Cummins

Cummins develops, sells, and services diesel and natural gas engines, power generation systems, and engine-related component products.Cummins Inc. is a diesel engine manufacturer. The Company designs, manufactures, distributes and services diesel and natural gas engines, electric power generation systems and engine-related component products, including filtration, exhaust aftertreatment, fuel systems, fuel systems, controls systems, air handling systems and electric power.The Company sells its products to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), distributors and other customers worldwide. It serves its customers through a network of more than 600 company owned and independent distributor locations and more than 6,500 dealer locations in more than 190 countries and territories. It has four segments: Engine, Power Generation, Components and Distribution. In April 2011, the Company sold its exhaust business to Global Tube. In July 2012, the Company acquired the emission control assets of Hilite International in Marktheidenfeld. The Hilite assets are part of Cummins Emission Solution (CES).

1921: By 1921 Cummins had successfully secured 2 out of 33 submitted patents for improved fuel efficiency and manifold technology for the licensed Hvid engines.

1924: Cummins Factory - Cummins Engine History TimelineBy 1924 Cummins applied his new designs to his own Model F engine which was entirely designed on his own accord, thus ending the partnership with R.M. Hvid Company.

1926: Clessie took odd jobs around Indiana until landing a job as a mechanic with automotive maker Nordyke and Marmon(Marmon Motor Company) which made some of the first luxury cars in America before being bought out by Allis-Chalmers in 1926.

1929: A lot of interest in diesel dried up when the stock market crashed in 1929 but Irwin continue to support the company to stave off bankruptcy. After about a decade, Cummins successfully mounted a diesel engine into a used Packard Limousine, and on Christmas day in 1929, he took William for a ride in America’s first diesel-powered automobile.

1930: Cummins Diesel Powered Packard - 1930 Cummins Engine History TimelineCummins realized that industrial application engines were not the best route for the growing business considering the wear farmers did to their engines.

1931: Irwin’s enthusiasm for the new engine led to an infusion of cash into the Company, which helped fuel a number of speed and endurance records in the coming years – including a grueling 13,535-mile run at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1931. After his successful truck demonstration run in 1931, Cummins followed up with another New York to L.A. run with a bus, which completed the journey in 91 hours, and achieved speeds up to 65 mph.

1933: In 1933, Cummins released the Model H, a heavy engine used for transportation and in small railroad switchers. When sales of long-haul trucks bounced back in the early 1990s, Cummins' long years of preparation paid off. It focused on developing the diesel engine invented 20 years earlier, but in spite of several well publicized endurance trials, it was not until 1933 that their Model H, used in small railroad switchers, proved successful.

1934: Clessie Cummins and Race Crew - 1934 Cummins History TimelineLike most success stories, the history of Cummins Engine Company, started from humble beginnings and a perseverance to try something new.

1935: In 1935, for his third cross country trip, Cummins decided to seek out other automotive partners. Wanting to follow up his success with the Packard, in 1935 Cummins swapped a new lightweight six-cylinder diesel into an Auburn 851 sedan, which achieved an incredible for the time (and good even for today) 40 mpg.

1937: On May 21, 1937, J. Irwin Miller stands before workers to support their right to unionize but oppose an effort by a national union. In 1937 the young company turned its first profit.

1946: Sales in 1946 hit $20 million; a decade later they reached more than $100 million.

1952: The closest Cummins got to the elusive first place finish was in 1952 Indianapolis 500 when the car took a first place qualifying position. On the forefront of marketing and design, Cummins’ 1952 annual report expresses the advantages of its new company trademark: “In order to obtain maximum product identity, this modern trademark has been developed. In 1952, Cummins took a first place qualifying position.

1954: In 1954, Miller established the Cummins Foundation, and three years later it offered to pay architect’s fees for construction of new public buildings — leading to designs by leading architects from around the world gracing the streets of Columbus. By combining lab-based research and field-based trials, including dramatic performances at the Indy 500 races, Cummins achieved technological breakthroughs, including the revolutionary PT (pressure-time) fuel injection system of 1954.

1955: Cummins retired from the board of directors in 1955, and went on to found his own company, Cummins Enterprises.

1960: Three years later, the Foundation makes its first grant to support architecture fees for the Lillian C. Schmitt Elementary School (pictured), as part of the Architecture Program, which became a formal part of the Foundation in 1960.

1962: A new line of engines with more than 300 horsepower, introduced by the company in 1962, failed to gain a dominant market share for more than two years.

1964: In 1964, the Cummins ticker symbol would appear on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time (as pictured).

1968: A strong truck market helped sales rebound in 1968, reaching a record of $365 million. Clessie Cummins Sr. died in 1968.

1973: Cummins experimented with superchargers and later turbochargers for that initial boost of speed, later acquiring Holset Turbochargers in 1973 but could never figure out how to have a 1st place car at Indy.

1975: The new engines did not sell very well at first, as the truck market in 1975 slumped 40 percent. 1975: Line of 450-horsepower engines is introduced. In 1975, Cummins is one of the first American companies to pursue business in China.

