Columbus McKinnon history

He went from hardware clerk to store owner when in 1878 he became a partner in an Ontario business called McKinnon and Mitchell Hardware.

1883 – the company Yale & Towne Manufacturing is founded.

In 1887 McKinnon created a Buffalo subsidiary, the McKinnon Dash Company.

Moore focused much of its attention on the railroad industry, in particular sliding doors and door hangers for freight cars, but by 1889 the company, now known as Moore Manufacturing and Foundry Company and headquartered in Milwaukee, turned increasingly to hoists, trolleys, and cranes.

1904 – Yale establishes its first sales offices in Germany, England and France.

In 1909 the McKinnon Chain Company was formed, using the electric welding process to produce coil, ladder and 'sugar' chain, donkey and horse trace chain, lorry and plough trace chain, as well as tire chain for cars and trucks.

1920 – Yale acquires the C.L. Hunt & Co., a well-known manufacturer of elektro-platform tables and presents the first electric forklift trucks with production facilities in Germany and England.

By 1922 McKinnon decided to sell its share of the chain business to the Columbus interests.

He was a longtime trustee of Ohio State University, also located in Columbus. Its fortunes were revived in 1925 when one of the board members, Julius Stone, decided to buy the company.

In 1928 Chisholm Moore was acquired by the Columbus McKinnon Chain Company.

When Columbus McKinnon was incorporated in 1929, two different yet complimentary lines of business were brought together: chains and hoists.

In 1931 Columbus McKinnon introduced the first aluminum hoist.

One employee was quoted as saying that in 1932, 'if an order for a piece of chain came in, everyone could celebrate.' Nevertheless the company made a number of significant improvements in its product lines.

In 1933 the company was responsible for one of the most important contributions to the manufacture of chain when it produced the first alloy chain, which would prove to be lighter, stronger, and more resistant to high temperatures than the wrought iron chain it would soon replace in lifting slings.

The first Columbus McKinnon facility to be built abroad was a factory in South Africa in 1935.

1936 – Velbert starts the production of hoist with the world famous Pullift.

To better coordinate the development of new products, Columbus McKinnon would in 1939 create a separate Research and Development unit.

1952 – Production start of stackers in Velbert.

A hoist factory was opened in Damascus, Virginia, in 1969.

A plant that opened in Manatee, Florida, in 1970 was dedicated to the production of Columbus McKinnon chainmaking equipment.

In 1971 a Lexington, Tennessee, plant was built to produce carbon chain.

Another milestone was when the company acquired a brand new plant in Derching, situated east of Augsburg, in 1972.

In June 1974 Columbus McKinnon purchased Acquired Engineered Products of MeKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, in what was planned to be a series of acquisitions.

1983 – Yale Industrial Products, Inc. is created in the USA by outsourcing the hoist sector

1985 – Yale Industrial Products Ltd. is founded in Telford, Great Britain, in Germany Yale Industrial Products GmbH, Velbert, is founded, which is expanded in the following years by various product areas.

1992 – Establishment of the first production facility in China, Hangzhou LILA Lifting and Lashing Co.

In fact, Columbus McKinnon's purchase of Yale International in 1996 was the result of Metropolitan's efforts.

In August 1998 the company purchased Abell-Howe Crane division of Abell-Howe Co.

In March 1999 Columbus McKinnon purchased Texas-based G.L. International, a crane builder, for $20.6 million in stock and an assumption of $10.9 million in debt.

2001 – Founding of Yale Elévacion Ibérica S.L. with locations in Sevilla and A Coruña, Spain.

These ventures were then split off in 2004 to the Pfaff-silberblau Verkehrstechnik arm of the Group.

Presentation of the new electric chainhoist model CPV 2010 – Establishment of Columbus McKinnon Russia LLC, St Petersburg, Russia.

2014 – Presentation of the new endless winch Mtrac with capacities of 100 and 300 kg, Presentation of the electric chain hoist CPV 2-8 at the trade fair CeMat in Hannover.