Crown Equipment Corporation
Encyclopedia
A privately held, family-owned U.S. company, Crown Equipment Corporation is the fourth largest manufacturer of powered industrial forklift truck
s in the world. According to industry reports, Crown had $1.6 billion in worldwide sales revenue for fiscal year 2009. Crown has appeared at least ten times on Forbes’ list of the largest private companies in the United States. In 2008, the company ranked 269th on that list.
Based in the small community of New Bremen, Ohio
, Crown got its start manufacturing first temperature controls for coal-burning furnaces and then television antenna rotator
s. It diversified in several directions before finding its niche in the material handling industry. Its lift trucks are used in a variety of applications, such as transporting goods through the narrow aisles of warehouses, distribution centers and manufacturing facilities.
Corporate headquarters: New Bremen, Ohio, USA. Additional corporate offices in Munich, Germany
; Sydney, Australia
; and Suzhou, China
.
Number of employees: 7,200 worldwide.
Estimated sales revenue: $1.6 billion in 2009.
Distribution: Fifty Crown owned branches and forty-five independent dealers in the United States.
Incorporated: 1945 as Crown Controls Corp. became Crown Equipment Corporation October 15, 1988.
, and Greencastle
and Connersville, Indiana
. It has manufacturing, distribution and sales operations in Australia, Germany and Mexico. Since April 2006, Crown has been manufacturing hand pallet trucks in a 150000 square feet (13,935.5 m²) facility in Suzhou, China
.
All Crown manufacturing facilities – including the small components, motor, mast and final assembly plants, as well as engineering, purchasing, design, distribution center and tool rooms have obtained ISO 9001:2000
certification
Crown received the State of Ohio Governor's award for Outstanding Achievements in Pollution Prevention in 1992.http://www.epa.state.oh.us/opp/fact12.txt In 2004, the United States Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) designated Crown a Waste Minimization Partner, publicly recognizing the firm for its voluntary efforts. As part of EPA’s National Partnership for Environmental Prioritieshttp://www.epa.gov/npep (NPEP) program, Crown set a partnership goal of eliminating chromium
from its paints. Crown reduced its hazardous waste emissions by more than 300,000 pounds by removing chromium (in the form of ammonium dichromate as a flash rust inhibitor) from water-based paint formulations. By installing a new powder coat paint line, Crown eliminated more than 65 percent of wastewater from its water curtain paint booths, cutting more than 200,000 pounds of wastewater and sludge. The results included reduced air emissions, a better work environment and a savings of $65,000 a year.
In 1972, Crown introduced its first rider stand-up counterbalanced (RC) truck, which featured a side stance position that allowed the driver, standing sideways, to see both forward and backward by turning his head. Prior to the Crown RC Series, operators who wished to travel in reverse had to operate the controls from behind their backs.
In 1980, Crown introduced its RR Series rider reach trucks, designed for the narrow aisles of warehouses and distribution centers. The RR truck won the “Design of the Decade” award from the Industrial Designers Society of America in 1990.
Crown’s TSP 6000 Series (Turret Stockpicker), which enables warehouse storage on shelves dozens of feet above the floor, won a 2007 international “best of the best” Red dot design award
http://www.forkliftaction.com/news/newsdisplay.aspx?nwid=4503. The TSP 6000 also received a Silver IDEA Award from the Industrial Designers Society of America
, the GOOD DESIGNTM Awardhttp://www.chi-athenaeum.org/gdesign/index.html from the Chicago and Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and the iF product design award from the International Forum Design
in Hanover, Germany. (photo by Thomas.net industrial newsroom)
Crown’s ST/SX 3000 Stacker Series received a Gold IDEA Award in 2007http://www.idsa.org/IDEA2007/gallery/award_winners.asp?Categories_ID=1, presented by the Industrial Designers Society of America
(IDSA). The X10 handle, which is also used on other Crown products, won a GOOD DESIGNTM award from the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design in 2004.
Crown's Wave Work Assist Vehicle, brought to market in the late 1990s, is designed to transport, put away or retrieve loads, replacing handcarts, rolling ladders and warehouse ladders in both warehouses and manufacturing, maintenance and retail facilities.
research.http://www.ohio.gov/news/2008/mar.stm Crown’s research will address the technical and commercial barriers to using available battery replacement fuel cell power packs in industrial lift trucks. The study will facilitate the creation and growth of fuel cell-powered material handling equipment for use in warehouses and distribution centers.
Crown will review the performance of each combination of its lift trucks with fuel cell power, to identify modifications needed to allow the lift truck to perform as intended while complying with industry standards. The Ohio Department of Development and Ohio’s Third Frontier Commissionhttp://www.thirdfrontier.com are providing the grant.