1978: General Motors was first, offering a diesel in its full-size trucks starting in 1978. Dodge had previously offered a diesel in the Ram's D-series predecessor in 1978 in the form of a 4.0-liter naturally aspirated Mitsubishi inline-six.

1981: The trucks received a refresh in 1981, when the Ram badge was first officially applied to the truck line, but they had no remarkable features in particular that stood out relative to newer competitors from General Motors and Ford. John Keele, Cummins' OEM marketing manager at the time, shared his insight on the early stages of development of the Cummins-powered Ram. "In early 1981, Chrysler formed Truck Operations to breathe new life into its truck division.

1983: In 1983, Cummins requested the engine compartment drawings to check fitment of the 5.9L B-series under the hood.

1986: In 1986 the company entered a period of continuous, comprehensive restructuring that embraced every aspect of the business.

1987: The closest the company got to an Indy 500 win was the 1987 race, which Al Unser won in a Cosworth-powered car that used a turbocharger from Holset, a British manufacturer Cummins had acquired a decade earlier.

1990: In 1990, Schacht convinced Ford Motor Co., Tenneco Inc., and Kubota Ltd. to invest a combined total of $250 million in a 27 percent stake in Cummins.

1992: In 1992, the Business Enterprise Trust recognized Miller's magnanimity and philanthropy when it awarded him its Lifetime Achievement Award. The remainder is acquired in 1992, making it a fully owned subsidiary for power systems.

1993: He identified with the values, the people and the business challenges so much, he chose to join the company full-time in 1993.

1994: In 1994, after seeing the company through one of its most difficult periods, Schacht announced that he was stepping down as CEO. That year--Cummins's 75th in business--the company achieved record sales of $4.74 billion and, perhaps more important, record profits of $252.9 million. Don Altermatt, chief engineer of Diesel Products for Chrysler, has worked closely with Cummins since joining the company in 1994.

1995: Demonstrating its long history of powering the recreational vehicle (RV) market, Cummins shipped its one millionth RV generator set in October of 1995. Henderson became chairman and Solso became president in 1995. The company developed SmartPower in 1995.

1996: A $20 million, 50,000-square-foot engine testing facility was completed in 1996. In 1996, Cummins had restructured its business units according to its primary markets: auto, industrial, power generation, and filtration. The ISV5.0 engine makes its debut in the heavy-duty Nissan Titan pickup truck after initially being developed for the light-duty RAM as part of a United States Department of Energy demonstration program in 1996.

1997: The first Interact System engines using SmartPower were released in April 1997.

1998: In October 1998, the seven largest makers of heavy diesel engines, including Cummins, agreed to pay the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) $1 billion to settle a suit claiming the group used computerized timing devices to evade emissions tests. 1998: Cummins loses $21 million in truck industry's best year yet. One example is the the multi-valve ISB engine introduced in 1998, three model years before competitors would offer the same feature. "The Diesel Odyssey of Clessie Cummins" by C. Lyle Cummins, Carnot Press, 1998

1999: By 1999, the company had invested $1 billion in the program. Unfortunately, truck engine sales declined precipitously after peaking at 305,000 in 1999.

2000: At the end of 2000, Cummins announced plans to cut 350 jobs from its diesel engine unit while 'fundamentally rethinking' its role in the market. Once the company's sole raison d'etre, this sector accounted for only 16 percent of revenues in 2000.

2001: To combat the losses, CEO James Henderson aimed to raise the company's gross margin to 25 percent and reduce engineering and overhead slightly to 16 percent of sales to achieve an operating margin of 9 percent by 2001.

2006: In 2006 the 1.5 millionth diesel engine for the Dodge Ram came off the line in Columbus, Indiana. Officially adopted in 2006, EEEC enables employees at least four hours of company time per year to volunteer toward local projects.

2007: That same basic architecture has formed the basis for the engines offered in the Ram HD since, with the biggest change coming in 2007, with a displacement increase from 5.9 to 6.7 liters.

2009: After being promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer in 2009, Tom Linebarger is named Chief Executive Officer.

2013: Cummins is no longer just an engine business, but a global power leader with more than $17 billion in sales in 2013. Originally launched in 2013, these models are quiet, fuel efficient and easy to install. With a figure that would have been inconceivable only a few years ago, the soon-to-be-introduced 2013 Ram HD models equipped with the Cummins and the Aisin six-speed automatic now produce 385 hp and a massive 850 lb-ft of torque.

2015: October 20, 2015 By First Motion Products Modern Day Cummins Plant - 2015 Cummins Engine HistoryCummins is now the largest over-the-road truck engine manufacturer in the world with 37.5% market share of the heavy duty diesel industry.

2016: The combination of the Power Generation and High Horsepower engine markets formed the Power Systems operating segment in 2016.

2018: Cummins was able to give $21.1 million back to our communities in 2018. In 2018, Cummins celebrated a milestone of 25,000 AMMPS units manufactured at the Fridley, Minnesota (USA) plant.

2019: February 6, 2019, Cummins marks its 100 year anniversary by turning challenges into opportunities.

Our mission making people’s lives better by powering a more prosperous world.

Innovating for our customers to power their success