Warner & Swasey Company

The Warner & Swasey Company is a former manufacturer of machine tools, instruments and speciality equipment in Cleveland, Ohio. It was best known for its astronomical telescopes and turret lathes for astronomical observatories and military installations. Founded as a partnership in 1880 by Worcester Reed Warner and Ambrose Swasey, the main factory was located at Carnegie Avenue and East 55th Street.







History

Warner and Swasey met as apprentices while working at Exeter Machine Works in Exeter, New Hampshire in 1866. 1 Both later left Exeter and relocated to Hartford, Connecticut where they worked for Pratt & Whitney, a machine tool manufacturers. Warner became in charge of an assembly floor while Swasey became a foreman of the gear-cutting department. 2 At Pratt & Whitney, Swasey invented the epicycloidal milling machine for cutting true theoretical curves for the milling cutters in use for cutting gears. Their works were exhibited at the Philadelphia Exposition in 1876. 22

In May 1880, Warner and Swasey resigned from Pratt & Whitney to start a machine tool manufacturer. 2 The pair moved to Chicago 11 but found the city to be lacking in experienced machinists. 3 In March 1881, the pair settled on Cleveland, Ohio along Mason Street (later renamed Carnegie Avenue) and the Cleveland & Pittsburgh Railway, erecting a three-story brick building, 100 feet by 45 feet in size. 11 Warner and Swasey needed to rapidly start-up for they had gained an impressive order of 130 machines for the new works of the Joel Hayden Brass Company in Lorain.

The partners won medals for their lathes at the Paris World Exposition in 1889 and 1893. 22

For the next 20 years, Warner and Swasey worked without a formal corporate agreement, producing lathes, milling machines, and telescopes. 4 11

20th Century

Swasey and Warner reorganized the company under the name of The Warner & Swasey Company in 1900. 5 The new company began to place more emphasis on the production of turret lathes, which were very profitable. The company was quick to develop lathes for the plumbing industry to meet the demands for indoor fixtures. 22 Later uses included early automobiles, farm machinery and airplanes.

In 1904, a five-story addition was built to the west of the original structure. 22 The original building was demolished in 1908 to make room for a five-story extension of the circa 1904 structure. Subsequent additions were made later, including the south side of Carnegie Avenue, encompassing 22 acres and 950,000 square feet.

By 1928, Warner & Swasey was the world’s largest manufacturer of such turret lathes and other implements. 8

During World War I and World War II, the production areas of Warner & Swasey were converted to manufacture solely turret lathes, playing prominent roles in both wars. 7 8 9 An addition constructed in 1941 at the corner of East 55th Street and Carnegie Avenue allowed for additional production lines. 22 By the end of World War II, Warner & Swasey employed nearly 7,000. 7 8 9

The company began to focus on construction and materials handling equipment, and textile machinery in the 1950s. 8 13 It employed 2,000, many at its machine tool division plant along Carnegie Avenue, by 1965.

Warner & Swasey announced on January 17, 1968, that it would relocate its corporate headquarters from its machine tool division plant to a new complex at the University Circle Research Center. 12 It leased the entire third floor of a $3.5 million building at 1100 Cedar Avenue.

In February, the company founded its electronic products division to concentrate on electronic control systems and related equipment. 13 A month later, Warner & Swasey opened a new plant at 30300 Solon Industrial Parkway in Solon. It was it third major facility in the suburban city, joining the Research & Development Center. The new complex produced turning centers, a machine that shapes metal parts by holding and turning it rapidly against the edge of a cutting tool among other implements. 9

Consolidation

Competition from Japan and Taiwan began to erode the market share for Warner & Swasey by the 1970s, causing the company financial distress. 9

To better compete against foreign competition, Warner & Swasey was acquired by Bendix Automation in 1980 for $300 million, 19 becoming the Warner & Swasey Division. 14 Bendix consolidated the manufacturing, sales, service, and technical departments of Warner & Swasey into its own and refocused the new division into developing high-tech and automated solutions for manufacturers.

