Cummins Celebrates 100 Years In Business

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The first Cummins engine, developed in 1919. (Photo courtesy of Cummins.)

Cummins, a major manufacturer of engines and generators as well as aftertreatment, fuel, and filtration systems, is commemorating its centennial by celebrating the past while looking toward the future. The company’s new mission statement, “Challenge the Impossible,” is a nod to how Cummins started out: Founded in 1919 in a warehouse in Columbus, Indiana, Cummins chose to challenge popular sentiment of the day that diesel technology wasn’t viable. Today, Cummins is a global organization that employs more than 58,000 people and builds diesel power plants for all types of private and commercial vehicles as well as generators and other stationary equipment.

Cummins will hold celebrations for employees and their families throughout the year as a way of saying thank you, and the company is encouraging people to share their stories and pictures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn using the hashtag #Cummins100. “Our employees tackle challenges every day, and to celebrate our centennial we want to say, ‘thank you,’ to each of them and their families,” says Tom Linebarger, Cummins Chairman and CEO. “Thank you for believing in our mission to power a more prosperous world and living our values each day.”

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The Cummins Model H diesel engine, introduced in 1932 and designed for the North American commercial trucking industry. (Photo courtesy of Cummins.)

A Brief History

Clessie Cummins started his first venture in the garage of William G. Irwin, but moved into a former cereal mill in 1918 under the name Cummins Machine Works. In the following year alone, he became president of the Cummins Engine Company, developed his first compression ignition oil engine, and officially established Cummins with financial backing from Irwin. Over the coming decades, Cummins would go on to introduce the Model F direct-injection engine in 1924, Model U engine in 1928, Model K in 1929, and the Model H in 1932. In 1926, the company expanded by purchasing another location, which is where its Columbus Engine Plant is located to this day.

Although it introduced several groundbreaking technologies and achieved one million dollars in sales the year prior, Cummins didn’t actually turn a profit until 1937. After reaching those milestones, the company continued to innovate, which led to the introduction of natural gas engines in 1964, the B5.9 in 1984, the ISX15 in 1998, the F3.8 in 2009 and ISG12 for the Chinese market in 2014, and the ISV5.0 in 2015. The company also introduced its C3000 Series generator in 2011. Today, Cummins continues to make its diesel- and gas-powered engines and generators cleaner and more efficient, but has also invested in electrified power technologies for vehicles, industrial solutions, and more.

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Cummins C3000 Series generator, introduced in 2011 and featuring a QSK95 engine. (Photo courtesy of Cummins.)

Cummins Generators

Cummins has infused all of its product lines with 100 years’ worth of innovation, including its extensive lineup of generators. These systems are well-suited for a wide range of applications and industries, including data centers, commercial industrial and mobile, marine, rental, motorhomes and RVs, telecoms, and standby power for homes and small businesses.

One specific example is the KTA50 stationary generator, which is designed for in data centers as well as in commercial and high-horsepower commercial industrial settings. This diesel-powered machine is available with several ratings, ranging from 1,000 to 1,286 kilowatts of prime power and from 1,120 to 1,545 kilowatts of standby power.

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Cummins KTA50 stationary diesel generator, which a prime power rating of up to 1,286 kilowatts and a standby power rating of up to 1,545 kilowatts. (Photo courtesy of Cummins.)

You’ll find a huge selection of new and used Cummins generators for sale at PowerSystemsToday.com.

Source: Cummins