Your Tech Story

manufacturer

ITT corporation

ITT Corporation – Two Brothers Started With First Global Network Of Interconnected Telephone Lines.

ITT Corporation is a diversified leader in producing highly engineered vital components and tailored technology solutions in the transportation, industrial, and energy markets.

About The Company

ITT Inc. is a Connecticut-based manufacturer with operations all over the world. The business manufactures specialized parts for the industrial, aerospace, transportation, and energy sectors. Motion Technologies, Connect and Control Technologies, and Industrial Process comprise ITT’s three primary operating segments. The company’s 10,000 team members work within these segments to provide customer service in roughly 125 different countries and serve as outstanding brand ambassadors for well-known and enduring product brands, including KONI shock absorbers, Goulds, and Bornemann pumps, Cannon connectors, and Enidine energy absorption components.

History Of The Company

The desire for its creators to develop phones is where the history of ITT begins. Two brothers named Hernand Behn and Sosthenes founded the initial International Telephone & Telegraph in 1920 with the goal of establishing the first global network of interconnected telephone lines. The Puerto Rico Telephone Company was the company’s first name, and it started out tiny before expanding swiftly through intelligent acquisitions and the acquisition of telephony patents. The company became a significant global vendor of telephone switching hardware and telecommunications services. ITT purchased more than 350 companies between 1960 and 1977, and its portfolio included well-known companies, including Continental Baking, which produces Wonder Bread, Avis Rent-A-Car, Hartford Insurance, and Sheraton hotels. ITT expanded throughout that time, going from a medium-sized company having $760 million in revenue to a worldwide corporation with $17 billion in sales. ITT started restructuring after the conglomerate era through tactical sales and purchases to divide the business into manageable pieces. The end result was the division of ITT into three distinct, independent businesses in 1995: ITT Corporation, which concentrated on the hospitality and gaming industries; ITT Hartford, which established itself as a stand-alone insurance company; and ITT Industries, which began as a group of manufacturing firms. TT Industries, Inc., the current business, was established in 1996 as an ITT spinoff. Later, in 2006, it adopted the name ITT Corporation. In 2011, ITT Corporation split into three distinct publicly traded corporations and spun off its defence and water-related businesses. ITT’s water tech business became Xylem Inc., and its defence business became Exelis. In 2016, ITT Corporation’s name was changed to ITT Inc.

ITT corporation
Image source: i.ytimg.com

Controversies

In 2007, ITT Corporation was the first significant defence contractor to be found guilty of breaking the US Arms Export Control Act. The penalties resulted from ITT’s outsourcing program, in which technicians in China, Singapore, and the UK received night vision goggles and sensitive knowledge about defences against laser weapons, such as light interference filters. The company was given the option of using half of the $100 million penalty to fund the development of improved night vision technology. The resultant intellectual property will belong to the United States government. The US Department of Justice also found throughout its inquiry and subsequent ruling that the corporation took great measures, including creating a front company, to avoid the export regulations.

Founder – Sosthenes Behn

American industrialist Sosthenes Behn founded ITT. He was earlier in the US Army, at the rank of lieutenant colonel. After his discharge from the military, he co-founded the Puerto Rico Telephone Company with Colonel Behn, which eventually gave rise to ITT.

CEO – Luca Savi

Luca Savi serves as the CEO and President of ITT. Luca formerly held the position of president and COO of ITT. He started working at ITT in 2011 as the division’s head of Motion Technologies. He has formerly held a number of significant executive positions with Comau, a division of the Fiat Group, in Italy, China, and the United States. He has also held important roles in the past at Honeywell International. He started as an engineer with Ferruzzi-Montedison Group and Royal Dutch Shell. Luca holds an MBA from London Business School.

Daewoo Electronics

Daewoo Electronics – The Third Biggest Electronics Company In South Korea.

Daewoo Electronics, now known as Winia Electronics, is a leading South Korean consumer electronics company. Since its founding in 1971, the company has expanded into a global enterprise with more than 64 manufacturing facilities, R&D centres, and sales offices across more than 40 nations.

About The Company

The UK arm of the company, known as Daewoo Electronics Sales UK, was founded in 1993. It is now the third biggest electronics company in South Korea. The UK operation manufactures a variety of consumer home appliances like freezers, refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, ovens, etc. The company also acts as an OEM(original equipment manufacturer) to former Daewoo Motors subsidiaries like GM Korea and Tata Daewoo by supplying them with various automotive accessories and equipment. The company also ventured into the computer space by manufacturing Daewoo CPC-300, which was based on the MSX standard. The CPC-300 and CPC-300E are the two different models of this computer. 

