Allen-Bradley is the brand-name of a line of factory automation equipment owned by Rockwell Automation. The company, with revenues of approximately US $6.4 billion in 2013, manufactures programmable logic controllers (PLC), human-machine interfaces, sensors, safety components and systems, software, drives and drive systems, contactors, motor control centers, and systems of such products. Rockwell Automation also provides asset-management services including repair and consulting. Rockwell Automation's headquarters is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The company was founded in 1903 as the Compression Rheostat Company by Dr. Stanton Allen and Lynde Bradley with an initial investment of $1,000. In 1910 the firm was renamed Allen-Bradley Company; for nearly a century it provided the bulk of discrete resistors used for electronics and other products.Шаблон:Citation needed In 1952 it opened a subsidiary in Galt, Ontario, Canada, that employs over 1000 people. In 1985 a company record was set as the fiscal year ended with $1 billion in sales. In February 1985, Rockwell International purchased Allen-Bradley for $1.651 billion (equivalent to $Шаблон:Format price in Шаблон:Inflation/year), which is the largest acquisition in Wisconsin history.[1][2] Allen-Bradley essentially took control of Rockwell's industrial automation division.
Rockwell eventually moved its headquarters to Milwaukee. In 2002, when Rockwell split into two companies, Allen-Bradley followed the automation division into Rockwell Automation.
