metal bearings, primarily for the auto industry
- New plant built in Cairo, Georgia to produce machined-race bearings exclusively.
- Constructed an addition to the Nova Friburgo, Brazil plant to start a limited manufacture of needle bearings and U-Joints.
1975
-Acquired Kilian Manufacturing Corporation of Syracuse, N.Y. and its affiliate of Toronto, Canada. Kilian produced industrial casters and hardware-quality unground ball bearings for a variety of applications of non-exacting tolerances.
- Shut down Torrington S.p.A., the knitting needle plant in Genoa, Italy
1977
- The Specialties, Thomaston Special Products and Machinery divisions were consolidated into one entity, The Torrington Special Products Division
- Layoffs and cutbacks were effected in the Needle Division. Operating losses were recorded in the past three years.
- Suffered through a left wing military coup in Portugal and successfully resumed operations.
1978
- Knitting needle manufacture at the Excelsior plant was shut down with a consolidation of operations at Walhalla and the Canadian plant
- The spoke and nipple business is sold to Monogram Industries.
- A new Bearing Test Lab is added north of the Excelsior plant consolidating all needle bearing test operations as well as outboard engine testing.
1979
- Valve lifter roller assemblies are introduced and precisely ground pump vanes for auto power steering and transmissions are produced in massive quantities
- Special Products in Thomaston successfully produced intricate staple cartridges for surgical staplers
- NTC’s Takasaki plant further expanded.
1980
- In an attempt to prevent a monopoly, the Federal Trade Commission disallowed the sale of the knitting needle business to Groz-Beckert a German company.
- Torrington’s needle making business closed.
- SMN, FN and HN lines were sold to Groz-Beckert USA along with the SMN plant in Abobada, Portugal
- Sold the small needle bearing plant in Llagostera, Spain.
1981
- Employees bought-out the knitting needle operation in Bedford, Canada, and consolidated the transfer of U.S.A knitting needle assets into a new corporation, EXELTOR
- The industrial stitching machine operation sold to Puritan Industries, Inc. of Collinsville, Connecticut.
- Torrington is re-branded under a new I-R corporate identity program
- Thomas E. Bennett, a 30 year I-R veteran, replaced Ray O’Connell as President and vowed to continue its independence.
- A plant in Dahlonega , Georgia came on stream dedicated to producing needle rollers
- Shiloh factory at Rutherfordton, North Carolina started up specializing in heavy-duty roller bearings
- Walhalla plant converted from making needles to manufacturing automotive needle thrust bearings
1982
- Wurselen manufacturing facility converted into the European Central Warehouse (ECW) stocking bearing finished goods
1983
- Excelsior plant is renovated into modern offices to house the engineering and administrative functions of the Heavy Bearings division relocated from South Bend.
- Indiana manufacturing operations relocated to more modern facilities in the South.
- A separate Torrington International Division was formed to complement the existing Needle Bearings, Heavy Bearings and Special Products operating divisions.
- Product Division sales forces combined into a unified marketing approach.
- Broad Street (built in 1952) operations transferred to Dahlonega and plant closed.
- Manufacturing Development Center (MDC) constructed in Norcross, Georgia focusing on the latest in processing and machinery technology.
- Reached an agreement with Société Nouvelle de Roulements (SNR) of Annecy, France to exchange ideas and technology. Led to the development of sensor bearings
1984
- With SNR, acquired an equal equity in the French bearing manufacturer, Roulements Nadella specializing in metric needle roller bearings with plants at Vierzon and Maromme
- Signed a technology transfer agreement with Suzhou Bearings Factory in Jiangsu , China to provide training and technical expertise.
1985
- Merged with Fafnir Bearing Company, a division of Textron, bringing total sales to $750 million and making Torrington the largest broad-line bearings manufacturer in the U.S.A.
- Aerospace bearings were concentrated at Fafnir’s new Newington, Connecticut plant, production of other bearings reassigned to Torrington plants and its Arkadelphia, Arkansas and New Britain, Connecticut plants were eventually closed.
- Through Nadella, had a 26 per cent shareholding in the equity capital of Needle Roller Bearing Company Limited of India (NRB)
- Through the Nadella joint venture, acquired a minority interest in Industria Cuscinetti S.p.A (ICSA) of Turin, Italy a spherical roller bearing manufacturer.
- The Export-Import Consolidation Center in Torrington, CT became operational with the ECW in Wurselen facilitating product distribution internationally.
1987
- Precision Components Division in England produced complete steering column assemblies and the new tubular design
-Acquired commercial bearing assets of New Departure Hyatt, a division of General Motors
1988
-Established a joint concern with Nippon Seiko K.K. to make steering systems for Japanese cars being built in North America. The new company, Nastech Inc. of Bennington, VT started production of standard and tilt steering systems for passenger cars and light trucks early in
1989.
-Formed a partnership with the Norton Company of Worcester, Massachusetts, CERBEC Ceramic Bearings Company in East Grandby, Connecticut to specialize in ceramic and hybrid bearings. Partnership dissolved in 1991.
