FMC history

The roots of the FMC Corporation lie in the John Bean Spray Pump Company established in California in 1884 when Bean invented the hand spray pump.

Bean, not a businessman by nature, passed the management of the company over to his sonin-law, David Christian Crummey, in 1888.

In 1903, Fred Stebler opened the California Iron Works at Ninth and Vine Streets, where he produced citrus washing, drying, sorting, and packing equipment.

In the meantime, Bean Spray Pump Company was incorporated on May 20, 1904.

In 1909, George Parker bought the Riverside Foundry and Machine Works (renamed the Parker Machine Works) at Twelfth and Pachappa (later known as Commerce) Streets, where he manufactured nailing and boxing machines as well as citrus washing equipment.

Riverside City and County Directory, 1910.

Upon the advice of banker W.B. Clancy, and based on economic necessity, the two merged in 1920 to form the Stebler-Parker Company, which produced the packing and handling machines at Stebler's plant.

In August 1927, brothers Arthur and Kirby Pennick of Houston founded Oil Center Tool (O-C-T) to produce pump liners and rods for the oilfields of East Texas.

The two merged in 1928 to form the John Bean Manufacturing Company, which changed its name to the Food Machinery Corporation the next year.

In 1929, following these acquisitions, John Bean Manufacturing changed its name to Food Machinery Corporation, reflecting the focus on food production equipment.

In 1930, O-C-T introduced a new type of casing head and tubing head that was an immediate success.

In 1933, therefore, the firm began to expand by purchasing the Peerless Pump Company, whose inexpensive pumps were in high demand during these lean years.

Alongside this chemical expansion, Food Machinery’s equipment division prospered in the 1940’s due to the Second World War.

In 1943, the company made its first foray into the chemical market by acquiring the Niagara Sprayer and Chemical Company, a strong independent manufacturer of insecticides and fungicides.

During World War II, FMC built 11,251 LVT vehicles, receiving in 1945 the Army-Navy "E" award for outstanding war production.

In 1946, FMC bought Bolens Lawn and Garden Equipment.

At this time the company changed its name to Food Machinery Corporation, and began using the initials FMC. In 1948, the company name changed again, to Food Machinery & Chemical Corporation.

A drop in earnings occurred the year after the Westvaco acquisition, but by 1950 the company was back on its prosperous track.

In 1956, two brothers Paulo and Antonio Viana, both commanders in the Brazilian Navy with experience in the Naval ship yard, went into private business together founding Mecanica CBV. CBV stood for the initials of their father’s name Carlos Barbosa Viana.

In 1957, FMC Corp (Food, Machinery, and Chemicals), a growing conglomerate with its roots in the manufacture of spray pumps for California’s orchards, acquired OCT. They had already added other brands like WECO and Chiksan to their growing portfolio of oil field related machinery businesses.

In 1961, Food Machinery & Chemical Corporation was changed to simply FMC.

Their trend toward diversification continued, most notably with the purchase of the American Viscose Corporation in 1963, despite opposition from the antitrust division of the Justice Department.

In 1967, Placid awarded OCT its first subsea project at Ship Shoal Block 204 in the Gulf of Mexico.

In 1968, with Pope as its leader, FMC did show a brief resumption of its upward growth trend.

In 1970 the company was the second largest producer of the chemicals, which caused premature aging of natural water sites.

In 1971, OCT undertook for Placid what was then the world’s largest subsea development at Eugene Island Block 296 in the GoM. These early subsea projects were installed in shallow waters (EI296 was at 200 ft) using modified surface Christmas tree technology.

In 1972, soon after it purchased the Link-Belt Corp. of Chicago, FMC moved its headquarters from San Jose to the Windy City.

In 1973, OCT was renamed as FMC’s Wellhead Equipment Division.

In 1974, CBV pioneered the development of deepwater oil field technology in the Garoupa field of the Campos Basin using dry Christmas trees inside Lockheed-supplied pressure chambers.

In 1975, FMC’s Wellhead Equipment division expanded internationally, establishing manufacturing facilities in Dunfermline Scotland and Singapore.

In addition, in the two years prior to 1976, FMC put $400 million into high growth areas, such as petroleum equipment and specialty chemicals.

In 1977, CBV delivered their first wet deepwater Christmas tree.

In 1980, FMC Corp made its first investments in deepwater subsea oil field technology.

In 1986, however, the picture began to change.

Snap-on renamed the division the "John Bean Company". Bolens was sold to Troy-Bilt in 1988.

In 1989, the company acquired Meridian Gold from Burlington Resources through an exchange of stock.

FMC's expansion into production of aerial ladders failed: the FMC Fire Apparatus division was shut down in 1990.

Malott retired in 1991 at the age of 65, turning over a business he regarded as "dull" to FMC President Robert Burr.

In 1993, FMC Corp purchased Kongsberg Offshore from Siemens, making FMC the world’s largest subsea engineering, procurement, and construction company.

Early in 1994, FMC created United Defense, L.P., a joint venture with Harsco Corporation's Combat Systems, to control its defense unit.

In June 1995 the company closed on a $310 million purchase of Moorco International Inc., a Houston-based manufacturer of fluid measurement and pressure control products for the petroleum, industrial process, and electric power generation industries.

Another company purchased in 1996 was the Italian firm Sandei SRL, the world’s leading maker of small-scale tomato harvesters.

Difficulty swallowing all of these acquisitions dented profitability and led to a stock price swoon, but by the summer of 1997 FMC appeared back on track, and its stock shot back up.

In April 1998 a jury returned a verdict against FMC, which then faced a penalty of as much as $375 million.

Finally, in October 2000, the company ended a 14-year legal battle by agreeing to pay an $80 million out-of-court settlement.

In 2003 Solutia sued FMC over the Astaris venture, accusing its partner of fraud in connection with the failure of a chemical technology that FMC had contributed to the joint venture.

By 2004 long-term debt had been cut from $1.2 billion to $893 million.

In the meantime, in November 2005, the partners sold Astaris to Israel Chemicals Limited for $255 million.

Taking restructuring charges out of the equation, FMC in 2006 enjoyed its best year since the spinoff of the machinery operations.

The two sides reached a settlement in April 2007 whereby FMC agreed to pay Solutia $22.5 million.

On April 30, 2008, FMC Technologies announced the spinoff of its airport and food equipment businesses into a separate company named John Bean Technologies Corporation,JBT Corporation, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

On October 20, 2009, the Company acquired Multi Phase Meters AS, and on November 2, 2009, acquired Direct Drive Systems, Inc.

On October 1, 2012, the company acquired Pure Energy Services.“

A Bean sprayer was on display at the Forbes Mill museum in Los Gatos until its closure in 2014.

Mark Douglas became president and chief executive officer of FMC in June 2020 and Pierre Brondeau became Executive Chairman.