Former British manufacturing company
FKI is a British engineering and manufacturing company headquartered in Loughborough, Leicestershire. For many years listed on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index, it was taken private by buyout firm Melrose in July 2008.
History
The company was founded in 1920 as a manufacturer of parking meters, trading as Fisher Limited. The name was subsequently changed to Fisher Karpark Industries ('FKI'). In 1987 it merged with Babcock International to form FKI Babcock[1] but then demerged the heavy engineering parts of Babcock again in 1989.[2] The company was taken private by buyout firm Melrose in July 2008[3] in a deal worth over £500 million.[4]
Organisation and subsidiaries
FKI plc has a large number of subsidiaries, which it divides into four groups:
- Energy Technology - Electrical generation apparatus
- Lifting Products and Services - Lifting apparatus (wire ropes, hooks etc.). The waste recycling businesses operated by FKI (recycling machinery) are also incorporated into this section.
- Hardware - Domestic fittings - door handles, hinges etc. as well as office fittings.
- FKI Logistex - Product handling automation - conveyor belts, RFID implementation, baggage handling automation etc.
Energy technology
The Brush group of companies are incorporated into this section, including Brush Turbogenerators manufacturers of mechanical to electrical generation systems,[5] Brush-Barclay and Brush Traction, both involved in rail locomotive manufacture and repair[6] (on 28 February 2011 Wabtec announced that it had acquired Brush Traction for US$31 million)[7]
and Brush Transformers which manufactures electrical transformers and switchgear.[8]
Other companies in this group are FKI switchgear (now renamed Hawker Siddeley Switchgear Ltd.) which incorporates Brush switchgear, Whipp & Bourne and others.[9]
Harrington Generators International (HGI) manufacture generator sets for rail, road, and light commercial and agricultural use, as well as supplying the British Army (MoD) with generators.[10]
MarelliMotori also produces electrical generators as well as induction motors.[11]
Lifting products and services
Acco Material Handling manufactures cranes, hoists and other crane components as well as hand trucks.[12]
Harris Waste Management Group, Inc manufactures balers and shredders for the waste recycling sector.[13]
Welland Forge produces impression die forgings for the automotive, construction, agricultural and recreational markets.[14]
Hardware
Truth Hardware corporation manufactures commercial window and doors, and fittings.[15]
Weber Knapp produces office fittings including counterbalance devices.[16]
FKI Logistex
Logistex produces a full range of item handling automation systems including baggage handling, storage and retrieval systems, conveyors, library systems including RFID solutions, warehousing automation and sorting systems.[17] The company's North American operations were acquired by Intelligrated in June 2009.[18]
The European Logistex operations known as Crisplant a/s, who specialized in airport systems, tilt tray and crossbelt sorters, were acquired by BEUMER GmbH in July 2009.
References
External links
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