- New Forge Shop completed on the grounds of the Tyger River plant in Union, S.C.
1989
- Steering column operations are consolidated at the Torrington Avenue plant in Coventry
- Joint venture formed with Georg Mueller Nuernberg AG (GMN) of Germany for the high volume manufacture of electric-motor-quality radial ball bearings in Rockford, Illinois.
- Bearing Test Laboratory in Torrington expanded.
- Sold Harrington Tool & Die, Inc. along with the machinery building operations formerly of Waterbury that had been relocated to the Lachine facilities.
- NTC built the new Yawata plant in Takasaki.
1980 and 1990s
- Total Quality Management (TQM) program adopted.
- Sensor bearings are developed.
- Precision Components Division developed a new composite camshaft for automobile engines.
- Import throughout the U.S. of ball and roller bearings surged. Anti dumping charges were substantiated and filed. Transshipping is also documented. Some relief obtained.
1992
- Withdrew from jet engine segment of the market and the Newington plant.
- Shiloh plant committed to the manufacture of super precision machine tool bearings
1997
-Jerry Toupin, a Torrington engineer, was vice president/general manager of Fafnir Bearings Division
1998
-Sold Fafnir’s former Wolverhampton (U.K.) factory to Timken.
1999
Bearing sales estimated at $1.43 billion
2000
-NSK Ltd of Japan acquired 100-percent ownership of Nastech the joint venture between Torrington and NSK Ltd of Japan. It had achieved $100 million in sales to Japanese transplant as well as US auto manufacturers
2001
- Acquired full ownership of Nadella S.A. of France a previously formed venture with SNR Roulements of Annecy,
-Timken experienced losses and cut dividend to $0.52 per share, a 83% payout for the following year.
2002
-Bearings industry appears to be in cyclical trough
- Ingersoll-Rand reported a loss of $173.5 million on sales of $8.9 billion
-Timken approaches Ingersoll- Rand to purchase the industrial side of Torrington’s business but soon got interested in its entirety as it realized Torrington’s automotive business was stronger than originally thought.
-Torrington sales
............73% North America
............17% Europe
............10% Elsewhere
- October 16, Timken announced its intent to acquire The Torrington Company from Ingersoll-Rand
End
Please enter your corrections, observations, additional events under Comments for this subject
III - Third Period to 2002 & Timken’s Announcement
1966
- Sales amounted to $106 million.
- Constructed a sewing machine needle plant, Torrington Portuguesa S.A.R.L., in Aboboda, Portugal for cost reduction purposes.
- Leased a small factory for needle bearing assembly in Llagostera, Spain
1967
-Milton E. Berglund elected Chairman, William R. (Bob) Reid, Jr. named President with Don Lewis and Ray O’Connell as Executive Vice Presidents
-As U.S. knitting machine manufacturers failed to improve and speed up their machines, foreign manufacturers invaded the U.S. market with their superior machines and their own needle sources.
- Purchased Thomaston Special Tool and Manufacturing Company with its three plants in the vicinity of Torrington
1968
- Expanded the NTC plant in Takasaki, Japan.
- Introduced the heavy-wall drawn cup wheel bearing for cost savings on automotive axles and planet pinion shafts for automatic transmissions
- Acquired Vaill Engineering Company, a Waterbury, Connecticut manufacturer of machine tools used in the fabrication of tubular components thereby adding to its swaging expertise and to where the swaging operations were relocated to form the Machinery Division.
- Announced the signing of an agreement in principle (October 10, 1968) to merge with Ingersoll-Rand Company with final approval on December 30th. The Torrington Company becomes a wholly subsidiary of Ingersoll-Rand and after 102 years ceased to exist as an independent company.
-Torrington shareholders received one share of I-R $2.35 preferred stock plus .4 share of I-R common stock for each share of Torrington stock. The new dividend amounted to $3.15 per share vs. the $1.60 paid by Torrington.
1969
-Built a new plant for the Specialties Division in Honea Path, South Carolina freeing space at the Standard and Broad Street plants.
1970
- Construction of a new headquarters building in Torrington, Connecticut was completed
- Resumed production of ball bearings at the Standard Plant for GM’s telescoping tilt-wheel mechanism.
- Demand for flatstock latch type knitting needles sharply increased. Fully struck tufting needles were introduced.
- Super precision helicopter needle bearings were also in great demand.
- The Bantam Division grew its production of large O.D. tapered roller bearings.
- Acquired Harrington Tool & Die Co., Ltd. Of Lachine, Quebec, supplier of needle-making machinery..
- Volume production of steering column U-joints is established at the Thomaston Special Products subsidiary.
- Hawksbury Gauge & Tool Company, Ltd. acquired to expand Coventry’s tooling capacity.
- Established the manufacture of needle bearings in an addition to the Ingersoll-Rand facility in Dandenong, Australia.