The Crown C-5 features an industrial engine that was jointly developed with John Deere Power Systems (John Deere), a proactive approach to engine cooling and radiator clearing via an on-demand cooling system, and design innovations that supposedly improve operator visibility, comfort and productivity.
Crown entered the material handling industry with niche products in which the major players had no interest. After shipping its first model in 1956, Crown developed several specialty lift trucks, including stockpickers and order pickers for the U.S. government, a hamper-dumper truck for the U.S. Postal Service, and trucks for carrying caskets for funeral parlors. Crown later decided to stop making so many one-of-a-kind trucks and developed two lines of E-Z Lift Trucks: an H series (hand-operated) and a B series (battery-operated). In 1959, when its lift trucks had annual sales of about $50,000, antenna rotators had annual sales of $700,000, but the transition to the lift truck business was under way. Crown stopped manufacturing the rotators in late 2000.
Crown hired Deane Richardsonhttp://www.idsa.org/whatsnew/sections/dh/personal_rec_awards/1985_Richardson.html and David B. Smith[www.idsa.org/whatsnew/sections/dh/personal_rec_awards/1995_Smith.html], of RichardsonSmith, to design a medium-duty hand-controlled pallet truck, which went on the market in 1962. That pallet truck won a design excellence award from the American Iron and Steel Institute
in 1965. Good design became part of Crown’s corporate strategy. Crown focused on niche markets, which didn’t affect competitors whose bread and butter were gas trucks and electric rider trucks. In 1970, Levitz, the furniture discounter, placed an order for 67 Crown stockpickers, which got momentum for sales going. That year, Crown joined the Industrial Truck Associationhttp://www.indtrk.org/ and opened a plant in Australia.
Washington, DC: Farragut Publishing, 1995. ISBN 978-0918535207
Forklift truck
A forklift is a powered industrial truck used to lift and transport materials. The modern forklift was developed in the 1920s by various companies including the transmission manufacturing company Clark and the hoist company Yale & Towne Manufacturing...
s in the world. According to industry reports, Crown had $1.6 billion in worldwide sales revenue for fiscal year 2009. Crown has appeared at least ten times on Forbes’ list of the largest private companies in the United States. In 2008, the company ranked 269th on that list.
Based in the small community of New Bremen, Ohio
New Bremen, Ohio
New Bremen is a village in Auglaize County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,909 at of the 2000 census. It is included in the Wapakoneta, Ohio Micropolitan Statistical Area....
, Crown got its start manufacturing first temperature controls for coal-burning furnaces and then television antenna rotator
Antenna rotator
An antenna rotator is a device which is used to change the orientation of a directional antenna. Most antenna rotators have two parts, the rotator unit and the controller...
s. It diversified in several directions before finding its niche in the material handling industry. Its lift trucks are used in a variety of applications, such as transporting goods through the narrow aisles of warehouses, distribution centers and manufacturing facilities.
Corporate headquarters: New Bremen, Ohio, USA. Additional corporate offices in Munich, Germany
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
; Sydney, Australia
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
; and Suzhou, China
Suzhou
Suzhou , previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part...
.
Number of employees: 7,200 worldwide.
Estimated sales revenue: $1.6 billion in 2009.
Distribution: Fifty Crown owned branches and forty-five independent dealers in the United States.
Incorporated: 1945 as Crown Controls Corp. became Crown Equipment Corporation October 15, 1988.
Leadership
Carl and Allen Dicke and Carl’s son Jim Dicke founded Crown Controls in 1945. In 1952, when Carl died, 31-year-old Jim Dicke became president. Jim Dicke II was president from 1980 to 2002 and is the current CEO. Jim Dicke III is Crown’s current president.Manufacturing facilities
Crown manufactures 85 percent of the parts used in its lift trucks, producing components ranging from wire harnesses to electric motors. Crown’s lift truck manufacturing facilities include over 1500000 square feet (139,354.6 m²) in west central Ohio. Crown also has manufacturing facilities in Kinston, North CarolinaKinston, North Carolina
Kinston is a city in Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 23,688 at the 2000 census. The population was estimated at 22,360 in 2008. It has been the county seat of Lenoir County since its formation in 1791 . Kinston is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks...
, and Greencastle
Greencastle, Indiana
Greencastle is a city in Greencastle Township, Putnam County, Indiana, United States, and the county seat of Putnam County. It was founded in 1821 by Scots-Irish American Ephraim Dukes on a land grant. He named the settlement for his hometown of Greencastle, Pennsylvania...
and Connersville, Indiana
Connersville, Indiana
At the 2000 census, there were 15,411 people, 6,382 households and 4,135 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,894.5 per square mile . There were 6,974 housing units at an average density of 857.3 per square mile...
