Predecessor companies
Col. Willard F. Rockwell made his fortune with the invention and successful launch of a new bearing system for truck axles in 1919. He merged his Oshkosh, Wisconsin-based operation with the Timken-Detroit Axle Company in 1928, rising to become chairman of its board in 1940.
Timken-Detroit merged in 1953 with the Standard Steel Spring Company, forming the Rockwell Spring and Axle Company. After various mergers with automotive suppliers, it comprised about 10-20 factories in the Upper Midwestern U.S. and southern Ontario, and in 1958 renamed itself Rockwell-Standard Corporation.
Pittsburgh-based Rockwell Standard then acquired and merged with Los Angeles-based North American Aviation to form North American Rockwell in 1967. They then purchased or merged with Miehle-Goss-Dexter, the largest supplier of printing presses, and in 1973 acquired Collins Radio, a major avionics supplier.
Products
The various Rockwell companies list a large number of firsts in their histories, including the World War II P-51 Mustang fighter and the B-25 Mitchell bomber, and the Korean War-era F-86 Sabre, as well as the Apollo spacecraft, the B-1 Lancer bomber, the Space Shuttle, and most of the Navstar Global Positioning System satellites. Rocketdyne, which had been spun off by North American in 1955, was re-merged into Rockwell in 1984, and by that time produced most of the rocket engines used in the United States.
The company developed a desktop calculator based on a MOSFET chip for use by its engineers. In 1967 Rockwell set up their own manufacturing plant to produce them, starting what would become Rockwell Semiconductor. One of their major successes came in the early 1990s when they introduced the first low-cost 14.4 kbit/s modem chip set, which was used in a huge number of modems.
Collins Radios were fitted to 80% of the free world's airliners. They designed and built the radios that communicated the Apollo moon landings and the high frequency radio network that allows worldwide communication with US military aircraft. Rockwell designed and built the third stage of the Minuteman Intercontinental ballistic missile, (ICBM) and the AIRS inertial guidance system (INS) that provided its navigation. They also built inertial navigation systems for the Fleet of Ballistic Missile submarines.
Rockwell built most of the heavy duty truck axles in the US along with power, windows, seats and locks. Rockwell also built yachts, business jets and owned large amounts of real estate.
Apex and break-up
With the death of company founder and first CEO Willard Rockwell in 1978, and the stepping down of his son Willard Rockwell Jr. in 1979 as the second CEO, Bob Anderson became CEO and led the company through the 1980s when it became the largest US defense contractor and largest NASA contractor. Rockwell also acquired the privately held Allen-Bradley Company for .6 billion in February 1985 billion of which was cash to the owners of Allen Bradley and became a producer of railroad electronics.
During the 1980s, Anderson, his CFO Bob dePalma and the Rockwell management team built the company to #27 on the Fortune 500 list. It boasted sales of billion and assets of over billion. Its workforce of over 100,000 was organized into nine major divisions: Space, Aircraft, Defense Electronics, Commercial Electronics, Light Duty Automotive Components, Heavy Duty Automotive Components, Printing Presses, Valves and Meters, and Industrial Automation. Rockwell International was a major employer in southern California, Ohio, Georgia, Oklahoma, Michigan, Texas, Iowa, Illinois and western Pennsylvania.
Anderson stepped down as CEO in February 1988, leaving the company to president Donald R. Beall. The completion of the Space Shuttle program and cancellation of the B-1 bomber had led to a decline in revenues, and Beall sought to diversify the company away from government contracts. The end of the Cold War and deteriorating economic conditions, however, prompted accelerated divestitures and sweeping management reforms. From 1988 to 2001 the company moved its headquarters four times: from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to El Segundo, California to Seal Beach, California to Costa Mesa, California to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
At the end of the 1980s, the company sold its valve and meter division, formerly Rockwell Manufacturing, to British Tire and Rubber. It also sold its printing press division to an internal management team. Following the "peace dividend" following the fall of the Soviet bloc, the company sold its defense and aerospace business, including what was once North American Aviation and Rocketdyne, to Boeing Integrated Defense Systems in December 1996. In the 1990s, the company spun off its semiconductor products as Conexant Technologies (CNXT), which is publicly traded and based in Newport Beach, California. Rockwell International also spun off its automotive division as a publicly traded company, Meritor Automotive, based in Troy, Michigan, which then merged with Arvin Industries to form Arvin Meritor.
