Danaher Corporation

Danaher Corporation – A Fortune 500 Company That Develops Products For The Medical And Industrial Sector.

Danaher Corporation is a multinational conglomerate based in America. The headquarters of the company is in Washington, D.C. This year, Danaher ranked 130th on the Fortune 500 list. Steven M. Rales and Mitchell Rales founded the company in 1969 when it was called DMG. Danaher is one of the largest companies in North America and it adopted the principles of “Kaizen”, a Japanese philosophy to continuously improve and eliminate waste. Danaher has three platforms, namely, Life Sciences, Diagnostics, and Environment & Applied Sciences.

The Founding Story Of Danaher Corporation

In 1969, Steven Rales and Mitchell Rales organized the company as a Massachusetts real estate investment firm. They established the company under the name DMG which was changed to Diversified Mortgage Investors Inc in 1978. In 1984, the name of the company was again changed to Danaher Corporation and it was reincorporated under the Delaware General Corporation Law. The name Danaher was given by the Rales when they went on a fishing trip to Danaher, a tributary in Western Montana.

In 1986, Danaher merged with multiple companies when it bought Chicago Pneumatic. The Jacobs Manufacturing Co and Matco Tools Corp were under the acquisition of Chicago Pneumatic when Danaher bought the company. But, after a year, Danaher sold off CP and retained Matco and Jacobs at the same time. In the 1990s other divisions of Danaher were established. After Danaher Corporation was established in 1984, it acquired 12 companies to enter the manufacturing market within two years. In the Instrumentation Unit of Danaher, the company added Qualitrol and Gilbarco Veeder-Root. The company also acquired Kollmorgen, a company based in Virginia.

Early Growth And Expansion

The acquisition spree of Danaher kept continuing as it acquired red Easco Hand Tools in 1990. Next year, Danaher landed a big contract for Sears and it became the main supplier for hand tools. After it landed this contract, Danaher acquired multiple tools companies like Armstrong and Allen. It also expanded its presence in the chemical industry after acquiring Hach company in 1999 followed by a German company called Lange.

In 2005, Danaher announced that it will acquire Leica Microsystems which was known for manufacturing a broad range of products for microscopic imaging, measurement, and analysis. Eventually, Danaher entered the market of life science and started providing management systems in the healthcare sector. In 2007, the company acquired the Australian Pathology Instrument and Engineering company called Vision Systems Limited. The same year it acquired Tektronix Inc which is the company’s largest acquisition till today. The deal was closed for $1.1 billion. In 2009, Danaher acquired the analytics technology business unit of the Canadian-based company, MDS Inc.

Present Days

In the last decade, Danaher acquired Beckman Coulter followed by Navman Wireless in the next year. During this time, the company also sold its joint venture with Cooper Industries to Bain Capital for $1.6 billion. Danaher carried out another big acquisition in 2013 as it acquired Nobel Biocare for $2.2 billion. In 2014, Danaher and NetScout agreed to combine the communication unit of the former company with NetScout Systems. Many other companies were also acquired in the past years which includes Pall for $13.8 billion, Phenomenex for $700 million, Integrated DNA Technologies for an undisclosed amount, and many more.

In 2018, Danaher decided to spin off its dental segment and make it an independent company. Next year, it sold numerous business units to Sartorius AG for $750 million. The same year, Danaher appeared on the Forbes list for becoming one of the best employers for diversity. Last year, Tom Joyce retired as the CEO of the company and he was replaced by Rainer Blair.

Rainer M. Blair – CEO

Rainer Blair is the President and CEO of the company. He joined the Danaher Corporation in 2010 and held various leadership roles in the company. He has 30-years of industrial experience. Before joining Danaher, he was the CEO and President of MAPEI Americas, and before that he spent fifteen years with BASF Group.

Annasha

Annasha Dey is an NIT student, who apart from studying engineering is also a content writer. She has a great interest in photography, writing, reading novels, and travelling as well. She is a foodie who loves socializing and hanging out with her friends. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and a big fashion enthusiast. Dey also loves watching TV series, which includes F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Big Bang Theory. To be a better writer she prefers to read more

Fortive: A Five-year-old start-up is named as one of the world’s most admired companies by Fortune.