. It has manufacturing, distribution and sales operations in Australia, Germany and Mexico. Since April 2006, Crown has been manufacturing hand pallet trucks in a 150000 square feet (13,935.5 m²) facility in Suzhou, China
Suzhou
Suzhou , previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part...
.
All Crown manufacturing facilities – including the small components, motor, mast and final assembly plants, as well as engineering, purchasing, design, distribution center and tool rooms have obtained ISO 9001:2000
ISO 9000
The ISO 9000 family of standards relates to quality management systems and is designed to help organizations ensure they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders . The standards are published by ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, and available through National...
certification
Crown received the State of Ohio Governor's award for Outstanding Achievements in Pollution Prevention in 1992.http://www.epa.state.oh.us/opp/fact12.txt In 2004, the United States Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
(EPA) designated Crown a Waste Minimization Partner, publicly recognizing the firm for its voluntary efforts. As part of EPA’s National Partnership for Environmental Prioritieshttp://www.epa.gov/npep (NPEP) program, Crown set a partnership goal of eliminating chromium
Chromium
Chromium is a chemical element which has the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in Group 6. It is a steely-gray, lustrous, hard metal that takes a high polish and has a high melting point. It is also odorless, tasteless, and malleable...
from its paints. Crown reduced its hazardous waste emissions by more than 300,000 pounds by removing chromium (in the form of ammonium dichromate as a flash rust inhibitor) from water-based paint formulations. By installing a new powder coat paint line, Crown eliminated more than 65 percent of wastewater from its water curtain paint booths, cutting more than 200,000 pounds of wastewater and sludge. The results included reduced air emissions, a better work environment and a savings of $65,000 a year.
Crown products and services
Crown manufactures narrow-aisle and very narrow-aisle stacking equipment, narrow aisle reach trucks, counterbalanced trucks, high-level stockpickers, turret trucks, walkie stackers, work assist vehicles, hand pallet trucks, powered pallet trucks, rider pallet trucks, and LP gas trucks.In 1972, Crown introduced its first rider stand-up counterbalanced (RC) truck, which featured a side stance position that allowed the driver, standing sideways, to see both forward and backward by turning his head. Prior to the Crown RC Series, operators who wished to travel in reverse had to operate the controls from behind their backs.
In 1980, Crown introduced its RR Series rider reach trucks, designed for the narrow aisles of warehouses and distribution centers. The RR truck won the “Design of the Decade” award from the Industrial Designers Society of America in 1990.
Crown’s TSP 6000 Series (Turret Stockpicker), which enables warehouse storage on shelves dozens of feet above the floor, won a 2007 international “best of the best” Red dot design award
Red dot design award
The Red Dot Design Award is an international product design prize awarded by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen, Germany. There are prize categories for product design, design agencies, and design concepts. Since 1955, designers and producers can apply for the prizes with the winners...
http://www.forkliftaction.com/news/newsdisplay.aspx?nwid=4503. The TSP 6000 also received a Silver IDEA Award from the Industrial Designers Society of America
Industrial Designers Society of America
Industrial Designers Society of America is an organization of professional industrial designers primarily in the United States. Recently IDSA has started chapters in Canada and in China...
, the GOOD DESIGNTM Awardhttp://www.chi-athenaeum.org/gdesign/index.html from the Chicago and Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and the iF product design award from the International Forum Design
International Forum Design
iF International Forum Design GmbH is a Hanover-based organization providing design-related services. International Forum Design was launched in 2001 as the operative business arm of design promotion company iF Industrie Forum Design Hannover e.V....
in Hanover, Germany. (photo by Thomas.net industrial newsroom)
Crown’s ST/SX 3000 Stacker Series received a Gold IDEA Award in 2007http://www.idsa.org/IDEA2007/gallery/award_winners.asp?Categories_ID=1, presented by the Industrial Designers Society of America
Industrial Designers Society of America
Industrial Designers Society of America is an organization of professional industrial designers primarily in the United States. Recently IDSA has started chapters in Canada and in China...
(IDSA). The X10 handle, which is also used on other Crown products, won a GOOD DESIGNTM award from the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design in 2004.
Crown's Wave Work Assist Vehicle, brought to market in the late 1990s, is designed to transport, put away or retrieve loads, replacing handcarts, rolling ladders and warehouse ladders in both warehouses and manufacturing, maintenance and retail facilities.
Fuel cell development
In March 2008, the state of Ohio awarded Crown nearly $1 million in grant funding to conduct fuel cellFuel cell
A fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or another oxidizing agent. Hydrogen is the most common fuel, but hydrocarbons such as natural gas and alcohols like methanol are sometimes used...
research.http://www.ohio.gov/news/2008/mar.stm Crown’s research will address the technical and commercial barriers to using available battery replacement fuel cell power packs in industrial lift trucks. The study will facilitate the creation and growth of fuel cell-powered material handling equipment for use in warehouses and distribution centers.