History

Daewoo Electronics was part of the Daewoo Group founded by Kim Woo Choong. The parent company was declared bankrupt in 1999 because of the Asian financial crisis. Before this economic crisis, the Daewoo Group had a considerable presence in South Korea, where it was the second-biggest conglomerate after Hyundai Group. After the bankruptcy, the company was owned by a group of creditors.

Daewoo Electronics
Image source: financialtribune.com

Acquisition

In 2010 Entekhab Industrial Group of Iran offered the creditors to buy Daewoo Electronics for $529 million. The Iranian company had to compete with a Sweden company named Electrolux for this acquisition. The creditors accepted Entekhab’s offer and signed a deal. Entekhab made a security deposit worth 49$ million to the creditors. However, in June 2011, Daewoo’s creditors, led by the government-run Korea Asset Management Corp (KAMCO), terminated the agreement and kept the deposit after Entekhab missed a payment deadline and requested a discount. The creditors and KAMCO also began talks with Electrolux to sell the company. Entekhab stated that they believed the termination of the agreement to be unlawful and threatened to take legal steps to prevent the company’s sale to Electrolux. Later, Entekhab requested the deposit’s recovery, but the creditors rejected it, blaming Entekhab for the cancellation. The matter eventually went to the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which ruled in favor of the Iranian company and ordered 62.9$ million in compensation to them.  

In 2013 Daewoo Electronics was bought by the Dongbu Group( DB Group) in a deal worth 270$ million. In 2018, Daewoo Electronics was sold by the DB Group to Winia Group. 

Jinkyun Choi – CEO

In 2014, Choi Jin-Kyun took over as the CEO and vice-chairman of Daewoo Electronics replacing Lee Jae-Hyung. Lee, who had served the company as CEO for 15 months, had to resign from his position owing to his health concerns. Choi spent three years as the vice president of Samsung Electronics’ consumer electronics division before joining Daewoo Electronics. At Samsung, Mr. Choi created high-end consumer electronics. He took part in aggressive marketing campaigns, turning around the Samsung consumer electronics business’s position that had been losing money for a while. He helped Samsung Electronics reach a 10 percent or more significant global market share for home appliances like washing machines, refrigerators, and air conditioners.

High-quality products that consumers can trust have helped Daewoo Electronics establish itself as a trusted household name. The company focuses on its customer support services while emphasizing quality, creativity, and performance. Through this use of cutting-edge technology and a dedication to creativity, durability, value, and perfection in design, Daewoo Electronics still maintains a good position in the consumer electronics market. 

Schneider Electric

Schneider Electric – The Biggest Sustainable Electric Equipment Manufactures.

Schneider Electric is a well-known electrical equipment development company, serving all over the world. The company has been there in the industry for the past 185 years and taking its legacy to another level with its excellence. Along with providing the best electric products, the company keeps sustainability in mind and curates its products based on that. From homes to data centers and from real-time automation to software, Schneider Electric has covered it all. The company is operational in over a hundred countries with more than twenty subsidiaries and 20,000 patents registered. It is a publically traded company that has also registered its name under the Fortune Global 500 list.

About the Schneider Electric

Schneider Electric SA is a French electric company, founded back in 1836. Its headquarters is in Rueil-Malmaison, France, and offers its services to its worldwide customers having its offices and manufacturing plants established in over a hundred countries. Schneider Electric has over 135,000 people working for it, in more than twenty subsidiaries, such as Luminous Power Technologies Pvt. Ltd., APC, Areva T&D, Federal Pioneer, TAC, and Zicom, etc. As per 2019 records, the company made revenue worth €27.2 billion and holds assets worth €45 billion. Schneider Electric energy and automation digital solutions, such as building automation, home automation, electric power distribution, industrial safety services, etc.

Schneider Electric
Image source: zawya.com

The Beginning and Growth

Schneider brothers Eugène Schneider and Adolphe Schneider acquired mines and forges at Le Creusot, France, to establish a steel and machinery factory in 1936. After two years, the founders named their company Schneider & Cie, which later became one of the leading steel companies in the area and remained in that position for the next 50 years. In 1891, Schneider started to invest in the electricity business, as it was one of the emerging fields of that time. The new business started to grow rapidly, and in 1919, Schneider started its international expansion entering Germany and Eastern Europe.
Like every other big company, the two world wars were very crucial for Schneider. As soon as the second world war ended, Schneider started to grow at an even faster pace. In 1949, the company decided to restructure its operations and planned multiple acquisitions. In 1975, the company acquired a share in one of the biggest electric equipment manufacturing companies of France named Merlin Gerin. In the next two decades, it went on to acquire names like Télémécanique (1988), Square D (1991), and Lexel (1999). In May 1999, the company was renamed Schneider Electric from its century-old name Schneider & Cie.
In the year 2000, Schneider Electric moved its headquarters to Rueil-Malmaison, France. During the same time, it established the Schneider Electric Foundation, an organization to spread awareness about sustainability and emerging economics. In 2010, the company started to invest in software, critical power and grid applications. Schneider also introduced a new program named Life is On that promoted sustainability and efficiency. The same year, Schneider Electric also established a venture capital firm to support new startups.
In 2014, the company partnered with the German power supplier RWE, and in the next year, it introduced EcoStruxure, an IoT-enabled architecture. Its acquisition of British retail brand Tower Electric in 2016 helped it strengthen its position in Europe. In 2019, the company launched a cross-industry digital ecosystem named Scheider Electric Exchange. The next year, it acquired companies like RIB Software and ProLeiT AG. The same year it introduced smart equipment for better electricity distribution, specifically for Nigeria.

