The History - A Century of Excellence, A Future of Innovation Lincoln's long history of milestones in both product and management systems 1895 - John C. Lincoln Founded The Lincoln Electric Company with a capital investment of $200.00. The product: electric motors of his own design. 1900 - 1919 - John C.'s younger brother, James F. Lincoln, joined the company as a salesman in 1907. Meanwhile, the product line had been expanded to include battery chargers for electric automobiles. A welding set is first made by the Lincoln brothers in 1909. In 1911, Lincoln Electric introduced the first variable voltage, single operator, portable welding machine in the world.

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In 1914, wishing to concentrate on scientific investigation, John C. turned the reins of the company over to James F. Lincoln. James F. introduced piecework pay and established the Employee Advisory Board, which includes elected representatives from every department and has met every two weeks ever since. By 1915, in a progressive effort for its time, Lincoln employees were covered by group life insurance.
In 1916, The Lincoln Electric Company of Canada was incorporated to distribute the U.S. made products. The next year, The Lincoln Electric Welding School was founded. The school has trained more than 100,000 people since its inception in 1917.

1920 - 1939 - Lincoln's production of welders surpassed that of motors for the first time in 1922, making welding the company's primary business. In 1927, Lincoln introduced the Fleetweld 5 coated electrode which produced welds with 20 to 50 percent higher tensile strength and 100 percent greater ductility than those made with bare electrodes.

Lincoln Electric employees earned paid vacations, among the first in the nation, in 1923. The first Lincoln employee stock ownership plan, one of the first in the country, was initiated in 1925. An employee suggestion program was implemented in 1929. Lincoln employees received their first annual Incentive Bonus in 1934. While the average Lincoln worker's pay more than doubled during the decade of the Great Depression, electrodes which had sold for $0.16/lb in 1929 were selling for less than $0.06/lb by 1942.

After working 12 years to perfect a ductile weld, John Lincoln created a patented flux which, for the first time, made a weld as flexible as steel.

The Procedure Handbook of Arc Welding Design, first published in 1933, is today in its 13th edition. More than two million copies of this textbook have been sold. In 1936, The James F. Lincoln Arc Welding Foundation was founded as a nonprofit educational organization to advance arc welding as a leading materials joining process. That same year, a young salesman named William I. Miskoe was sent halfway around the world to establish The Lincoln Electric Company Pty. Ltd. in Australia.
1940 - 1949 - World War II brought a dramatic expansion of Lincoln Electric's business, with welded ship hulls creating an enormous new market for arc welding products. After many Lincoln workers were drafted, the company hired large numbers of women and minority factory workers for the first time. Motor production was suspended to focus resources on supporting the wartime welding product demand.

1950 - 1969 - In 1951, Lincoln constructed a modern plant with unique material handling capabilities in Euclid, Ohio. Lincoln Electric France SA was established in 1953 with the construction of a plant in Rouen, a short trip from Paris. Major innovations of the 1950's included the Jetweld fast-fill low hydrogen stick electrodes and Innershield self-shielded flux-cored wire electrodes.

James F. Lincoln continued to enhance Incentive Management, adding a cost of living multiplier, formal merit rating, and guaranteed continuous employment. In 1959, John C. Lincoln passed away.

In the 1960's, motors returned to the company's product line with an award winning new model featuring an extruded aluminum frame and automatically wound stator coils. James F. Lincoln passed away in 1965.

1970 - 1989 - Lincoln Electric entered a new era of professional management with the promotions of George E. Willis to president and William Irrgang to chairman in 1972. The Mentor, Ohio, electrode plant was started up in 1977 to produce the company's domestic wire consumables products.

The early 1980's were a time of hardship, with Lincoln's sales dropping 40 percent in response to the combined effects of inflation, sharply higher energy costs, and a national recession. Although guaranteed continuous employment received a severe test, not one Lincoln employee was laid off for lack of work.