Crown will review the performance of each combination of its lift trucks with fuel cell power, to identify modifications needed to allow the lift truck to perform as intended while complying with industry standards. The Ohio Department of Development and Ohio’s Third Frontier Commissionhttp://www.thirdfrontier.com are providing the grant.
Hamech
In January 2008, Crown entered into a branding agreement with Komatsu lift trucks to distribute internal combustion lift trucks in the United States and Canada.http://www.crown.com/usa/news/usa_company_news/2008/agreement_with_komatsu.html This brand of internal combustion lift trucks is marketed under the name Hamech .C-5
In December 2009, Crown marked the availability of its first company-manufactured internal combustion (IC) forklift with the release of the Crown C-5 Series.The Crown C-5 features an industrial engine that was jointly developed with John Deere Power Systems (John Deere), a proactive approach to engine cooling and radiator clearing via an on-demand cooling system, and design innovations that supposedly improve operator visibility, comfort and productivity.
Training
In 2006, Crown’s training approach, called DP QuickStart, earned an Award of Excellence for Outstanding Instructional Product from the International Society for Performance Improvementhttp://www.ispi.org/awards/2006/AwardsExcellence.htm (ISPI). Under the Demonstrated Performance (DP) instructional method, lift truck service technicians must show they have mastered one core skill needed to service an industrial lift truck before moving on to learn the next one. With DP QuickStart, which replaced lecture-based training sessions, technicians study and practice at their own pace while completing training modules.Early history
The company traces its evolution to the 1920s, when it manufactured and sold temperature controls for coal-burning furnaces as the Pioneer Heat Regulator Company. That market disappeared as the nation turned to gas heat. In 1945, the company was changing focus and became Crown Controls Corp. In 1949, as a market for television emerged, Crown began producing television antenna rotators. For two decades, starting in the late 1950s, Crown’s survival and growth were supported by subcontract work, manufacturing mechanical and electrical components for private industry (e.g., Baldwin Pianos and IBM) and the U.S. government, especially the military.Crown entered the material handling industry with niche products in which the major players had no interest. After shipping its first model in 1956, Crown developed several specialty lift trucks, including stockpickers and order pickers for the U.S. government, a hamper-dumper truck for the U.S. Postal Service, and trucks for carrying caskets for funeral parlors. Crown later decided to stop making so many one-of-a-kind trucks and developed two lines of E-Z Lift Trucks: an H series (hand-operated) and a B series (battery-operated). In 1959, when its lift trucks had annual sales of about $50,000, antenna rotators had annual sales of $700,000, but the transition to the lift truck business was under way. Crown stopped manufacturing the rotators in late 2000.
Crown hired Deane Richardsonhttp://www.idsa.org/whatsnew/sections/dh/personal_rec_awards/1985_Richardson.html and David B. Smith[www.idsa.org/whatsnew/sections/dh/personal_rec_awards/1995_Smith.html], of RichardsonSmith, to design a medium-duty hand-controlled pallet truck, which went on the market in 1962. That pallet truck won a design excellence award from the American Iron and Steel Institute
American Iron and Steel Institute
The American Iron and Steel Institute is an association of North American steel producers. Its predecessor organizations date back to 1855 making it one of the oldest trade associations in the United States. AISI assumed its present form in 1908, with Elbert H...
in 1965. Good design became part of Crown’s corporate strategy. Crown focused on niche markets, which didn’t affect competitors whose bread and butter were gas trucks and electric rider trucks. In 1970, Levitz, the furniture discounter, placed an order for 67 Crown stockpickers, which got momentum for sales going. That year, Crown joined the Industrial Truck Associationhttp://www.indtrk.org/ and opened a plant in Australia.
Publications
- McNees, Pat. By Design: The Story of Crown Equipment Corporation. Wilmington, Ohio: Orange Frazer Press, 1997. ISBN 978-1882203154
- McNees, Pat. An American Biography: An Industrialist Remembers the Twentieth Century.
Washington, DC: Farragut Publishing, 1995. ISBN 978-0918535207
- Design Management Institute Case Study. Crown Equipment Corporation: Design Services Strategy. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing, 1991.
- Design Management Institute Case Study. Crown Equipment Corporation: Design Services Strategy Epilogue. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing, 1991.
- Dicke, James F. II, Crown Equipment Corporation: A Story of People and Growth, New York: Newcomen Society, 1995.
- “Design Teams: Managing the Creative Integration of Organizational Resources,” Design Management Journal, Vol 2, No. 2, Spring 1991, pp. 19–23.
External links
- Schmall, Emily. "The BMW of Forklifts", Forbes, November 26, 2007