1971
- Torrington International Needle Bearing Sales and Planning Office (TISPO) set up in Coventry coordinating the production of needle bearings at Wurselen and Coventry.
1972
- Moved the U-joint operations from Coventry to Binley and shut down the spoke, nipple, screw, bolt and knitting needle business
- The Torrington Company, Ltd. purchased the closed down plant of the Lightning Fastener Division of Textron near Bedford to manufacture needle rollers and to assemble needle bearings for Canadian customers; expanded it in 1973.
- Acquired Wesco Industries Corporation of Plainview, Long Island, a maker of stop-motion devices for knitting machines.
- Sales of $115.8 million
1973
- A new plant in Sylvania, Georgia was constructed to concentrate on high-volume, pressed-metal bearings, primarily for the auto industry
- New plant built in Cairo, Georgia to produce machined-race bearings exclusively.
- Constructed an addition to the Nova Friburgo, Brazil plant to start a limited manufacture of needle bearings and U-Joints.
1975
-Acquired Kilian Manufacturing Corporation of Syracuse, N.Y. and its affiliate of Toronto, Canada. Kilian produced industrial casters and hardware-quality unground ball bearings for a variety of applications of non-exacting tolerances.
- Shut down Torrington S.p.A., the knitting needle plant in Genoa, Italy
1977
- The Specialties, Thomaston Special Products and Machinery divisions were consolidated into one entity, The Torrington Special Products Division
- Layoffs and cutbacks were effected in the Needle Division. Operating losses were recorded in the past three years.
- Suffered through a left wing military coup in Portugal and successfully resumed operations.
1978
- Knitting needle manufacture at the Excelsior plant was shut down with a consolidation of operations at Walhalla and the Canadian plant
- The spoke and nipple business is sold to Monogram Industries.
- A new Bearing Test Lab is added north of the Excelsior plant consolidating all needle bearing test operations as well as outboard engine testing.
1979
- Valve lifter roller assemblies are introduced and precisely ground pump vanes for auto power steering and transmissions are produced in massive quantities
- Special Products in Thomaston successfully produced intricate staple cartridges for surgical staplers
- NTC’s Takasaki plant further expanded.
1980
- In an attempt to prevent a monopoly, the Federal Trade Commission disallowed the sale of the knitting needle business to Groz-Beckert a German company.
- Torrington’s needle making business closed.
- SMN, FN and HN lines were sold to Groz-Beckert USA along with the SMN plant in Abobada, Portugal
- Sold the small needle bearing plant in Llagostera, Spain.
1981
- Employees bought-out the knitting needle operation in Bedford, Canada, and consolidated the transfer of U.S.A knitting needle assets into a new corporation, EXELTOR
- The industrial stitching machine operation sold to Puritan Industries, Inc. of Collinsville, Connecticut.
- Torrington is re-branded under a new I-R corporate identity program
- Thomas E. Bennett, a 30 year I-R veteran, replaced Ray O’Connell as President and vowed to continue its independence.
- A plant in Dahlonega , Georgia came on stream dedicated to producing needle rollers
- Shiloh factory at Rutherfordton, North Carolina started up specializing in heavy-duty roller bearings
- Walhalla plant converted from making needles to manufacturing automotive needle thrust bearings
1982
- Wurselen manufacturing facility converted into the European Central Warehouse (ECW) stocking bearing finished goods
1983
- Excelsior plant is renovated into modern offices to house the engineering and administrative functions of the Heavy Bearings division relocated from South Bend.
- Indiana manufacturing operations relocated to more modern facilities in the South.
- A separate Torrington International Division was formed to complement the existing Needle Bearings, Heavy Bearings and Special Products operating divisions.
- Product Division sales forces combined into a unified marketing approach.
- Broad Street (built in 1952) operations transferred to Dahlonega and plant closed.
- Manufacturing Development Center (MDC) constructed in Norcross, Georgia focusing on the latest in processing and machinery technology.
- Reached an agreement with Société Nouvelle de Roulements (SNR) of Annecy, France to exchange ideas and technology. Led to the development of sensor bearings
1984
- With SNR, acquired an equal equity in the French bearing manufacturer, Roulements Nadella specializing in metric needle roller bearings with plants at Vierzon and Maromme
- Signed a technology transfer agreement with Suzhou Bearings Factory in Jiangsu , China to provide training and technical expertise.
1985
- Merged with Fafnir Bearing Company, a division of Textron, bringing total sales to $750 million and making Torrington the largest broad-line bearings manufacturer in the U.S.A.
- Aerospace bearings were concentrated at Fafnir’s new Newington, Connecticut plant, production of other bearings reassigned to Torrington plants and its Arkadelphia, Arkansas and New Britain, Connecticut plants were eventually closed.
- Through Nadella, had a 26 per cent shareholding in the equity capital of Needle Roller Bearing Company Limited of India (NRB)
- Through the Nadella joint venture, acquired a minority interest in Industria Cuscinetti S.p.A (ICSA) of Turin, Italy a spherical roller bearing manufacturer.
