Lord Corporation
LORD Corporation is a diversified technology and manufacturing company that develops adhesives, coatings, motion management devices, and sensing technologies for industries such as aerospace, automotive, oil and gas, and industrial. With world headquarters in Cary, North Carolina, LORD has approximately 3,100 employees in 26 countries and operates 19 manufacturing facilities and 10 R&D centers worldwide. As of October 30, 2019, the company has been acquired by Parker Hannifin. History. In 1919, Hugh C. Lord, a patent attorney in Erie, Pennsylvania, began exploring the potential of bonding rubber-to-metal to isolate and control shock, noise and vibration. This  led to the founding of the LORD Corporation, in addition to inventions such as chemical formulations, bonding processes, elastomers, adhesives, coatings and bonded elastomer assemblies. During the 1920s, General Electric used LORD manufactured mounts for trolley cars. Lincoln and Nash Motors automobiles also began to use LORD engine mountings. "LORD" was trademarked, leading to the creation of the LORD Manufacturing Company. The company's instrument panel mounts were also used by airplane manufacturers in order to lengthen service life. In the 1940s, the LORD Manufacturing Company was incorporated. The company would supply engine mounts to many aircraft manufacturers. Mountings for  railroad cars and buses were manufactured and LORD produced the first ever elastomeric transmission parts and engine isolators(also known as bushings) for helicopters. Elastomeric compounds are also developed by LORD as substitutes for natural rubber for the Korean War in the 1950s. To isolate aircraft cowlings, cowl mountings and motor-nose supports were manufactured. LORD developed the outboard motor mounting for the marine industry, Chemlok adhesives, and the snubbing skirt mounting for heavy equipment installations. Following Hugh Lord's death in 1952, his son Thomas took over the company, and continued to run it until his own death in 1989 . During the 1960s — In the 1970s — During the 1980s — In 2000, LORD Mechanical Shanghai was constructed. LORD Materials Division introduced a steer-by-wire solution for forklift trucks. BalaDyne Corporation was acquired and Active Balancing solutions for airplane propellers/rotating machinery was added to the product offering. Metal Gomma S.p.A. of Monzambano, Italy was purchased, which completed 100 percent ownership by LORD. Adoption of Rheonetic MR Fluids expanded into auto primary suspension systems. Company was realigned to combine Mechanical, Chemical and Material Product Divisions. The company announced a new distribution partnership with Tubelite Company Incorporated, headquartered in Apopka, Florida . The first MetalJacket corrosion control coating line was established. The company was globally unified under a single brand entity. LORD acquired Henkel's rubber-to-substrate bonding and rubber coating business assets. LORD teamed up with Biedermann Motech, a German manufacturer of spinal implants and prosthetic components, to produce a prosthetic device. On April 29, 2019 it was announced that LORD Corporation would be acquired by Parker Hannifin for $3.675 billion. The sale was approved by the boards of each respective company and closed on October 30, 2019. More than $1 billion in proceeds from the sale were  distributed to four foundations created by Thomas Lord, to benefit the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Southern California, Duke University, and the Cleveland Clinic, respectively. Each organization expects to receive approximately $260 million in unrestricted funding from the sale. Products. The product line today includes: Adhesives Coatings, Specialty Chemicals, Electronic Materials, Vibration & Motion Control, Magneto-Rheological (MR) fluids.