One of its first releases was in 1983 with the WSC-8E7, a stand-alone and unmanned manufacturing system designed to fit within a factory, a bridge between stand-alone turning machines and automated systems. It was one of three products to be released in the year. The company also revised a circa 1960 machine that had 132 gears and shafts into one integrated unit that had just six moving parts.

In August 1982, Bendix made a hostile takeover bid for Martin Marietta. It ended two months later when Allied took over Bendix, creating the Bendix division. Allied also acquired a 38% stake in Martin Marietta. 15

Warner & Swasey reported a sharp drop in profits in November. 20 In response, the division completed a survival plan that resulted in consolidated office space in its Carnegie Avenue plant. The company also moved some product lines to Japan, closed a small plant in Tennessee, and began advertisement of its high-technology products. By the end of 1983, 31% of Warner & Swasey sales came from new products developed since 1982. 14

Allied agreed to sell the ailing Bendix division to Cross & Trecker in February 1984 for $74 million, creating the world’s largest machine tool company. 16 17 Additionally, Cross & Trecker acquired LaSalle Machine Tool from National Acme of Cleveland for $13 million. 17

Closure

Cross & Trecker, like Allied before it, suffered from flat orders, weak prices, and foreign competition. 17 A downturn in automobile manufacturing, which accounted for 40% of Cross & Trecker sales, caused financial pains for the company. A cost reduction program eliminated $12 million, but the company still showed a net loss of $2.9 million for the fourth quarter of 1986. It was a sharp contrast to net income of $2.6 million a year earlier. The company did spend record amounts in research and development for new product lines.

In June 1985, Cross & Trecker announced that it was moving its Turning Division operation to Solon from the Carnegie Avenue plant. 18 The Carnegie Avenue plant was far too large for its current operations. All 325 employees were offered positions at the new facility. By 1988, Cross & Trecker’s Carnegie Avenue operations employed 500. 9

The corporate offices of Warner & Swasey, later used for the Cross & Trecker’s Warner & Swasey Division, moved to Cross & Trecker’s corporate headquarters in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. 19 Some functions remained in Cleveland. In June 1989, the remaining offices relocated to Warner & Swasey’s factory in Solon.

Cross & Trecker was then absorbed by Giddings & Lewis, a Wisconsin tool company. Giddings & Lewis closed the Solon factory in January 1992 in response to $100 million in losses from 1988 to 1991. 6 9 It left 250 unemployed. Giddings & Lewis blamed imports from overseas companies, which accounted for 70% of the domestic market, for the closure. 9

Reuse

In 1988, Cuyahoga County considered reusing the Warner & Swasey Carnegie Avenue facility for its Health and Human Services Department and a 408-cell county jail annex. The footprint of the building was found to be too inefficient. 21

The city of Cleveland was deeded the property in 1991. It then proposed to convert the abandoned factory into a municipal center. 6 The idea never came to fruition, although the western section was reused as a garage for idled city vehicles.

In 2010, the city solicited proposals from developers to rehabilitate the Warner & Swasey complex. 10 A round of bidding led to a $1 sale agreement with Hemingway Development, a division of the Geis Companies. 6 10 Hemingway was interested in converting the buildings into a high-tech office, laboratory, and manufacturing center.

The city put forth $35,000 towards an environmental study and plan 7 and began asbestos remediation at a cost of $1.3 million. 6 At the same time, the city secured commitments for up to $13 million in federal funds, in the form of a $10 million low-interest loan and a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The federal money, though, was tied to job creation. To acquire the maximum loan and grant package, the Hemingway Development project needed to create 360 jobs.

The asbestos remediation took longer than expected. 6 10 Coupled with a deteriorating commercial market and renovation costs that far exceeded expectations, Hemingway parted ways with the redevelopment project.

In January 2014, the city solicited proposals from developers for a second time due to a stronger real estate market. 10 It found little interest.