- The Export-Import Consolidation Center in Torrington, CT became operational with the ECW in Wurselen facilitating product distribution internationally.
1987
- Precision Components Division in England produced complete steering column assemblies and the new tubular design
-Acquired commercial bearing assets of New Departure Hyatt, a division of General Motors
1988
-Established a joint concern with Nippon Seiko K.K. to make steering systems for Japanese cars being built in North America. The new company, Nastech Inc. of Bennington, VT started production of standard and tilt steering systems for passenger cars and light trucks early in
1989.
-Formed a partnership with the Norton Company of Worcester, Massachusetts, CERBEC Ceramic Bearings Company in East Grandby, Connecticut to specialize in ceramic and hybrid bearings. Partnership dissolved in 1991.
- New Forge Shop completed on the grounds of the Tyger River plant in Union, S.C.
1989
- Steering column operations are consolidated at the Torrington Avenue plant in Coventry
- Joint venture formed with Georg Mueller Nuernberg AG (GMN) of Germany for the high volume manufacture of electric-motor-quality radial ball bearings in Rockford, Illinois.
- Bearing Test Laboratory in Torrington expanded.
- Sold Harrington Tool & Die, Inc. along with the machinery building operations formerly of Waterbury that had been relocated to the Lachine facilities.
- NTC built the new Yawata plant in Takasaki.
1980 and 1990s
- Total Quality Management (TQM) program adopted.
- Sensor bearings are developed.
- Precision Components Division developed a new composite camshaft for automobile engines.
- Import throughout the U.S. of ball and roller bearings surged. Anti dumping charges were substantiated and filed. Transshipping is also documented. Some relief obtained.
1992
- Withdrew from jet engine segment of the market and the Newington plant.
- Shiloh plant committed to the manufacture of super precision machine tool bearings
1997
-Jerry Toupin, a Torrington engineer, was vice president/general manager of Fafnir Bearings Division
1998
-Sold Fafnir’s former Wolverhampton (U.K.) factory to Timken.
1999
Bearing sales estimated at $1.43 billion
2000
-NSK Ltd of Japan acquired 100-percent ownership of Nastech the joint venture between Torrington and NSK Ltd of Japan. It had achieved $100 million in sales to Japanese transplant as well as US auto manufacturers
2001
- Acquired full ownership of Nadella S.A. of France a previously formed venture with SNR Roulements of Annecy,
-Timken experienced losses and cut dividend to $0.52 per share, a 83% payout for the following year.
2002
-Bearings industry appears to be in cyclical trough
- Ingersoll-Rand reported a loss of $173.5 million on sales of $8.9 billion
-Timken approaches Ingersoll- Rand to purchase the industrial side of Torrington’s business but soon got interested in its entirety as it realized Torrington’s automotive business was stronger than originally thought.
-Torrington sales
............73% North America
............17% Europe
............10% Elsewhere
- October 16, Timken announced its intent to acquire The Torrington Company from Ingersoll-Rand
End
Please enter your corrections, observations, additional events under Comments for this subject
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Milestones in History - II - Second 50 Years
1917
-The Torrington Company of Connecticut formed and all the assets of the Excelsior Needle Company are transferred to The Torrington Company of Maine. The Excelsior Needle Company survives as the “Excelsior Plant”.
-During World War I, under U.S. Government mandate, began, reluctantly, producing surgical needles previously imported from England.
-Purchased the Conley Inn (now known as The Yankee Pedlar Inn) located on Main Street and expanded the number of rooms to accommodate as a girls’ dormitory, 200 recently recruited female employees
1920s
-Purchased Domestic Electric Manufacturing Company of Worcester, Massachusetts, a manufacturer of electric vacuum cleaners and combined it with the carpet sweeper operations at the Standard Plant.
-Sold vacuum cleaners door to door, a disastrous adventure in marketing which was fortunately offset by a surge in sales of wheel spokes for automobile wire wheels
-Bought out the Tiley-Pratt Company of Essex, Connecticut which used a draw-bench type of rolling to form spokes instead of the swaging process.
-Purchased Chicago Handlebar Company and relocated the bicycle handlebar operations to the Standard Plant.
-Acquired the Chauncey A. Williams Company of Manchester, New Hampshire a manufacturer of heavy-gauge knitting machine latch needles.
-Invested in the development and production of spring-beard needles
-Contracted with International Business Machines for the installation of tabulating equipment
1930s
-Acquired the New Home Sewing Machine Company of Orange, Massachusetts, a manufacturer of sewing machines and needles, from the Free Sewing Machine Company of Rockford, Illinois.
-Purchased the felting needle machinery and business of H. Lydall & Foulds, of Manchester, Connecticut
-Operations in England moved to a new plant on Torrington Avenue in Coventry.
