Finance
Harnischfeger Corporation*
Company Business and Products
Harnischfeger Corporation was a machinery company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The company had originally been started as a partnership in 1884 and was incorporated in Wisconsin in 1910 under the name Pawling and Harnischfeger. Its name was changed to the present one in 1924. The company went public in 1929 and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company’s two major segments were the P&H Heavy Equipment Group, consisting of the Construction Equipment and the Mining and Electrical Equipment divisions, and the Industrial Technologies Group, consisting of the Material Handling Equipment and the Harnischfeger Engineers divisions. The sales mix of the company in 1983 consisted of Construction Equipment, 32%; Mining and Electrical Equipment, 33%; Material Handling Equipment, 29%; and Harnischfeger Engineers, 6%.
Harnischfeger was a leading producer of construction equipment. Its products, bearing the widely recognized brand name P&H, included hydraulic cranes and lattice boom cranes. These were used in bridge and highway construction and for cargo and other material handling applications. Harnischfeger had market shares of about 20% in hydraulic cranes and about 30% in lattice boom cranes. In the 1980s the construction equipment industry in general was experiencing declining margins.
Electric mining shovels and excavators constituted the principal products of the Mining and Electrical Equipment Division of Harnischfeger. The company had a dominant share of the mining machinery market. The company’s products were used in coal, copper, and iron mining. A significant part of the division’s sales were from the sale of spare parts. Because of its large market share and the lucrative spare parts sales, the division was traditionally very profitable. Most of the company’s future mining product sales were expected to occur outside the United States, principally in developing countries.
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Company Business and Products
Harnischfeger Corporation was a machinery company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The company had originally been started as a partnership in 1884 and was incorporated in Wisconsin in 1910 under the name Pawling and Harnischfeger. Its name was changed to the present one in 1924. The company went public in 1929 and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company’s two major segments were the P&H Heavy Equipment Group, consisting of the Construction Equipment and the Mining and Electrical Equipment divisions, and the Industrial Technologies Group, consisting of the Material Handling Equipment and the Harnischfeger Engineers divisions. The sales mix of the company in 1983 consisted of Construction Equipment, 32%; Mining and Electrical Equipment, 33%; Material Handling Equipment, 29%; and Harnischfeger Engineers, 6%.
Harnischfeger was a leading producer of construction equipment. Its products, bearing the widely recognized brand name P&H, included hydraulic cranes and lattice boom cranes. These were used in bridge and highway construction and for cargo and other material handling applications. Harnischfeger had market shares of about 20% in hydraulic cranes and about 30% in lattice boom cranes. In the 1980s the construction equipment industry in general was experiencing declining margins.
Electric mining shovels and excavators constituted the principal products of the Mining and Electrical Equipment Division of Harnischfeger. The company had a dominant share of the mining machinery market. The company’s products were used in coal, copper, and iron mining. A significant part of the division’s sales were from the sale of spare parts. Because of its large market share and the lucrative spare parts sales, the division was traditionally very profitable. Most of the company’s future mining product sales were expected to occur outside the United States, principally in developing countries.
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