Leave a Comment / Founder, Inspiration, start-up, Story, Tech Story / By Annasha

Fortive is a huge success in the technology industry currently controlling many businesses in Instrumentation, transportation, automation, franchise distribution, etc. The company was founded in 2016 by the current CEO of the company, Jim Lico. Fortive was a part of Danaher Corporation, an American diversified conglomerate that spun off the former in 2016. The headquarters of Fortive Corporation is based in Washington. For two consecutive years, Fortive was named as a Future 50 Company by Fortune. This young industrial conglomerate is also on the Fortune 500 list.

About Fortive Corporation

Fortive was created by Danaher Corporation by spinning off a few subsidiaries which include Matco and AMMCO-COATS. The main aim of Fortive is to deliver innovative technologies to its customers and solve pressing challenges. Fortive works in various fields satisfying a wide range of customers. There are three main segments in which Fortive’s operating companies are divided. The first is Intelligent Operating Solutions which is responsible for ensuring better security and compliance and energy efficiency. Secondly, Precision Technologies solves very tough technical challenges thus a significant part of research and product development, and lastly, Advanced Healthcare Solutions ensures timely delivery of safe healthcare for the patients.

Growth and Strategic Acquisitions

Fortive is a very young company and since its foundation, the company has focused on acquiring other businesses from various fields. After it was spun off in June 2016, Fluke Corporation (a subsidiary of Fortive) acquired eMaint, a CMMS IIoT system. After a month, Global Transportation Technologies (GTT) was acquired which is a company in the traffic management sector. In July 2017, Fortive acquired Industrial Scientific, a Pittsburgh-based gas detection and safety-as-a-service company. The company also acquired Landauer for $770 million. It is a company that provides services to determine radiation exposure both at the occupational and environmental levels. Gilbarco Veeder Root, a subsidiary of Fortive acquired Orpak Systems which is known for delivering technical solutions to oil companies and commercial fleets.

In 2018, Fortive bought a software firm called Accruent for $2billion. This year Tektronix, another subsidiary of Fortive acquired Initial State which is a data streaming and visualization platform. Fortive Corporation has many subsidiaries acquiring companies in different fields which made it a big success within five years of its establishment. The company entered the healthcare sector after its acquisition of Johnson & Johnson’s Advanced Sterilization Products (ASP) business. This deal was closed in April 2019 and in the same year, Fortive acquired Censis Technologies, which is a SaaS company providing inventory guides in the surgical field.

In September 2019, Fortive announced that it will be splitting into two different publicly traded companies. Last year, Vontier, the new company was announced. Fortive has a very strong working culture and it significantly invests its time and energy in doing social work as well. As a socially responsible company, it tries to minimize waste production and avoid pollution along with adopting sustainable practices. In 2020, Fortive was named as one of the 500 most responsible companies by Newsweek.

About Danaher Corporation

Danaher Corporation is an American diversified conglomerate with its headquarters based in Washington, D.C. The company is divided into four platforms, namely, Life Sciences, Diagnostic, Water Quality, and Environmental & Applied Solutions. Danaher is known as one of the best companies for diverse employees. The founders of the company are Steven M. Rales and Mitchell Rales. It was founded back in 1969 as a real estate investment trust. The company was on a spree to acquire new companies and currently has an arsenal of subsidiaries. Danaher became one of the first companies in North America to adopt ‘Kaizen’ which is a Japanese philosophy of lean manufacturing. Both Danaher and Fortive believe in a sustainable way of manufacturing products.

Jim Lico – Founder and CEO of Fortive Corporation

Fortive Founder and CEO — Image Source: fortive.com

The full name of Jim Lico is James A. Lico who is the founding president and CEO of the Fortive Corporation. He was a part of Danaher since 1996 and joined the company as Vice President Operations of Veeder-Root in Altoona, Pennsylvania. He participated in a broad chain of responsibilities in Danaher which includes running Danaher Business System (DSS) for a year, executive leader for the Emerging Market Regional Boards of China, Japan, India and Middle East, etc. Jim graduated with a BS degree from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Management from Northwestern University.