150th Anniversary of A.O. Smith

Floor Speech

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Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate A.O. Smith Corporation on the occasion of their 150th anniversary.

In 1874, A.O. Smith began in Milwaukee, WI, as a small family business. Over the past century and a half, they have grown from their humble roots. They began by specializing in the fabrication of metal hardware specialties and have emerged today as an industry leading global water technology manufacturer producing residential and commercial water heaters, boilers, and water purification equipment. Today, they employ more than 12,000 people across the world and conduct business in over 60 countries.

The company was instrumental in helping to usher in the automobile revolution, developing a new, lightweight steel car frame--a development that caught the interest of major car companies including Peerless, Cadillac, Packard, Oldsmobile, and Ford. Ford's initial order of 10,000 frames led A.O. Smith to develop the world's first mass production process for assembling frames, later introducing the world's first automated frame production line. This first fully automated frame assembly plant came to be known as the Mechanical Marvel due to the line's ability to make a frame every 8 seconds--10,000 frames a day. A.O. Smith was also a large component manufacturer that supplied parts to another early Wisconsin pioneering manufacturer, Harley-Davidson.

A.O. Smith engineers discovered an improved method for welding, allowing for the production of a wide range of steel products. This included the pressure vessel for oil refining and large diameter steel pipe, important components in the oil and natural gas industries.

One of the company's most important and enduring innovations was the process of fusing glass to steel. By perfecting this process, the company developed a range of new products, including glass-lined beer kegs, glass-lined brewery tanks, and glass-lined residential water heaters. Glass-lined water heaters rapidly became an industry standard that endures today and led to A.O. Smith's growth as a global leader in water heating products. These products now include industry leading models that are consistently among the most efficient in the market according to the ENERGY STAR program.

In recent years, A.O. Smith has emerged as an industry leader in developing technologies that address drinking water quality challenges. A cofounding member of the Water Council, A.O. Smith has helped ensure Milwaukee's place as a global water technology hub, while supporting economic development in Wisconsin. The Water Council helped bring about the creation of the Global Water Center, which houses water-related business accelerators and research facilities where engineers conduct controlled testing on water purification products sold around the world. Bringing together their work has helped transform Milwaukee into a world hub for water research, education, and economic development.

I am proud to recognize A.O. Smith as an industry leader, and I share my best wishes with the company and their employees for their continued success.

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