In 2001, what remained of Rockwell International was split into two companies: Rockwell Automation and Rockwell Collins, both publicly traded companies, ending the run of what had once been a massive and diverse conglomerate.
Notes
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2006)
External links
North American Rockwell history on Boeing.com
Rockwell International history on Boeing.com
Boeing's Australian website page on Rockwell history
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North American Aviation and North American Aviation division of Rockwell International Aircraft
Manufacturer
"Charge Number"
NA-15 NA-16 NA-17 (components) NA-18 NA-19 NA-20 NA-21 NA-22 NA-23 NA-24 (components) NA-25 NA-26 NA-27 NA-28 NA-29 NA-30 NA-31 NA-32 NA-33 NA-34 NA-35 NA-36 NA-37 NA-38 NA-39 NA-40 NA-41 NA-42 NA-43 NA-44 NA-45 NA-46 NA-47 NA-48 NA-49 NA-50 NA-51 NA-52 NA-53 NA-54 NA-55 NA-56 NA-57 NA-58 NA-59 NA-60 NA-60 NA-61 NA-62 NA-63 NA-64 NA-65 NA-66 NA-67 NA-68 NA-69 NA-70 NA-71 NA-72 NA-73 NA-73 NA-74 NA-75 NA-76 NA-77 NA-78 NA-79 NA-81 NA-82 NA-83 NA-84 NA-85 NA-87 NA-88 NA-89 NA-90 NA-91 NA-92 NA-93 NA-94 NA-95 NA-96 NA-97 NA-98 NA-99 NA-100
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NA-301 NA-302 NA-303 NA-304 NA-305 NA-306 NA-307 NA-308 NA-309 NA-310 NA-311 NA-312 NA-313 NA-314 NA-315 NA-316 NA-317 NA-318 NA-319 NA-320 NA-321 NA-322 NA-323 NA-324 NA-325 NA-326 NA-327 NA-328 NA-329 NA-330 NA-331 NA-332 NA-333 NA-334 NA-336 NA-337 NA-338 NA-340 NA-341 NA-342 NA-343 NA-344 NA-345 NA-346 NA-347 NA-348 NA-349 NA-350 NA-351 NA-352 NA-353 NA-354 NA-356 NA-357 NA-358 NA-359 NA-360 NA-361 NA-362 NA-363 NA-364 NA-365 NA-366 NA-367 NA-369 NA-370 NA-371 NA-372 NA-373 NA-374 NA-375 NA-376 NA-377 NA-378 NA-379 NA-380 NA-382 NA-383 NA-384 NA-385 NA-386 NA-387 NA-388 NA-389 NA-390 NA-391 NA-392 NA-393 NA-394 NA-395 NA-396 NA-397 NA-398 NA-399 NA-400
NA-401 NA-402 NA-403 NA-404 NA-405 NA-406 NA-407 NA-420 NA-430 NA-431
By role
Fighters: P-51 P-64 F-82 FJ-1 FJ-2/3 FJ-4 F-86/F-86D YF-93 F-100 F-107 F-108 XFV-12
Bombers: XB-21 B-25 XB-28 B-45 XB-70
Observation: O-47 OV-10
Attack aircraft: A-27 A-36 AJ A2J A3J/A-5
Trainers: BT-9 BC-1 T-6 T-28 T-39 T-2
Experimental: X-15
Business aircraft: Sabreliner
Missiles: MQM-42 AGM-53
Licence production: B-24 C-82
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