Western Products

Western Products is an American brand name for snow plows and other professional snow removing equipment manufactured by Western Welding and Manufacturing. The company also manufactures a variety of truck-mounted sand and salt spreaders, snowplow replacement parts and snow removal accessories.

Western Products
Division
Traded asNYSE: PLOW
IndustryAuto Parts
Founded1952
FounderDouglas Seaman
HeadquartersMilwaukee, Wisconsin,
United States
Key people
Michael W. Wickham

Chairman of the Board
James L. Janik

President & CEO
ProductsSnowplows
Spreaders
ParentDouglas Dynamics
Websitewww.westernplows.com

Western Products employs approximately 250 people at its manufacturing facility in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the company is a division of Douglas Dynamics group (NYSE:PLOW), which also owns the Blizzard and Fisher Engineering brand names.

History

On September 5, 1950, Douglas Seaman purchased Western Welding & Manufacturing, a small machine shop in Milwaukee that was founded in 1943. Western mainly handled small, one-off welding jobs for large manufacturers. A friend suggested to Seaman that he should start manufacturing snowplows as a way to diversify his business, which he did. In 1952, Western Welding introduced its first snowplow at a time when the U.S. population was shifting toward suburb settings, which increased the market for light trucks. This increased the demand for snowplows.[1]

Growth

Suburban areas continued to thrive through the 1950s, and the light-truck market continued to grow.[2] The demand for snowplows continued rising, allowing Western Products' sales to double between 1961 and 1968. The 1970s also proved to be a profitable time for the company, as its share of the national market for the type of snowplows mounted on light trucks rose from 33 percent in 1968 to 40 percent a decade later.[1] In 1977 Douglas Seaman incorporated as Douglas Dynamics Incorporated, which he placed as the parent company for Western Welding & Manufacturing.[3] In 1984, Douglas Dynamics expanded, purchasing Fisher Engineering, a well respected competitor in the snow plow business.[3]

Expansion

In November 2005 Douglas Dynamics purchased Blizzard Corporation, including their complete line of snowplows and snowplow patents. Among the patents was a patent for an "adjustable-wing snowplow" that allowed the blade to extend from 8 feet out to 10 feet. Douglas Dynamics incorporated that technology into both its existing snowplow brands.[4]

In the 3rd Quarter of 2012, Douglas Dynamics' profits declined considerably due to a record low snowfall.[5]

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References

Notes

  1. Gurda, John (2000). Built By Seaman: Four Generations of Family Enterprise. p. 65. OCLC 48645043.
  2. Jackson, Kenneth T. (1985), Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States, New York: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-504983-7
  3. "Douglas Dynamics Incorporated time line". Douglas Dynamics Incorporated. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  4. "Douglas". The Business Journal. The Business Journal. Retrieved 3 April 2012.
  5. "Douglas Dynamics 3Q earnings fall more than 40%". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
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