Share






Sources

  1. Warner & Swasey Company. Cleveland: Warner & Swasey Company, 1930: 9, 11 Print.
  2. Warner & Swasey Company. Cleveland: Warner & Swasey Company, 1930: 10 Print.
  3. Warner & Swasey Company. Cleveland: Warner & Swasey Company, 1930: 13 Print.
  4. Warner & Swasey Company. Cleveland: Warner & Swasey Company, 1930: 1, 14 Print.
  5. Warner & Swasey Company. Cleveland: Warner & Swasey Company, 1930: 15 Print.
  6. McFee, Michelle Jarboe. “Cleveland Seeks Bids for Warner & Swasey Complex in Midtown, after 2010 Rehab Deal Fizzles.”Plain Dealer [Cleveland] 17 Jan. 2014. Web.
  7. McFee, Michelle Jarboe. “Cleveland’s abandoned Warner & Swasey complex could become a tech center.” Plain Dealer [Cleveland] 27 May 2010. Web.
  8. “Warner & Swasey Co.” WARNER & SWASEY CO. Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Case Western Reserve University, 13 May 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.
  9. GERDEL, THOMAS W.. “WARNER & SWASEY TOOL FACILITY TO SHUT DOWN; ENDS 110-YEAR ERA.” Plain Dealer [Cleveland] 16 Nov. 1991, FINAL / ALL, BUSINESS: 1F. NewsBank. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.
  10. Michelle Jarboe. “Cleveland seeks new round of bids to restore complex from F1.” Plain Dealer [Cleveland] 19 Jan. 2014, F: 001. NewsBank. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.
  11. “Manufacturers Coming to Cleveland.” Plain Dealer [Cleveland] 28 Mar. 1881: 4. Print.
  12. “Warner & Swasey Plans to Move.” Plain Dealer [Cleveland] 18 Jan. 1968: 5. Print.
  13. Cleary, John J. “Warner & Swasey Starts New Electronic Division.” Plain Dealer [Cleveland] 6 Feb. 1968: 24. Print.
  14. “W&S ‘thinks way to future’.” Plain Dealer [Cleveland] 13 Dec. 1983: 28. Print.
  15. “Bendix Corp., a subsidiary of Allied Corp., Friday reported.” United Press International 4 Nov. 1983. Print.
  16. “Allied Agrees to Sell Bendix Automation.” Toledo Blade 8 Feb. 1984: 31. Print.
  17. “MACHINE-TOOL GIANTS DIVERGE; MILACRON INNOVATES…CROSS STREAMLINES.” New York Times 9 Feb. 1987. Print.
  18. Crowley, Mary Ellen. “Warner & Swasey to head for Solon.” Plain Dealer [Cleveland] 21 June 1985. Print. [RELOAD]
  19. Gerdel, Thomas W. “Warner & Swasey’s parent company plans costly restructuring.” Plain Dealer [Cleveland] 23 Aug. 1989: 79. Print.
  20. Sullivan, Elizabeth. “W&S plans to keep its plant here.” Plain Dealer [Cleveland] 30 Dec. 1982: 1A, 4B. Print.
  21. “Then there were five.” Plain Dealer [Cleveland] 26 May 1988: 10B. Print.
  22. Herrick, Clay, Jr. “Warner & Swasey Co.” Cleveland Landmarks, 4th ed., Cleveland, Landmarks, 1996, pp. 182-83.

11 Comments

Add Yours →

My father attended the Warner & Swasey Textile Pin and Servo Drafter in cleveland in the 1970’s; I have both of the manuals; should anyone be interested.