-Torrington engineer Edmund K. Brown who had been hired in 1920, developed a new type of bearing for the company, a self-contained needle bearing, a one-piece cup containing a circle of needle rollers with shaped ends, held in place by curled-in lips of the cup; it saved space and weight.
-Acquired the Westfield Manufacturing Company, Westfield, Massachusetts, a manufacturer of bicycles with the popular brand name “Columbia”
-Acquired Bantam Ball Bearing Company of South Bend, Indiana which had its origins in Bantam, Connecticut..
-The assets of The Torrington Company of Connecticut are absorbed by The Torrington Company of Maine and is dissolved.
-The Company is listed on the Boston Stock Exchange
-Diversification into bicycles and parts carries the Company during the depression.
-Conley Inn is sold (1939).
1940s
-Torrington products prove vital to the WWII effort particularly bearings in aircraft and a myriad of parts for military applications
-Manufacture of ball bearings squeezed out of the Standard Plant by needle bearings and the development of the PN (pulley needle) series, as a substitute for the K series ball bearing, where a drawn cup with a complement of needle rollers is combined with a machined and ground inner ring to produce a non-separable assembly, without retainer washers.
-The Bantam Bearings Division in South Bend was busy turning-out heavier needle and radial roller bearings as well ball and roller thrust bearings.
-Bazooka casings, rifle, airplane, shell and incendiary bomb parts were produced.
-A standard line of bearings produced to forecast, was developed, the self-aligning spherical roller bearing by the Bantam division.
-Decision made to man the bearing sales force with graduate engineers trained to design bearings into a customer’s product
-Program to market bearings through Distributors is established in addition to direct sales.
-Labor unions are established at both the Standard and the Excelsior plants.
-Purchased the vacated plant of Stanley Home Products in Westfield, Massachusetts for the production of needles.
1950s
-Sales of $33.6 million in 1950, $52 million in 1951, $58.5 million in 1957
-Developed in England, the manufacture of needle bearings and knitting machine needles from machinery shipped from the Bedford Canada factory.
- Acquired Aghi Zebra San Giorgio, a knitting needle manufacturer of Genoa, Italy and changed its name to Torrington S.p.A.
-Tariff rates on machine needles entering the U.S. from abroad are reduced opening the market to foreign competition.
- Bantam’s needle roller production moved from South Bend to Torrington.
- Built the Broad Street plant to consolidate needle roller production in one location and relieve space at the Standard Plant
-Added a line of needles for warp knitting machines.
- Developed the needle thrust bearing, a self-contained unit to handle axial force, which would be used in automatic transmissions among many other applications.
- Purchased the Progressive Manufacturing Company a manufacturer of machine screws, nuts and bolts, fasteners, located close to the Standard Plant.
- Company restructured into product divisions, Needles, Needle Bearings, Specialties, Swager-Surgical and Bantam
- J Series with separated and retained rollers within a cup and WJ Series with a retainer and a complement of rollers with not outer ring or cup were introduced.
1960s
-Sales of $67.5 million
-The Torrington Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol of TOR
-The Piedmont-Oconee Needle Plant built in Walhalla, South Carolina , for fine-gauge knitting machine needles, the Company’s first venture South and in a non-union environment (1960)
- Second South, Carolina plant built in Clinton, to manufacture needle bearings (1961)
- Purchased a latch knitting machine needle firm in Nova Friburgo, Brazil, named it Torrington-Magus, Ltd. and assigned responsibility to The Torrington Company, Ltd. of Canada
- Sold Westfield Manufacturing to Columbia Manufacturing and disposed of Progressive Manufacturing
-The Westfield knitting machine needle plant is closed and the New Home plant sewing machine operations are transferred to the new Walhalla plant
-Constructed the Wire Mill next to the Broad Street Plant, enabling a reduction in raw material costs by dealing in fewer rod sizes to be drawn down to the variety of wire (roller) sizes required.
- Bantam Division introduced triple-ring roller bearings and a line of self-aligning ball bushings with smaller sizes made at the Standard Plant .
-With Nippon Seiko KK, Ltd. (NSK) formed joint venture of NSK- Torrington Co. Ltd. (NTC) in Takasaki City, Japan, owning 49.03% of the equity interest (1963) Initial technical assistance and training provided by Torrington’s U.K. operations
- Universal Joint product line incorporating drawn cup needle bearings developed at the Coventry, England plant.
- South Bend developed screwdown tapered tapered roller thrust bearings and aluminum bearing cages
- Drawn cup overrunning roller clutch conceived and developed by John Cowles at the Connecticut facilities.
-The Clinton and Walhalla plants are expanded and a new research and development building was constructed next to the Standard Plant
-Production of Heavy bearings started at a new plant in Darlington, England
-The Bantam Division shifted production of some bearings to a new plant, Tyger River, in Union, South Carolina.
-The Needle Bearing division introduced a new antifriction nose wheel for chain saws and also sealed drawn cup roller bearing.