In 1986, George E. Willis was named chairman and Donald F. Hastings became president. Mr. Willis pursued an energetic course of foreign expansion; eventually, Lincoln Electric obtained a controlling interest in manufacturing operations located in 16 countries.

1990 - 1995 - In, 1992, Mr. Hastings became chairman and Frederick W. Mackenbach was promoted to president. In 1991, an expanded world headquarters facility opened with expanded and renovated Weld Technology and training center operations. Foreign operations were consolidated and reorganized.

In 1993, during the global reorganization, Don Hastings and Fred Mackenbach urged the company's U.S. employees to pursue record levels of production and sales. In true Lincoln spirit, they responded by voluntarily postponing 614 weeks of vacation in order to meet customer demand for product. Sales records were set every quarter since mid 1993.

Lincoln Electric added more than 600 new employees during 1994. On June 8, 1995, the company's Centennial year, a new, state-of-the-art motor facility opened in celebration of John C. Lincoln Appreciation Day. The Lincoln Electric Company achieved its one billion dollar sales goal during its centennial year.

1996 - The board of directors appoints Anthony A. Massaro as President, succeeding the retiring Frederick W. Mackenbach. On November 1, Mr. Massaro is named President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Hastings remains as Chairman until May, 1997.

A multi-million dollar expansion and update of domestic research and development facilities is approved by the board. Expansion activities include an acquisition of Electronic Welding Systems (EWS) in Italy, a planned joint venture in China and a manufacturing joint venture in Jakarta, Indonesia.

1997 - The Lincoln Electric Board of Directors announces the appointment of Anthony A. Massaro as chairman of the company, making him the sixth chairman to lead this 102-year-old world leader in the arc welding industry. At the American Welding Society tradeshow in April, the company introduces many products resulting from an exciting new product development process.

Lincoln is committed to building consistent growth in markets around the world and providing substantial value to all of its stakeholders.

1998 - 1998 was a year of expansion, acquisition and product development for Lincoln Electric. In the global arena, Lincoln opened an electrode plant in Shanghai, China and acquired Uhrhan & Schwill, of Essen, Germany, a market-leading designer and installer of pipe welding systems for pipe mills. In addition, Lincoln secured its own aluminum wire capability and brand through acquisition of Canadian company, Indalco, a global leader in manufacture of aluminum wire and rod. In other global happenings, Lincoln Electric secured a 50 percent stake in AS Kaynak, a leading Turkish producer of welding consumables and opened a distribution center in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Products abounded with more than 23 new products and services introduced to the market in 1998, including ArcLink™ the arc welding industry’s first communications protocol, at the annual American Welding Society Exposition.

In 1998, Lincoln also distributed its 65th consecutive bonus to employees and achieved the fifth consecutive year of record financial performance. In investor news, shareholders approved the formation of a holding company, Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. With this transition came a conversion from dual class stock (voting and non-voting) to a single-class, all voting stock. This action doubled the number of outstanding shares.

1999 - Jan. 1999, Lincoln established a majority-held, joint venture electrode plant in the Philippines with distributor partners. During the American Welding Society's International Welding and Fabricating Exposition in St. Louis, Lincoln unveiled some never-before-seen products including the Multi-Weld system, designed for welding large structures, and the Power MIG™ 255 combination wire feeder/welder. Lincoln also debuted a host of new electrodes including SuperArc and SuperGlide premium MIG wires, SuperGlaze™ aluminum welding wire and Excalibur™ 7018 low hydrogen electrodes.

Also in 1999, the company completed the sale of its motor business to the Marathon Division of Regal-Beloit, preserving Guaranteed Employment Policy through the process. In shareholder news, two new Directors joined Lincoln's Board: Ursula M. Burns, Vice President, Manufacturing Support, Corporate Strategic Services at Xerox Corporation; and Thomas A. Corcoran, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Space Sector of Lockheed Martin Corporation, President, and President and CEO of Allegheny Technologies Inc.

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