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The Whirlpool Corporation is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of home appliances, headquartered in Benton Charter Township, Michigan, United States, near Benton Harbor, Michigan.〔"(Contact Us )." Whirlpool Corporation. Retrieved on April 28, 2010.〕〔"(Benton charter township, Michigan )." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on April 28, 2010.〕 The Fortune 500 company has annual revenue of approximately $20 billion, 100,000 employees, and more than 70 manufacturing and technology research centers around the world. The company markets Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Gladiator GarageWorks, Inglis, Estate, Brastemp, Bauknecht, Indesit and Consul. After acquiring the Maytag Corporation on March 31, 2006, the Whirlpool Corporation surpassed Electrolux to become "the largest home appliance maker in the world." In the U.S., Whirlpool has eight manufacturing facilities: Amana, Iowa; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Cleveland, Tennessee; Ohio: Clyde, Findlay, Greenville, Marion (and Ottawa, Ohio). ==History== Before they founded the Upton Machine Company on November 11, 1911, Louis Upton (Lou) worked as an insurance salesman and his uncle, Emory Upton, owned a machine shop. Following a failed business venture, Lou acquired a patent to a manual clothes washer and he approached Emory to see if he could add an electric motor to the design. With the aid of a $5,000 investment from retailing executive Lowell Bassford, they began to produce electric motor-driven wringer washers.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=History of Whirlpool Corporation )〕〔 Soon after its founding, Lou's younger brother Fred joined the company. Their first customer, the Federal Electric division of Commonwealth Edison, ordered 100 machines, but a fault in the gear transmission led the customer to threaten their return.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Frederick S. Upton and Frederick S. Upton Foundation )〕 After the machines were recalled and repaired, Federal Electric doubled the order.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Whirlpool corporation, 100 Years at a Glance )〕 They remained a customer for three years, when they began to produce their own washers. The loss of Federal Electric forced Upton to diversify temporarily until, in 1916, they landed Sears, Roebuck & Co. as a customer. Sears began selling two types of Upton wringer washers under the "Allen" brand,〔 one for $54.75 and a deluxe model for $95. Sales grew quickly and in 1921, Sears appointed Upton as their sole supplier of washers.〔 To avoid becoming over-reliant on Sears, Upton began marketing a washer under their own brand name.〔 The increasing volume of sales led Upton to merge with the Nineteen Hundred Washer Company of Binghamton, New York in 1929, adopting the name Nineteen Hundred Corporation. The company was relatively unaffected by the Great Depression; during World War II, its factories were converted to armament production. In 1947, it introduced an automatic, spinner-type washer sold by Sears under the "Kenmore" brand, and a year later, sold by the company under the "Whirlpool" brand name. Lou retired as president in 1949, and was replaced by Elisha "Bud" Gray II.〔 In response to the post-war consumer demand for convenience products, the company launched a range of home laundry products including wringer and automatic washers, dryers, and irons.〔 In 1950, The Nineteen Hundred Corporation was renamed as the Whirlpool Corporation. In 1951, the philanthropic Whirlpool Foundation was established. To better compete with more diversified manufacturers, in 1955 Whirlpool acquired Seeger Refrigerator Company and RCA's air conditioner and cooking range lines. The company changed its name to Whirlpool-Seeger Corporation and began using the RCA-Whirlpool brand name.〔 Whirlpool acquires appliance division from International Harvester Company. In 1956, a administrative center was opened in Benton Harbor, Michigan. In 1957, the RCA Whirlpool Miracle Kitchen was introduced with an estimated 15 million television viewers. The company changed its name back to Whirlpool Corporation. In 1962, the company's research laboratories won a contract from NASA to develop the food and waste management system for Project Gemini.