-New plant constructed in Wurselen, Germany to accommodate the manufacture of needle bearings, sewing machine needles and eventually felting needles and universal joints
-First computer installed in 1962 and subsequent teleprocessing with the Southern plants
-Sales amounted to $93.4 million (60% bearings, 30% needles) in 1965
-Nadella incorporated NRB in India and formed a joint venture between NRB Bearings Limited and Torrington with a plant at Waluj.
Please enter your corrections, observations, additional events under Comments for this subject
-The Torrington Company of Connecticut formed and all the assets of the Excelsior Needle Company are transferred to The Torrington Company of Maine. The Excelsior Needle Company survives as the “Excelsior Plant”.
-During World War I, under U.S. Government mandate, began, reluctantly, producing surgical needles previously imported from England.
-Purchased the Conley Inn (now known as The Yankee Pedlar Inn) located on Main Street and expanded the number of rooms to accommodate as a girls’ dormitory, 200 recently recruited female employees
1920s
-Purchased Domestic Electric Manufacturing Company of Worcester, Massachusetts, a manufacturer of electric vacuum cleaners and combined it with the carpet sweeper operations at the Standard Plant.
-Sold vacuum cleaners door to door, a disastrous adventure in marketing which was fortunately offset by a surge in sales of wheel spokes for automobile wire wheels
-Bought out the Tiley-Pratt Company of Essex, Connecticut which used a draw-bench type of rolling to form spokes instead of the swaging process.
-Purchased Chicago Handlebar Company and relocated the bicycle handlebar operations to the Standard Plant.
-Acquired the Chauncey A. Williams Company of Manchester, New Hampshire a manufacturer of heavy-gauge knitting machine latch needles.
-Invested in the development and production of spring-beard needles
-Contracted with International Business Machines for the installation of tabulating equipment
1930s
-Acquired the New Home Sewing Machine Company of Orange, Massachusetts, a manufacturer of sewing machines and needles, from the Free Sewing Machine Company of Rockford, Illinois.
-Purchased the felting needle machinery and business of H. Lydall & Foulds, of Manchester, Connecticut
-Operations in England moved to a new plant on Torrington Avenue in Coventry.
-Torrington engineer Edmund K. Brown who had been hired in 1920, developed a new type of bearing for the company, a self-contained needle bearing, a one-piece cup containing a circle of needle rollers with shaped ends, held in place by curled-in lips of the cup; it saved space and weight.
-Acquired the Westfield Manufacturing Company, Westfield, Massachusetts, a manufacturer of bicycles with the popular brand name “Columbia”
-Acquired Bantam Ball Bearing Company of South Bend, Indiana which had its origins in Bantam, Connecticut..
-The assets of The Torrington Company of Connecticut are absorbed by The Torrington Company of Maine and is dissolved.
-The Company is listed on the Boston Stock Exchange
-Diversification into bicycles and parts carries the Company during the depression.
-Conley Inn is sold (1939).
1940s
-Torrington products prove vital to the WWII effort particularly bearings in aircraft and a myriad of parts for military applications
-Manufacture of ball bearings squeezed out of the Standard Plant by needle bearings and the development of the PN (pulley needle) series, as a substitute for the K series ball bearing, where a drawn cup with a complement of needle rollers is combined with a machined and ground inner ring to produce a non-separable assembly, without retainer washers.
-The Bantam Bearings Division in South Bend was busy turning-out heavier needle and radial roller bearings as well ball and roller thrust bearings.
-Bazooka casings, rifle, airplane, shell and incendiary bomb parts were produced.
-A standard line of bearings produced to forecast, was developed, the self-aligning spherical roller bearing by the Bantam division.
-Decision made to man the bearing sales force with graduate engineers trained to design bearings into a customer’s product
-Program to market bearings through Distributors is established in addition to direct sales.
-Labor unions are established at both the Standard and the Excelsior plants.
-Purchased the vacated plant of Stanley Home Products in Westfield, Massachusetts for the production of needles.
1950s
-Sales of $33.6 million in 1950, $52 million in 1951, $58.5 million in 1957
-Developed in England, the manufacture of needle bearings and knitting machine needles from machinery shipped from the Bedford Canada factory.
- Acquired Aghi Zebra San Giorgio, a knitting needle manufacturer of Genoa, Italy and changed its name to Torrington S.p.A.
-Tariff rates on machine needles entering the U.S. from abroad are reduced opening the market to foreign competition.
- Bantam’s needle roller production moved from South Bend to Torrington.
- Built the Broad Street plant to consolidate needle roller production in one location and relieve space at the Standard Plant
-Added a line of needles for warp knitting machines.
- Developed the needle thrust bearing, a self-contained unit to handle axial force, which would be used in automatic transmissions among many other applications.
- Purchased the Progressive Manufacturing Company a manufacturer of machine screws, nuts and bolts, fasteners, located close to the Standard Plant.
- Company restructured into product divisions, Needles, Needle Bearings, Specialties, Swager-Surgical and Bantam
- J Series with separated and retained rollers within a cup and WJ Series with a retainer and a complement of rollers with not outer ring or cup were introduced.
