Lincoln Electric history

John C. Lincoln was also a principal in a separate company called the Lincoln Electric Manufacturing Co., which was founded in 1905 by Reuben & Charles Hitchcock, who were the sons of John Lincoln’s cousin, Peter Hitchcock.

On 9 June 1906, with 20 employees and $10,000 in capital, he incorporated the Lincoln Electric Co.

It was reorganized in 1907 as the Lincoln Motor Works.

By 1911, John C. and James F. Lincoln invented and launched their first variable voltage arc welder, an innovation that catapulted Lincoln Electric into a new technology and industry that would drive its future success.

The piecework pay system was adopted in 1915.

A report in the British "Journal of Commerce" (July 17, 1924) reported that she held steadfast and if rivets were used in the construction, the ship would surely have opened up and not be able to get off the bank.

John C. Lincoln remained active in the company as its president until 1928 and as chairman of the board through the following years.

Granulated flux developed in 1932 and a continuous bare wire feed became known as "Submerged Arc Welding (SAW)" and saw major applications in shipbuilding and pipe fabrication (see 1932 for a different account).

James Lincoln was also influential in developing a worker incentive plan in which the company offered its employees free life insurance and paid vacations; however, the plan's major element was an incentive bonus instituted in 1934.

In 1938 this principle was incorporated into "Hot Gas" welding technique.

Heliarc is the term originally applied to the GTAW process. (Patent Number 2274631, 24 February 1942).

By 1944 Lincoln Electric's benefits package included a company-funded pension plan.

The Final Report of a Board of Investigation, ordered by the Secretary of the Navy, "To Inquire Into The Design and Methods of Construction of Welded Steel Merchant Vessels, 15 July 1946" was issued.

Lincoln was able to incorporate his management theories into the 1951 design and construction of a new 30-acre plant in Euclid.

James Lincoln acted as the company's president until 1954, when he advanced to chairman of the board.

Another aspect of the Lincoln plan was the guaranteed-employment program begun in 1958, in which the non-union company guaranteed jobs for its workers while the employees agreed to accept necessary job and schedule changes.

Upon James Lincoln’s death in 1965, William Irrgang, who had started at the company on the assembly line, assumed the position of CEO and chairman.

With $4 million in sales that year, the company paid $131,800 in bonuses; in 1981 Lincoln's 2,684 employees shared a record $59 million in bonuses, an average of $22,008 per recipient.

The first of these was close to home; in 1986 Lincoln acquired Cleveland's Airco Electrode plant from BOC Group.

In 1987 Lincoln purchased an Australian electrode plant from France's Air Liquide.

A 1988 joint venture with Norweld Holding A.A., a Norwegian company with $100 million in annual sales, quadrupled Lincoln's business in Northern Europe to $135 million annually.

The invention of GTAW was probably the most significant welding process developed specifically for the aircraft industry and remained so until recently, with the Friction Sir Weld process of the 1990's.

Unanticipated difficulties in transplanting the incentive system to operations in such countries as Brazil, Mexico, and Germany, coupled with a 40 percent drop in the European market, contributed to a $46 million loss in 1992.

Although orders in the United States were so high that Lincoln stayed open through its usual summer shutdown in 1993, the company still suffered its worst quarter ever.

The company's decision to shed itself of those international operations resulted in a complete turnaround: 1994 sales and earnings reached record levels of $907 million and $48 million, respectively.

The company hoped to mark its centenary year, 1995, by surpassing $1 billion in annual sales.

Anthony Massaro was named President and the chief operating officer in 1996.