Ambrose Swasey was my great great uncle. He took a shine to my grandfather (Warren J. Henderson), paid for him to get an engineering degree from MIT in 1933, then put him to work for Warner & Swasey in Cleveland. Most of my Dad’s side of the family moved to Cleveland, where my parents met and married and where I was born. Upon his death in 1937 Mr. Swasey bequeathed the bulk of his estate to my grandparents (my grandmother Leona Day Henderson was Mr. Swasey’s niece). Ambrose Swasey spent much of his leisure time in Exeter, NH where he was born and raised. He made many significant civic improvements in the community, which still holds him in high esteem. He renovated and relocated his childhood home in Exeter, naming it “Fort Rock Farm” after an historic rock formation on the property. My grandparents moved into the Farm and it became the focus of our family until it was sold a few years ago. We owned it for 170 years. My Dad (Warren Swasey Henderson) was an enthusiastic genealogist. He accumulated a huge amount of historic information on Mr. Swasey, on Warner & Swasey and on other ancestors in the Swasey family. It was because of his work that we know as much as we do about my great great uncle. I envy those of you who have specific memories of Warner and Swasey in Cleveland. That was before my time. I never knew Ambrose Swasey personally of course (I was born in 1953). The last person in our family who knew Mr. Swasey personally, my aunt and Mr. Swasey’s great niece Phyllis Henderson Carey, died about a year ago. She spoke often of visiting Mr. Swasey at Fort Rock Farm (she, my Dad and their parents lived across the street). She remembered sitting on Mr. Swasey’s knee while he read books to her.

Thanks for sharing. My first job in machine tool industry was with Bendix/Warner&Swasey in 1980 as sales trainee apprentice. I have extremely fond memories of the company and those who worked there. Very innovative company. I have a brick from the original building as a memento. I wish could find a very old turret lathe to restore. Anything else you are willing to share please free to send me a letter. Sincerely, James Thompson 367 Patton Drive Springboro, Ohio 45066

My father Martin A German gave his life to this company, he started at Balas Collete in Cleveland, he made a lot of positive moves for the Company by the upper management never listened . I grew up moving from Ohio to Massachusetts then back to Ohio then he had enough and moved on to a company that believed in him ,I miss my dad , Mike German

What I remember about Warner & Swasey was that as a teenager growing up in Cleveland in the 1960s who frequented the school library, Warner & Swasey ran full-pge ads on the first page inside the front cover of “U.S. News & World Report.” These ads promoted a laissez-faire political philosophy. I remember this because I thought it was notable that the company was based in Cleveland. My memory may be faulty, but I recall the company only advertised in “U.S. News & World Report” and not “Time” or “Newsweek.”

Yes, they did advertise in Newsweek in 1966 & 67, and even published collections of these ads. I was a Newsweek subscriber in Seattle at the time and was so impressed with the ads that I cut their pages out of the magazines and saved them! I even wrote to W&S to let them know I liked the ads, and got a letter dated 5/25/67 from the marketing director thanking me, and enclosing a booklet of selected reprints of their ads from 3/58 thru 4/66, several of which I already had. I often wondered what became of W&S and thanks to Abandoned now I know.

In 1969 I married into a family that subscribed to Time, so I switched because I realized that it was more in line with my political ideas than Newsweek. The only Republican I ever voted for was Eisenhower, when I was a naive 18 and not yet a Democrat.

Now I’m giving my entire W&S collection to my cousin because she’s a Republican (albeit now a somewhat disillusioned one) and will provide a more appropriate home for it. Unfortunately, she lost her husband last year; he would have really liked the ads!

If your cousin ever decides she doesn’t want them I would be willing to buy them. I remember the ads were made to be thought provoking. James Thompson 367 Patton Drive Springboro, Ohio 45066. Bendix/ Warner & Swasey 1980

I worked at Warner & Swasey from 1972 until the closing of the Carnegie plant in 1982. When I started there. I figured I’d retire from there someday. Thanks to bad management, that never happened. It was a great place to work and I was fortunate to have made some great friendships with the people there.

My dad work there for many years. As a child I participated in events sponsored for families and as a college student completed and assignment there for my organizational psychology class. My dad, Conine Lee Jackson, was a union member, and W&S made it possible for him to give his family a middle class life, he worked there until his retirement, I have many fond memories of his storise and experiences at the company!
Cheers,
Alma Jackson Carten

Leave your comment!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.