1960s
-Sales of $67.5 million
-The Torrington Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol of TOR
-The Piedmont-Oconee Needle Plant built in Walhalla, South Carolina , for fine-gauge knitting machine needles, the Company’s first venture South and in a non-union environment (1960)
- Second South, Carolina plant built in Clinton, to manufacture needle bearings (1961)
- Purchased a latch knitting machine needle firm in Nova Friburgo, Brazil, named it Torrington-Magus, Ltd. and assigned responsibility to The Torrington Company, Ltd. of Canada
- Sold Westfield Manufacturing to Columbia Manufacturing and disposed of Progressive Manufacturing
-The Westfield knitting machine needle plant is closed and the New Home plant sewing machine operations are transferred to the new Walhalla plant
-Constructed the Wire Mill next to the Broad Street Plant, enabling a reduction in raw material costs by dealing in fewer rod sizes to be drawn down to the variety of wire (roller) sizes required.
- Bantam Division introduced triple-ring roller bearings and a line of self-aligning ball bushings with smaller sizes made at the Standard Plant .
-With Nippon Seiko KK, Ltd. (NSK) formed joint venture of NSK- Torrington Co. Ltd. (NTC) in Takasaki City, Japan, owning 49.03% of the equity interest (1963) Initial technical assistance and training provided by Torrington’s U.K. operations
- Universal Joint product line incorporating drawn cup needle bearings developed at the Coventry, England plant.
- South Bend developed screwdown tapered tapered roller thrust bearings and aluminum bearing cages
- Drawn cup overrunning roller clutch conceived and developed by John Cowles at the Connecticut facilities.
-The Clinton and Walhalla plants are expanded and a new research and development building was constructed next to the Standard Plant
-Production of Heavy bearings started at a new plant in Darlington, England
-The Bantam Division shifted production of some bearings to a new plant, Tyger River, in Union, South Carolina.
-The Needle Bearing division introduced a new antifriction nose wheel for chain saws and also sealed drawn cup roller bearing.
-New plant constructed in Wurselen, Germany to accommodate the manufacture of needle bearings, sewing machine needles and eventually felting needles and universal joints
-First computer installed in 1962 and subsequent teleprocessing with the Southern plants
-Sales amounted to $93.4 million (60% bearings, 30% needles) in 1965
-Nadella incorporated NRB in India and formed a joint venture between NRB Bearings Limited and Torrington with a plant at Waluj.
Please enter your corrections, observations, additional events under Comments for this subject
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Milestones in History - I - First 50 Years
Milestones in The Torrington Company’s History
I - First 50 Years
1846
-Elias Howe Jr. of Cambridge, MA received the first American patent for a “Sewing Machine” and relocated to New Hartford, Connecticut.
1864
-Orrin L. Hopson and Herman P. Brooks received a patent on a mechanism to compress sections of steel wire
1865
-United States Civil War ends.
1866
-Hopson and Eli J. Manville of Waterbury, Connecticut and Brooks of Wolcottville, Connecticut organized Excelsior Needle Company locating its first plant in the Daytonville (northern)
section of Torrington, Connecticut
1870
-Built The Needle Shop factory at Railroad Square, bordering Church Street, in Wolcottville, the central section of the city of Torrington, to manufacture sewing machine needle blanks using the wire compressing process (blanking).
1872
-Purchased $3,000 worth of stock of the Davis Sewing Machine Company of Watertown, New York
1876
-Recorded sales of $75,000
1882
-First rotary swaging machine patent to form needle blanks issued to W.H. (Bill) Dayton for the Excelsior Needle Company
1890
-Took over National Needle Company of Springfield, Massachusetts which not only manufactured sewing machine needles but had also come up with a design for a sewing machine
1890s
-Constructed plant at the site of present Excelsior Field Street building. Vacated the Church Street property
-Incorporated in the State of Connecticut (1893)
-Set up the Torrington Swaging Company a forerunner of the Specialties Division to manufacture spokes and nipples
-Established its first foreign subsidiary, American Supplies Company, Ltd. in London, England
-Piloted The Leicester Swaging and Supply Company in England, in the manufacture of spokes and nipples for bicycle wheels
-Purchased T. Paice & Son of Redditch to manufacture needles in England
-Purchased A.H. Smith Company of New Haven and moved its hook needle-making machinery to Torrington
-Diversified into the manufacture of heavier hook needles and knitting machine latch needles
-Formed a subsidiary The Coventry Swaging Company, Ltd. which absorbed the Leceister and Redditch operations and relocated to Coventry, England
-Set up The Puritan Manufacturing Company in Torrington to manufacture sewing machines and shoe machinery.
-Developed a heavy duty stitching machine
1898
-Annual Sales of $768,000
-All of Excelsior Needle Company assets are conveyed to The Torrington Company of Maine (organized as a holding company) which had purchased all of its stock.