The CEO at Schneider Electric

Jean-Pascal Tricoire, a renowned Fench businessman is the current CEO and the chairman of Schneider Electric. He was born on 11 May 1963 in Beaupréau, France. Tricoire is an Electronic engineering graduate and holds an MBA from EM LYON Business School. Before joining Schneider, he has worked with multiple famous companies.
Tricoire started his career at Alcatel, Schlumberger and joined Saint-Gobain afterwards. In 1986, he was working at Merlin Gerin. As in 1992, Schneider took over the company, he became a part of the company too. After working in different branches of Schneider Electric in Italy, China and South Africa, he was appointed as the Head of Schneider Electric’s Global Strategic Accounts. In January 2002, he became the Vice President of the International Division of the company, and in October 2003, he was announced the Deputy CEO and COO of Schneider Electric. Finally, in 2006, he was promoted to be the CEO of Schneider Electric SA.

nec corporation

NEC Corporation – Story of a Japanese IT and Electronics Company Previously Known as Nippon Electric Limited.

Established in 1899, NEC Corporation has come a long way in the industrial venture and witnessed different phases of it. When the company was established by Kunihiko Iwadare and Takeshiro Maeda, it was named Nippon Electric Limited Partnership. The company rebranded itself as NEC Corporation in 1983. It is based in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, and operates on a global basis with more than 100,000 employees. The main products of the company are telecommunications equipment, supercomputers, software, electronics, servers, etc. In 2017, the company was featured on the Fortune 500 list.

About NEC Corporation

When the company was established, it mainly focused on the manufacturing and sales of telephones and switches. But, in order to survive, evolution is of utmost importance. Hence today, NEC corporation is not only thriving in the electronics industry but also known for offering cloud computing and IoT platforms. The company was the biggest PC vendor in Japan in the 1980s and also became the fourth largest PC manufacturer in the world. In the 21st century, NEC Corporation has spun off its semiconductor division to Renesas Electronics and Elpida Memory. Last year, when the US banned Huawei’s 5G equipment in the country, NEC geared up to fill that void in both the US and UK.

NEC Corporation
Image source: www.industryglobalnews24.com

Establishment of Nippon Electric Limited

Kunihiko Iwadare and Takeshiro Maeda bought facilities from Miyoshi Electrical Manufacturing Company which helped them establish Nippon Electric. Western Electric, an American manufacturing company, and Nippon formed a joint-stock company in July 1899 which became Nippon Electric Company (NEC). This marked the first-ever joint venture of Japan with a foreign company. Initially, the company started out with the production and sales of telephones and switches and opened a plant at Mita Shikokumachi in 1901. The telephone subscribers started increasing in Japan in the early 1900s which increased the market potential for NEC. With the implementation of the telegraph treaty between Japan and China, NEC entered the Chinese market in 1908 followed by entering the Korean market as well.

Turmoils in the 20th Century

As the market started expanding for NEC, four of its factories were destroyed during the great Kanto earthquake of 1923. But, NEC got back on its feet very quickly and started the radio communications business in 1924. Western Electric was the prime supplier of broadcasting equipment for NEC. The company also established a radio research unit and by 1934 supplied China’s Xinjing station with a 100kW radio broadcasting system. NEC provided the Japanese Ministry of Communications with A-type switching systems and non-loaded line carrier equipment before World War II.

World War II marks the darkest days in history not only for NEC but for entire Japan. The company suffered heavy losses and some of its plants were completely damaged due to bomb attacks and foreign relations were also disrupted. By the end of 1944, the production of NEC reduced drastically. When the situation started getting back to normalcy, NEC re-opened the major plants in 1946. The company started investing significantly in R&D and won the Deming Prize for its excellent quality control. In 1954, computer research and development began in NEC and it designed Japan’s first crossbar switching system. NEC eventually expanded its market to North American and European territories as well.

