Two brothers Allen A. Dicke and the late Carl H. Dicke established the Crown company in 1945. Carl's son, James F. Dicke joined the family business later on that year. At present, his son, James F. Dicke II, is Chairman and CEO. James F. Dicke III, serves as the company President these days, becoming the fourth generation of the Dicke family to uphold this position.
Now an internationally diversified corporation, Crown first manufactured temperature controls for coal burning furnaces, servicing a small client base. The assembly of these control units took place in a former hardware store located in New Bremen, Ohio, where Crown’s headquarters presently remain.
By the year 1949, Crown moved into the making of rotators for antenna due the increased interest in televisions at the time. The product was proficient at improving the image and signal quality. The company’s successful move allowed them to become a leading producer of units until 2001. The company ceased production in October after a decline in the worldwide demand for TV antenna rotators.
Crown before long diversified its production to include the restoration of mechanical and electrical components for private and government use in the early 1950's. Following a number of lucrative bids within a short period of time, the company had built a respectable business in this field.
With such flexibility and success, Crown was able to expand its production to include material handling equipment. Crown began the manufacture of forklifts and lift vehicles in 1957. The company believed the market needed a smaller line of superior quality lift trucks. Crown immediately created an exceptional range of modern equipment and swiftly became the most rapidly evolving material handling company with its assortment of merchandise.
In 1966, Crown ventured outside of the US material handling market and into Australia. Sydney, Australia is home to the regional center of operations and currently leads Crown’s Asia Pacific service, sales and marketing and advertising teams. Crown remains an unwavering industry leader today, supported by exceptional service, solid sales and solid manufacturing operations.
In 1968, Crown established itself in the European market by obtaining an Irish manufacturing plant from its parent company, Steinbock, who was a German firm. They started to manufacture Crowns’ (PTH), hand pallet trucks. Later that same year, Crown began their first London operation situated nearby Heathrow Airport. The sales and service operation of Crown’s comprehensive lift truck line was offered in the UK by the end of the decade. In the early 1970’s, Crown expanded and began marketing and advertising lift trucks across Europe through autonomous sellers.
Crown these days has a large network of Crown-owned and independently-owned dealers in various key worldwide markets providing a vast fleet of electric forklifts. They are accountable for managing the company’s product sales and service.
Corporate offices in New Bremen, Ohio and Munich, Germany provide nationwide marketing and promotional sales support to all seller and sales personnel.Crown parts, sales and seller personnel are factory- trained in all disciplines to ensure the utmost reliability and service. The Munich office was launched in the 1980’s and delivers purchasing, marketing and advertising, engineering and design capabilities for India, Africa, the Middle East along with Europe. The diverse relations of intercontinental sellers and Crown-owned dealers successfully operate in almost 100 overseas city environments.
Crown has established 6 manufacturing locations in the United States that include: New Knoxville; Celina, Ohio; Greencastle, Indiana; Kinston, North Carolina; Fort Loramie, Ohio; and New Bremen, Ohio. Serving their expanding foreign markets, Crown has manufacturing facilities in Sydney, Australia (since 1966); Queretaro, Mexico (since 1973); Roding, Germany (since 1986); and Suzhou, China (since 2006). Crown also owns branch sales and service center operations in over 30 locations in the USA. International branch sales and service center operations consist of locations in Singapore, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Korea, Malaysia, England, Germany, Belgium and Australia.
Through its numerous clientèle around the world, Crown has built an outstanding reputation as a producer of progressive, safe and dependable machines. The company has been awarded more than 50 prominent design awards and the products that Crown develops continues to attain recognition for modernization and top design excellence. To provide an example, in the 1970’s, Crown’s introduction of the side-stance design proved exciting and unparalleled by material handling professionals. Today, this design has acquired common acceptance and earned a Design of the Decade award from the International Design Society of America. Once again, more than thirty years later, the 5200S Series Reach Truck is another industry first, offering the operator with several comfort options to lean, sit or stand, along with its unequaled output capability.
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