-The Torrington Swaging Company is renamed The Standard Spoke and Nipple Company which in turn was subsequently renamed The Standard Company
1904
-Purchased the bicycle pedal business of Bridgeport Gun Implement Company and merged it into the Standard operations
1905
-Opened a Torrington needle factory in Aachen, Germany, MetallwarenGesellshaft,m.b.h. (Metwar).
-Assumed control of the Domestic Sewing Machine Company of Newark, New Jersey, a sewing machine and carpet sweeper manufacturer
1906
-Built the present Standard Plant to house The Standard Company
1907
-Sold the original Needle Shop on Church Street
1910
-Invested in the Splitdorf Electrical Company of New Jersey which made ignition coils, spark plugs, magnetos and ball bearings and moved production to Torrington
1912
-Initiated the manufacture of screws and bolts at the Coventry plant
-Took on the manufacture of hook needles at the Aachen plant which although impounded by Germany during World War I, was returned intact in 1920
-Electrical service is installed at all factories in Torrington, Connecticut (1912/1914). The preferred method of delivering power to the machinery was belts driven from overhead line shafts which could now be electrified.
1913
-Purchased the Bedford Corey Needle Company of Bedford, Quebec, Canada, a maker of knitting latch needles. Later named The Torrington Company, Ltd. .
Please enter your corrections, observations under Comments for this subject
I - First 50 Years
1846
-Elias Howe Jr. of Cambridge, MA received the first American patent for a “Sewing Machine” and relocated to New Hartford, Connecticut.
1864
-Orrin L. Hopson and Herman P. Brooks received a patent on a mechanism to compress sections of steel wire
1865
-United States Civil War ends.
1866
-Hopson and Eli J. Manville of Waterbury, Connecticut and Brooks of Wolcottville, Connecticut organized Excelsior Needle Company locating its first plant in the Daytonville (northern)
section of Torrington, Connecticut
1870
-Built The Needle Shop factory at Railroad Square, bordering Church Street, in Wolcottville, the central section of the city of Torrington, to manufacture sewing machine needle blanks using the wire compressing process (blanking).
1872
-Purchased $3,000 worth of stock of the Davis Sewing Machine Company of Watertown, New York
1876
-Recorded sales of $75,000
1882
-First rotary swaging machine patent to form needle blanks issued to W.H. (Bill) Dayton for the Excelsior Needle Company
1890
-Took over National Needle Company of Springfield, Massachusetts which not only manufactured sewing machine needles but had also come up with a design for a sewing machine
1890s
-Constructed plant at the site of present Excelsior Field Street building. Vacated the Church Street property
-Incorporated in the State of Connecticut (1893)
-Set up the Torrington Swaging Company a forerunner of the Specialties Division to manufacture spokes and nipples
-Established its first foreign subsidiary, American Supplies Company, Ltd. in London, England
-Piloted The Leicester Swaging and Supply Company in England, in the manufacture of spokes and nipples for bicycle wheels
-Purchased T. Paice & Son of Redditch to manufacture needles in England
-Purchased A.H. Smith Company of New Haven and moved its hook needle-making machinery to Torrington
-Diversified into the manufacture of heavier hook needles and knitting machine latch needles
-Formed a subsidiary The Coventry Swaging Company, Ltd. which absorbed the Leceister and Redditch operations and relocated to Coventry, England
-Set up The Puritan Manufacturing Company in Torrington to manufacture sewing machines and shoe machinery.
-Developed a heavy duty stitching machine
1898
-Annual Sales of $768,000
-All of Excelsior Needle Company assets are conveyed to The Torrington Company of Maine (organized as a holding company) which had purchased all of its stock.
-The Torrington Swaging Company is renamed The Standard Spoke and Nipple Company which in turn was subsequently renamed The Standard Company
1904
-Purchased the bicycle pedal business of Bridgeport Gun Implement Company and merged it into the Standard operations
1905
-Opened a Torrington needle factory in Aachen, Germany, MetallwarenGesellshaft,m.b.h. (Metwar).
-Assumed control of the Domestic Sewing Machine Company of Newark, New Jersey, a sewing machine and carpet sweeper manufacturer
1906
-Built the present Standard Plant to house The Standard Company
1907
-Sold the original Needle Shop on Church Street
1910
-Invested in the Splitdorf Electrical Company of New Jersey which made ignition coils, spark plugs, magnetos and ball bearings and moved production to Torrington
1912
-Initiated the manufacture of screws and bolts at the Coventry plant
-Took on the manufacture of hook needles at the Aachen plant which although impounded by Germany during World War I, was returned intact in 1920
-Electrical service is installed at all factories in Torrington, Connecticut (1912/1914). The preferred method of delivering power to the machinery was belts driven from overhead line shafts which could now be electrified.
1913
-Purchased the Bedford Corey Needle Company of Bedford, Quebec, Canada, a maker of knitting latch needles. Later named The Torrington Company, Ltd. .
Please enter your corrections, observations under Comments for this subject
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