JOHNSON CONTROLS: A Little History:
Johnson Controls is a global diversified technology and industrial leader serving customers in over 150 countries. 130,000 employees create quality products, services and
solutions to optimize energy and operational efficiencies of buildings; lead-acid automotive batteries and advanced batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles; and interior
systems for automobiles. Their commitment to sustainability dates back to their roots in 1885, with the invention of the first electric room thermostat. Johnson Controls is a
leading provider of equipment, controls and services for heating, ventilating, air-conditioning, refrigeration and security systems for buildings. Operating from 500 branch
offices in 150 countries, Johnson Controls delivers products, services and solutions that increase energy efficiency and lower operating costs for over one million
customers. Johnson Controls is involved in more than 500 renewable energy projects including solar, wind and geothermal technologies. Thier solutions have reduced
carbon dioxide emissions by 13.6 million metric tons and generated savings of $7.5 billion since 2000. Many of the world’s largest companies rely on Johnson Controls to
manage 1.5 billion square feet of their commercial real estate. Johnson Controls, Inc. (NYSE: JCI) is a company, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. It was founded in 1885
by professor Warren S. Johnson, inventor of the first electric room thermostat. It is a Fortune 100 diversified, multi-industrial company with 130,000 employees in 1,300
locations across six continents. It has achieved consistent growth that includes 61 consecutive years of increased sales, 17 consecutive years of increased earnings, and 33
consecutive years of dividends increases.In 1883, Warren S. Johnson, a professor at the State Normal School in Whitewater, Wisconsin, received a patent for the first electric
room thermostat. His invention helped launch the building control industry and was the impetus for a new company. Johnson and a group of Milwaukee investors
incorporated the Johnson Electric Service Company in 1885 to manufacture, install and service automatic temperature regulation systems for buildings. The company was
renamed Johnson Controls in 1974. Between 1885 and 1911, Professor Johnson delved into many other areas, including electric storage batteries, steam and gas powered
automobiles, huge pneumatic clock towers and wireless telegraph communication. But at his death in 1911, the company decided to focus solely on its temperature control
business for nonresidential buildings. Johnson Controls continued to develop new control technologies to help customers better manage their increasingly larger and
more complex buildings. By the 1950s, for example, it was common for a large building to have hundreds of thermostats, valves, dampers and other temperature control
devices installed throughout the facility, all of which had to be individually checked several times a day. To improve the efficiency of building operations staff, Johnson
Controls introduced its Pneumatic Control Center, for the first time enabling a building operator to monitor and operate all the temperature control devices in a facility from
a single, central site. The company that helped found the controls industry has remained one of its technological leaders. In 1972, it built the industry's first minicomputer
dedicated to building control-the JC80. In the 1980s, Johnson Controls adopted digital control technology with its JC85, which gave customers faster and more precise
control of building systems. In the 1990s, the company pioneered open communication protocols, which allows control devices from various manufacturers to share data
directly for the first time. Today, its Metasys Facilities Management System is reducing energy costs and improving indoor comfort in thousands of buildings around the
world. Service of facilities management systems has long been a staple of the company's offerings. Since the mid-1980s, it has expanded its scope to cover mechanical and
electrical equipment to help customers reduce the number of service suppliers they need. The company created Integrated Facilities Management (IFM) to give customers a
single source for operations and maintenance of all building systems and functions, and to ensure maximum building efficiency and reliability. Johnson Controls now
provides full-time, on-site IFM staff for more than 600 million square feet of building space around the world, including IBM's facilities in 20 countries, and U.S. Government
facilities in Cape Canaveral. In 1978, Johnson Controls acquired Globe-Union, a Wisconsin-based manufacturer of automotive batteries for both the replacement and
original equipment markets. Today, Johnson Controls is the largest producer of private-label lead-acid automotive batteries in North America, and is spreading its
leadership to Asia and South America. The company also makes batteries for emergency power back-up and telecommunication applications. Johnson Controls entered the
automotive seating and plastics machinery industries in 1985 with the acquisition of Michigan-based Hoover Universal, Inc. Hoover started making components for
automotive seats in the mid-1960s. At the time, the seating business primarily manufactured individual components, like frames, tracks or cushions, according to the
automakers' specifications. Today the company has become the world's largest manufacturer of complete seats, with manufacturing plants on five continents. Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_Controls
