The Dresser coupling allowed natural gas to be transported from far off locations, where it naturally occurred, to cities where it could be used. Major cities subsequently turned to the use of natural gas for their heating needs, and Dresser Industries transformed from a relatively small company into one that was national in scope. In subsequent decades Dresser would go on to diversify and manufacture valves, compressors, oil derricks, blowers, drill bits, refractories, heaters, pumps, drilling mud and engines.
Today, Dresser Inc. sells, services, and supports products such as actuators, valves, meters, instruments, regulators, switches, natural gas fueled engines, piping specialties, retail fuel dispensers, blowers, and outdoor payment and point of sale systems.
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[edit] History
On May 11, 1880, when Solomon Robert Dresser (1842-1911) took out a patent for the Dresser Cap Packer, it is unlikely he knew how successful the company that would bear his name would become.
An inventor with experience in the oil and gas industry, Dresser established S.R. Dresser & Co. in Bradford, Pennsylvania to begin selling the packer, a device that was designed to keep oil and water separated underground during drilling operations. There were a number of similar packers on the market, but it was Dresser's next invention - a coupling that prevented leakages from gas pipelines - that truly set his company apart from the competition. The coupling facilitated the delivery of gas over long distances, from remote locations where it naturally occurred to city centers where it was in increasing demand in the early 1900s. By 1927, annual sales at Dresser had reached $3.7 million, and the company employed 400 workers to keep up with the demand for its products.
Following the death of founder Solomon Dresser in 1911, his descendants decided to sell the company and, in 1928, S.R. Dresser & Co. went public. The company became known as Dresser Industries at that time.
The introduction of welding as a means for joining pipes posed a threat to Dresser's coupling business, and the company began to diversify during the 1930s by acquiring manufacturers of related products, such as valves, heaters, pumps, engines and compressors. As the oil and gas industry grew, so did Dresser Industries, and the company soon became known as a major manufacturer of products used in the production and extraction of energy, adding oil derricks, blowers, drill bits, refractories, and drilling mud to its product lines. In 1950, Dresser Industries moved its headquarters to the heart of the United States oil and gas industry: Dallas, Texas.
Future United States president, George H.W. Bush worked for the company in several positions from 1948 to 1951, and his father, Prescott Bush, also played an integral role in company.[1]
Dresser Industries began to diversify into mining and construction equipment during the 1980s. The company acquired International Hough, the construction and mining equipment division of International Harvester Co., in 1982. Two years later, Dresser acquired the off-highway truck manufacturing division of American Standard Inc., Wabco. Then in 1988, Dresser entered into a 50-50 joint venture with Komatsu Ltd., forming the Komatsu Dresser Company to manufacture and sell equipment in the United States, Canada and Latin America. Komatsu acquired Dresser's share of the joint venture in 1994.
In 1998, Dresser Industries merged with Halliburton Inc. and the combined entity became known as Halliburton. The merger lasted only three years: in 2001, Dresser separated from Halliburton, becoming a private company that operates under the name Dresser Inc. Today, Dresser sells, services and supports a range of products for the energy industry, such as actuators, valves, meters, instruments, regulators, switches, natural gas fueled engines, piping specialties, retail fuel dispensers, blowers, and outdoor payment and point of sale systems.
[edit] The Company Today
Today, Dresser is a leader in the production of, actuators, meters, switches, retail fuel dispensers, regulators, air and gas handling equipment, piping products, valves natural gas-fueled engines, and associated retail point of sale systems. They operate in the United States, Canada, Italy, Korea, Russia, Switzerland, and Japan. The company has a client base of 12,000-plus customers in oil and gas, coal, refinery and petrochemical processing; electrical power generation; food, pharmaceutical, textile, pulp and paper, and other industrial processors; and natural gas, water and waste-water utilities. Dresser employs approximately 6,000 people, and is based in Dallas, Texas.[2]
[edit] Equipment List
- Actuator
- Air handling equipment
- Compressor
- Crawler tractor
- Fuel dispenser
- Gas handling equipment
- Meter
- Mobile excavator
- Motor grader
- Motor scraper
- Natural gas-fueled engine
- Piping product
- Regulator
- Rock truck
- Valve
- Wheel loader
