What is the Crown Equipment Corporation?
About the company:
Crown Equipment Corporation is the fourth-largest forklift manufacturer in the world. It has corporate headquarters in New Bremen, Ohio, with additional offices in Germany, Australia, and China. The company employs more than 14,100 people worldwide.
What Crown Equipment Corporation makes and sells
Crown offers a wide variety of forklift types, including:
- Counterbalance Forklifts
- Very Narrow Aisle Trucks
- Reach Trucks
- Order Pickers
- Stackers
- Pallet Trucks
- Tow Tractors
- Work Assist Vehicles
- LP Gas Trucks
The company’s products and facilities focus on reducing waste and maximizing lifespan. Crown operates four zero-landfill-status facilities.
Additionally, Crown’s machines incorporate technology to improve productivity, decrease risk, and reduce operator fatigue. Automation helps operators maintain a steady pace, allowing the machine to handle most of the positioning, so operators can focus on moving materials. Crown’s QuickPick Remote Order Picking Technology won the 2014 International Forklift of the Year Award. Their Auto Positioning System can increase productivity by up to 25% by guiding the forklift along the most efficient route instead of a straight line.
The Crown Insite Productivity Suite gathers telematics data for fleet and operator management. FleetSTATS is a paperless work order management system that tracks maintenance records. InfoLink is a wireless solution that collects data on fleet truck activity and energy consumption, allowing facility managers to have real-time insights.
It’s also worth noting that Crown offers warehouse design services, outfitting them with equipment and supplies. Crown recognizes that equipment is only as safe as the operator and provides tools and resources for company training departments to educate employees on equipment use and safety.
History of Crown forklifts
In the 1920s, Pioneer Heat Regulator Company produced temperature meters for coal furnaces. As gas heating became a more convenient home heating solution, the company shifted focus. In 1945, it rebranded itself as Crown Controls Corp. and began producing television antenna parts, electrical fixtures, and mechanical parts.
In 1956, Crown started producing stock-pickers, order pickers, and lift trucks, later introducing the E-Z Lift truck lines. Crown’s medium-duty hand-controlled pallet truck received the American Iron and Steel Institute’s Design Excellence Award.
Focusing on design and niche markets, Crown’s reputation for quality equipment spread. The company joined the Industrial Truck Association and opened a plant in Australia.
In 1980, Crown launched the RR Series Rider Reach Trucks, designed to navigate narrow warehouse aisles. The RR Series won the Industrial Designers Society of America’s "Design of the Decade" award. Crown Controls Corp. eventually became Crown Equipment Corporation.
By 2000, Crown stopped manufacturing antenna rotators as demand for lift trucks increased. The TSP6000 Series, introduced later, won the Red Dot Design Award for its ability to reach high warehouse shelves, accessing previously hard-to-reach material.
In 2016, Crown Equipment Corporation reported $2.91 billion in sales revenue.
Who owns Crown Equipment Corporation?
Crown Forklifts is privately held. Carl and Allen Dicke founded Crown Controls in 1945. Jim Dicke II ran the company from 1980 to 2002. Today, Crown remains a family-owned business, currently led by Jim Dicke III.
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