Present Day NEC Corporation

The 21st century for NEC began with a joint venture with Samsung for manufacturing OLED displays. NEC also collaborated with the UK government and provided projectors for school students. In 2002, the electronics division of NEC became a separate entity rebranded as NEC Laboratories America Inc. NEC built the Earth Simulator which was the fastest supercomputer in the entire world for two years (2002-2004). Participating in the automobile industry marked a joint venture with Nissan in 2007 for producing lithium-ion batteries for electric cars. In 2012, a huge economic crisis struck NEC and it was forced to cut 10,000 jobs. Currently, the principal subsidiaries of NEC Corporation are NEC Corporation of America, Netcracker Technology, NEC Europe, KMD, Avaloq, and NEC Display Solutions (majority stake sold to Sharp Corporation).

Takashi Niino – CEO of NEC Corporation

Takashi Niino is the current CEO of NEC Corporation. He joined the company in 1977 and became the CEO and President in 2016. In this time spent in NEC, he was offered several roles like executive general manager and executive vice president. He completed his education at Kyoto University.

Inventec Corporation

Inventec Corporation – A Taiwan-based Computer Hardware Company That is one of the Largest Exporters in China.

China is one of the biggest exporters of electronics and computer hardware across the globe. There are several companies that have made a strong market presence over the past few decades and Inventec Corporation is one of them. Founded in 1975, Inventec is a Taiwan-based publicly traded company based in Taipei. Kou-I Yeh founded the company and currently serves as President of the Inventec Group.

About Inventec Corporation

Inventec is a leading manufacturer of computers, notebooks, telephones, and servers. With the advent of the 21st century, the company is exploring opportunities in cloud computing and wireless communication. Inventec is also investing in IoT and not to mention artificial intelligence-based devices. Evolution is very important for any company to stay in the market and deliver what is latest to the audience. Two of the primary concepts of Inventec for its business are to maintain quality and keep an open mind.

In this digital age, there are currently three main goals that Inventec is trying to achieve. First, open research centers for AI, Industry 4.0, and 5G communication technology. Second, focus on four important fields of servers, smart devices, smart homes, and IoT. Last but not least expanding business in the healthcare and automation sector such that there is room for long-term development.

Inventec Corporation
Image Source: fonearena.com

History of the Company

Born in 1975 with a capital of $1 million, Inventec made impressive growth in the first decade of its business. In 1987, the company was awarded the “PIP Optimal Growth Partner Award” by SEARS. The same year, Inventec made it to the top 20 list of companies recognized as national export excellent manufacturers. In 1988, Inventec’s IPO was approved and it started making plans to expand overseas. The company eventually started manufacturing notebook laptop computers and other hardware products. In 1989, Inventec Besta was established as an independent subsidiary for producing electronic dictionaries. Inventec also started manufacturing phone fax machines via Inventec Electronics.

In the early 1990s, the company went on a partnership with TIM Electronics and Toshiba Co to manufacture communication products. It also received the excellent manufacturer award given by Texas Instruments in 1991. Inventec has its biggest market in China but apart from that the company also invested in opening new units in Hong Kong. In China, it has more than one operating and manufacturing unit including Beijing, Tianjin, Nanking, etc. As Inventec rolled out the reading electronic dictionary, it won the Taiwan Boutique Award in 1984.

Sales and Expansion

Inventec was majorly responsible for manufacturing computer notebooks and in 2000 it manufactured four million units of the same for Compaq Computers. These notebook computers bagged the Best Buy Award from PC World. Some of the other major clients who did business with Inventec are Hewlett Packard company IEC Technologies. In 2008, the annual sales of the company summed up to more than $10 billion. As the sale and annual revenue kept increasing by several folds, the company also established plenty of R&D facilities for better quality products and more innovation.

Inventec also became famous for its social responsibility and bagged the Corporate Social Responsibility Award by Global Views Magazine in 2009. The same year, the company also became the recipient of the “Carbon Reduction Model Enterprise Award” by the government. So far, Inventec has been awarded uncountable awards for both its performance and sustainability.

Important people of Inventec Corporation

Tom Cho is the current Chairman of the Inventec Corporation and he focuses on achieving the first goal of Inventec, i.e., incorporating new AI trends, 5G technology, and Industry 4.0 for the company’s growth. Cho graduated from National Taiwan University with a degree in Electrical Engineering. In 1985, he became a part of Inventec and worked primarily in multimedia, telecom, and other subsidiaries.

Maurice Wu is the working President of Inventec Corporation and he joined the company in 1980. For the last 30 years, he has continuously led the company towards bigger success and innovation. Maurice focuses more on the sustainable goals of the company and he also has experience in manufacturing, product development, and management.