Historical Highlights 


Turning Toward the Future

The key to Timken's success throughout the decades has been our willingness to transform our business to meet the demands of the market – and the needs of our customers.

 

1899: Timken Roller Bearing Company incorporates.
1901: Timken moves from St. Louis to Canton, Ohio, and opens a bearing and axle plant; it is later renamed The Timken Roller Bearing Company.
1909: Timken first enters overseas markets through a licensing agreement in England.
1911: The Timken bearing equipped Marmon Wasp wins the inaugural Indy 500.
1917: Timken invests in steelmaking operations by opening its first steel plant in Canton, Ohio.  The move ensures a reliable supply of steel for use in making Timken bearings at a time when the WWI effort is consuming most U.S.-made steel.
1919: Timken bearing applications expand more aggressively into non-automotive fields, such as mining and agriculture.
1922: Timken stock is publicly traded and the company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
1925: Timken bearings are used in railroad cars for the first time.
1928: Timken continues to expand internationally through subsidiaries in Canada and France.
1930: The Four Aces, a Timken-equipped locomotive, goes into service to demonstrate railroad bearing and steel applications.
1937: Timken grows its research and development capabilities by investing in large scale product and bearing life testing equipment.
1941 - 1945: Timken contributes bearings and steel tubing for a variety of military applications during WWII, as well as wartime production of large gun barrels.
1947: Timken opens its first automated high-volume production bearing factory in Bucyrus, Ohio.
1951: Timken expands its global manufacturing network by opening a plant in Benoni, South Africa.
1954: Timken AP™ bearing, a revolutionary bearing assembly design, is introduced for use in railroad freight cars.
1961: Timken opens a plant in Colmar, France, strengthening its European presence.
1966: Timken opens a new centralized research and development facility in North Canton, Ohio.  It is the first of 12 technology centers the company will open globally.
1971: Timken invests in automated mass production bearing operations with a new plant in Gaffney, S.C.
1978: Timken reaches $1 billion in sales.
1985: Timken invests $500 million to build Faircrest, a state-of-the-art steel mill, at a time when other steel makers are struggling.
1989: Timken grows a presence in India by investing in a joint venture for bearing production in Jamshedpur.
1990: Acquisition of MPB Corporation expands Timken's portfolio to include miniature precision bearings and new aerospace capabilities.
1995: Timken reaches $2 billion in sales.
1996-1997: Acquisitions and joint ventures expand bearing manufacturing in England, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, China and the United States.
1999: Timken celebrates its 100th anniversary.
2005: Timken reaches $5 billion in sales.
2007: Timken announces a joint venture in China with Xiangtan Electric Manufacturing Co., Ltd., to manufacture ultra large bore bearings for the Chinese wind energy market.
2007: Timken adds new power transmission products and capabilities to its aerospace business through the acquisition of Purdy Corp.
2007: Timken aligns to drive growth and performance with two new business groups - Steel and Bearings and Power Transmission.
2008: Timken opens new manufacturing facilities in Chennai, India, and Chengdu, China, to drive the company's strategy of growth in global industrial markets.
2008: Timken opens a small-bar steel rolling mill in Canton, Ohio, that expands its portfolio of differentiated steel products.
2008: Timken acquires EXTEX Ltd., adding nearly 600 Federal Aviation Administration parts manufacturer approval components to Timken's aerospace portfolio.
2008: Timken expands production capacity at its Tyger River facility in Union, S.C., to serve the growing wind energy market. The company also invests in a new thermal steel treatment facility in Canton, Ohio.
2009: lTimken completes an agreement to sell its needle roller bearings business to JTEKT Corporation.
2009: Timken named among "The 100 Most Trustworthy Companies" by Forbes magazine.
2010: Timken is named by Ethisphere Institute as one of world's most ethical companies

 

Today, we continue our tradition of working with customers to solve problems.  Our portfolio includes a full line of products and services that reduce friction and transmit power, not to mention an endless offering of technical solutions that help customers design, protect and maintain their own products.


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