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 The Crown corporation was founded in 1945 by two brothers, Allen A. Dicke and the late Carl H. Dicke. Carl's son and Chairman Emeritus, James F. Dicke, joined the family business later on that same year. At this time, his son, James F. Dicke II, is Chairman and CEO. James F. Dicke III, serves as the company President today, becoming the fourth generation of the Dicke descendants to uphold this position.
Now an globally diversified organization, Crown initially built temperature controls for coal burning furnaces, servicing a small client base. The production of these control units took place in a former hardware store located in New Bremen, Ohio, where Crown's head office presently remain.
In 1949, responding to the public's rising fascination with TV, Crown shifted into the making of antenna rotators. This product was utilized to improve television reception and image quality. The company's lucrative move enabled them to become a leading producer of units until 2001. The company ceased production in October after a decline in the worldwide demand for television antenna rotators.
In the early 1950's Crown diversified into the manufacturing and repair of electronic and mechanized machinery for government and private industry. Following several successful bids within a brief period of time, the company had developed a highly regarded business in this field.
Flexibility and achievement dominated Crown's ability to diversify once again. In 1957, production into the materials handling industry began with lift truck manufacturing. The company believed the industry demanded a smaller line of top-quality quality lift trucks. Crown immediately produced an exceptional range of progressive equipment and swiftly grew to be the most rapidly evolving material handling company with its collection of merchandise.
In 1966, Crown ventured outside of the US material handling marketplace and into Australia. Sydney, Australia is home to the regional center of operations and presently leads Crown's Asia Pacific service, sales and marketing and advertising teams. Crown remains an unwavering industry leader these days, supported by exceptional operations, solid sales and solid production operations.
In 1968, Crown established itself in the European market by obtaining an Irish manufacturing facility from its parent company, Steinbock, who was a German firm. They started to manufacture Crowns' (PTH), hand pallet trucks. Later that same year, Crown started their first London operation situated close by Heathrow Airport. The sales and service operation of Crown's comprehensive forklift line was available in the UK by the end of the decade. In the early 1970's, Crown expanded and began marketing lift trucks across Europe through autonomous dealers.
Crown today has a large network of Crown-owned and independently-owned sellers in many key international marketplaces providing a huge fleet of electric forklifts. They are responsible for managing the company's product sales and service.
Corporate offices in New Bremen, Ohio and Munich, Germany offer national advertising and promotional sales support to all dealer and sales personnel. Both Crown sales and seller personnel are factory- trained in all disciplines to guarantee the utmost reliability and service. The Munich office was launched in the 1980's and provides purchasing, marketing, engineering and design capabilities for India, Africa, the Middle East along with Europe. The diverse family of intercontinental sellers and Crown-owned sellers successfully operate in nearly 100 foreign city environments.
Crown has established 6 manufacturing locations in the United States that include: New Knoxville; Celina, Ohio; Greencastle, Indiana; Kinston, North Carolina; Fort Loramie, Ohio; and New Bremen, Ohio. Serving their expanding foreign markets, Crown has manufacturing facilities in Sydney, Australia (since 1966); Queretaro, Mexico (since 1973); Roding, Germany (since 1986); and Suzhou, China (since 2006). Crown also owns branch sales and service center operations in more than 30 locations in the USA. International branch sales and service center operations consist of locations in Singapore, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Korea, Malaysia, England, Germany, Belgium and Australia.
Through its numerous clientele on all sides of the world, Crown has built an outstanding reputation as a manufacturer of forward-thinking, safe and reliable machines. The company has been awarded more than 50 distinguished design awards and the products that Crown develops continues to attain recognition for innovation and top design excellence. To provide an example, in the 1970's, Crown's introduction of the side-stance design proved exciting and unparalleled by materials handling experts. Today, this design has acquired popular acceptance and earned a Design of the Decade award from the International Design Society of America. Once again, more than thirty years later, the 5200S Series Reach Truck is another market original, providing the operator with multiple comfort options to lean, sit or stand, along with its unequaled productivity capability.
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