industry oil & gas power generation chemical pharmaceutical pulp & paper mining founded 1917 1917 founders john crane and frank payne headquarters franklin center chicago illinois 1 u.s. area served global key people tedd smith interim president eric evans cfo joe haas cto john donatiello vp of global end user sales and service ruben alvarez vp of global first fit business number of employees more than 6 000 employees in over 200 locations in 50 countries parent smiths group website john crane john crane is an american company now a subsidiary of smiths group and provider of engineered products and services including mechanical seals couplings hydro dynamic bearings seal support systems filtration systems and artificial lift . the company services customers in the energy services sector including production transmission and storage refining power generation petrochemical pulp and paper and mining industries . 2 john crane is the largest division of smiths group plc a global technology business listed on the london stock exchange . 3 john crane has end user customers in process industries including large oil companies national oil companies nocs and refiners . the company also serves original equipment manufacturers oem customers engaged in the design and manufacture of pumps and turbines . john crane also provides artificial lift products and services for the upstream oil and gas industry . 2 4 contents 1 history 2 litigation 2.1 asbestos 3 references 4 external links history edit old john crane headquarters john crane was originally founded in 1917 as crane packing company . before founding his company engineer john crane patented a flexible lubricated metallic packing 956 042 in 1910 . 5 in 1915 crane patented the manufacturing method for flexible metallic packing 1 151 344 . he discovered that wrapping his flax packing in metallic foil increased its longevity and kept the cylinders surface smooth and uniform . frank payne a sales representative for the warren packing company recognized the potential of crane s innovation . 6 crane packing company initially manufactured packing and gasketing which is still offered today . prior to world war ii crane packing sold its england based operations to tube investments known today as ti group plc. condenser tube packing was introduced in 1922 and in 1928 metallic water pump packing were used on chevrolet and ford cars . an estimated 25 million motors were using crane packing materials by the mid 1930s . by 1938 all chrysler cars used crane packing mechanical seals 7 on their water pumps . 5 8 in 1939 the company invented the first automotive mechanical seal . 9 in the early 1940s john crane developed and introduced patented end face shaft seals and an elastomer bellows seal . the u.s. navy relied on packing solutions from crane packing for a host of applications including expansion joints stern tube service cargo pumps rotary steam and air compressors water tight closures metallic condenser packing and pipe fittings . in recognition for its service crane packing received a u.s. navy e award . from the years 1941 to 1949 crane packing applied for and received 24 patents the majority of which were for mechanical seals 10 designed to handle high pressure and corrosive applications . in 1948 crane packing developed its own seal face 6 lapping machines and processes which evolved into crane packing s lapmaster division . another advancement of sealing and packing technology during this period was the commercial availability of polytetrafluoroethylene ptfe marketed by its creator dupont as teflon . crane packing introduced its chemlon line of teflon based packing material for use on pumps valves hydraulic fittings and cylinders coaxial cables and gaskets in 1948 . 5 old john crane advertisement in 1950 crane packing purchased 26 acres 110 000 m2 of land in morton grove illinois a suburb of chicago . construction began on the new company offices the next year and continued until the main office laboratory and cafeteria were completed in 1956 . john crane s morton grove facility comprises five manufacturing buildings totaling 453 000 square feet 42 100 m2 . in the 1980s john crane introduced the type 28 non contacting gas lubricated gas seal 6 another breakthrough in sealing technology.in 1987 through a series of acquisitions and divestitures the company in the united states and the company in the united kingdom were reunited this time under the name john crane . 5 beginning in the 1990s john crane applied non contacting technology to pumps handling liquids that are hazardous to the environment . applying this technology to a standard american national standards institute ansi or american petroleum institute api pump allows users to meet or exceed the environmental protection agency s epa stringent regulations for hazardous emissions . 6 in 2007 the company acquired cdi energy services cdi oilfield services fiberod and global energy products . this branch of the company specializes in artificial lift equipment and services for upstream oil and gas production . john crane still offers the mechanical packing and gasket products upon which the crane packing company built its success . each year the company manufactures some 238 900 miles of braided packing almost enough to reach the moon along with flat gaskets and live load packing for valves . litigation edit asbestos edit john crane group filed lawsuits against simon greenstone panatier bartlett and shein law center in 2016 in federal court in illinois . the suit alleged that shein withheld evidence in violation of the rico act in cases brought against john crane by sufferers of mesothelioma . specifically the suits allege that the law firms failed to disclose during discovery that their clients had been exposed to products containing asbestos made by other companies and intentionally delayed filing claims against those companies bankruptcy trusts . john crane said that it would have avoided judgements and substantial defense costs if it had known this information . 11 george hodges a bankruptcy judge in the u.s. district court for the western district of north carolina called the conduct of the law firms wide ranging systematic and well concealed fraud . 12 references edit tekippe abraham . manufacturer moves hq to west loop from morton grove . crain s chicago business . retrieved 2016 02 07 . a b john crane home page . john crane inc. retrieved 21 december 2012 . home smiths group plc . smiths group plc. retrieved 21 december 2012 . artificial lift . john crane inc. retrieved 30 june 2016 . a b c d 1 john crane a b c d 2 john crane history 3 john crane 4 ethanol producer 5 pumps & systems 6 pumps & systems 7 8 external links edit john crane john crane linkedin v t e smiths group subsidiaries john crane inc. smiths aerospace ti group people samuel smith retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title john crane group & oldid 743337956 categories manufacturing 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