Lufkin Industries

Lufkin Industries is an American manufacturing company based in Lufkin, Texas. It was founded in 1902. Lufkin produces machinery such as power transmission gearboxes, oilfield pumping units and oilfield electrical equipment. Lufkin joined GE Oil & Gas in July 2013. GE Oil & Gas and Baker Hughes merged in 2017 to create Baker Hughes, a GE Company (BHGE). However, Baker Hughes split from GE and withheld ownership of Lufkin.

For the brand of measurement tools, see Lufkin (brand).
Lufkin Industries
Subsidiary of Baker Hughes
IndustryOil and Gas Equipment
Founded1902
Defunct2015 
HeadquartersLufkin, Texas, U.S.
Key people
Lorenzo Simonelli (President/CEO of Baker Hughes)
Number of employees
4,500 (2013)
WebsiteLufkin.com

History

In 1902, The Lufkin Foundry and Machine Company was founded in 1902 to operate a machine shop to repair sawmill machinery. The company soon began manufacturing sawmill equipment and repairing locomotives. As the lumber industry declined in East Texas, the company expanded into the manufacture of oil drilling and refinery equipment. In the 1930s the company established an iron foundry and began manufacturing truck trailers and gears for industrial equipment. During World War II, the company specialized in manufacturing gears for use in military vehicles. After the war, sales of oil equipment slowed, but sales of trailers and industrial gears did better. The company had conflicts with organized labor in the 1950s and much of the 1960s. In 1970 the company's name was changed to Lufkin Industries, and three divisions were established: Machinery, Trailer, and Automotive/Industrial Supplies. The company prospered in the 1970s, growing to 3,800 employees and annual sales of over $364 million by the early 1980s.[1]

In 2013, Lufkin was acquired by General Electric for $3.3 billion.[2] On August 24, 2015 GE announced that they were laying off 575 Lufkin employees.[3] In 2018, General Electric closed a Lufkin facility, with the loss of 72 jobs.[4]

Operations
Lufkin Industries corporate sign in Lufkin

Oil equipment
Lufkin Mark II Pumping Unit

Lufkin's main focus is in the oil and gas equipment industry. Lufkin produces fully automated hydraulic pumping units and lifts that are designed to extract natural gas from hard to reach oil reservoirs.[5]

Power transmission products
Lufkin gearbox

Lufkin also produces transmissions, originally powered by gears produced by the company's own foundry before it was shut down in 2015;[6] the gears are now mainly produced by Allen Gears, another Baker Hughes company.

References
  1. KLEINER, DIANA J. (2010-06-15). "LUFKIN INDUSTRIES". tshaonline.org. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
  2. "GE to buy oil pump maker Lufkin for nearly $3 billion". April 8, 2013.
  3. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-general-electric-oil-redundancies/ge-expands-job-cuts-at-lufkin-oil-unit-to-575-from-330-idUSKBN0MM01F20150326
  4. https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2018/03/16/baker-hughes-ge-to-stop-production-at-lufkin.html
  5. Brown, Abram (Apr 8, 2013). "GE Will Purchase Lufkin Industries For $3.3B. So What Exactly Is It Buying?". Forbes. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  6. "Company to Close Historic Downtown Lufkin Foundry". NBC DFW. Aug 24, 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
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