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=January 1962 through December 1962 )〕 In 1966, Whirlpool dropped the RCA name so the brand name became Whirlpool. The following year, the company introduced a 24-hour helpline. By 1978, annual revenues exceeded $2 billion. In 1986, Whirlpool acquired KitchenAid, a division of the Hobart Corporation. It also announced that it would close most of its manufacturing facilities in the St. Joseph, Michigan area by the end of 1988. In 1987, it began selling compact washers in India and acquired a majority interest in Inglis of Canada. In 1988, Whirlpool bought a 53% stake in the large-appliance division of Philips N.V., creating a joint venture called Whirlpool International. The purchase made Whirlpool the world's largest manufacturer of major appliances, with annual sales of approximately $6 billion. The 47% stake was bought from Philips in 1991, completing the acquisition.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Deal With NV Philips to Make Whirlpool the Biggest Appliance Maker )〕 In 1989, Whirlpool acquired the Roper brand and Bauknecht of Germany. Whirlpool entered the Indian market in the late 1980s as part of its global expansion strategy. It founded joint venture with the TVS Group and established the first Whirlpool manufacturing facility in Pondicherry, and manufactured washing machines. In 1995, Whirlpool acquired Kelvinator India Limited and marked an entry into the refrigerator market as well. The same year the company also saw acquisition of major shares in TVS joint venture and later in 1996, Kelvinator and TVS acquisitions were merged to create, Whirlpool of India Limited. This expanded the company's portfolio in the Indian subcontinent to washing machines, refrigerator, microwave ovens and air conditioners. Whirlpool of India Limited headquartered in Gurgaon, and owns three manufacturing facilities at Faridabad, Pondicherry and Pune. In 1997, the company acquired a majority stake in Embraco, a Brazilian world-leading maker of compressors for refrigeration. In 2000, it acquired Brazilian appliance maker Multibrás, owner of the brands Brastemp and Consul, including its stake on Embraco. In 2001, Inglis Ltd. changed its name to Whirlpool Canada. Whirlpool continues to market Inglis appliances to this day. By 2004, annual revenues exceeded $13 billion. In 2005, Maytag Corporation shareholders voted to accept Whirlpool Corporation's stock purchase. After the U.S. Justice Department approved the merger in 2006, the company acquired Maytag, including the Maytag, Jenn-Air, Amana, Jade, Magic Chef, Admiral, Hoover, and Dixie-Narco brands. It sold Dixie-Narco to Crane Co., and Amana Commercial to AGA. In 2007, Whirlpool sold Hoover to Techtronic Industries, (TTI Floorcare ). and (Jade Appliances ) to Middleby Corporation. It also closed plants in Newton, Iowa; Searcy, Arkansas; and Herrin, Illinois; resulting in the sudden loss of 4500 jobs in the affected communities. In 2008, Whirlpool announced the closure of plants in La Vergne, Tenn; Reynosa, Mexico; Oxford, Miss; and Jackson, TN. In 2009, Whirlpool acquired WC Woods from Bankruptcy and closed the company's Evansville, Indiana plant; Whirlpool has received $19.3 million in U.S. Department of Energy funding as part of its Smart Grid Investment Grant program Whirlpool celebrated its 100th Anniversary in 2011 and unveiled its 100th Anniversary logo as well as an updated corporate logo. Also, took over former KarstadtQuelle brand Privileg from Otto Group. In 2011, Whirlpool announced the closure of the Fort Smith, Arkansas plant. The following year, Whirlpool opened a new manufacturing plant in Cleveland, Tennessee replacing a 123-year-old facility. The $200 million project added about 130 jobs to an established workforce of 1,500. The facility manufactures premium cooking appliances for Whirlpool's portfolio of brands. The project also includes a distribution center. In August 2013, Whirlpool announced it would acquire a 51% majority stake in China’s Hefei Sanyo (a joint venture between Japan's Sanyo Electric Co, now a unit of Panasonic Corp, and Hefei State-Owned Assets Holding Company Ltd, the investment arm of the local state government) for $552 million and give the company leverage to expand in the Chinese appliance market. In July 2014, Whirlpool announced it has agreed to pay 758 million euros ($1 billion) to buy a 60 percent stake in Italian rival Indesit. In December, Whirlpool completed a successful mandatory tender offer for the remaining shares and delisted Indesit from the Milan Stock Exchange. Indesit is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Whirlpool Italia Holdings S.r.l. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Whirlpool Corporation」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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