For more than three-quarters of a century, Cummins has been a leader in American diesel making. From small-scale operation to global industrial giant, Cummins has thrived by focusing on a central tenet: serve customers by building high-quality, technically-advanced products. This tradition has deep roots.

Birth of an Enterprise

The incorporation of Cummins Engine Company on February 3, 1919, brought together uncommon resources. William Glanton "W.G." Irwin—a successful Columbus banker-investor who supported several local entrepreneurs—supplied the starting capital. The new company’s namesake, Clessie Lyle Cummins, was a self-taught mechanic-inventor. The Irwins hired him in 1908 to drive and maintain their car, and later set him up in business as an auto mechanic. During World War I, Clessie operated a machine shop that thrived on government contracts. By then, he was convinced that an engine technology invented by Rudolph Diesel in the 1890s—while still unproven commercially—held great promise for its fuel economy and durability. To enter the business, Cummins secured manufacturing rights from a Dutch diesel licensor named Hvid.

A Shaky Start

The first Hvid engines made by Cummins in 1919 were six-horsepower, four-cycle models used for stationary power. Like other diesel licensees, Cummins found the technology to be underdeveloped and unsalable. But with the assistance of a bright former Hvid engineer named H.L. Knudsen, Clessie began working on his own designs. He soon produced a pioneering single-disk fuel system.

In spite of incremental improvements, the technology remained quirky. And when Cummins engines were sold through the Sears catalogue as "Thermoil" models, farmers bought the machines, used them, shared them, and shipped them back at the end of the season under the retailer’s money-back guarantee. In 1929, the Great Crash ushered in an era of depression that crippled what was then the company’s main market: marine engines.

Diesels on Wheels

But Clessie’s creativity averted bankruptcy. He mounted a diesel engine in a used Packard limousine and—on Christmas Day, 1929—took W.G. Irwin for a ride in America’s first diesel-powered automobile. This gamble saved the company. With a new infusion of Irwin capital, Clessie was determined to popularize the notion of the automotive diesel. He set a diesel speed record with the Duesenberg at Daytona Beach, then piloted a Cummins-powered truck coast-to-coast on a mere $11.22 worth of fuel. In 1931, a Cummins team set a new endurance record—a grueling 13,535 miles—at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Impressed with the economy and durability of these prototypes, a small number of truckers and fleet operators began to repower their vehicles with Cummins engines.

Gaining a Foothold

Publicity alone could not carry the company; Cummins needed reliable products and a sound business organization. In 1933, the company released the Model H, a powerful engine for transportation that launched the company’s most successful engine family. J. Irwin Miller, great-nephew of W.G. Irwin, became general manager in 1934 and went on the lead the company to international prominence over the next four decades. By marketing high-quality products through a unique nationwide service organization, the company earned its first profit in 1937. Three years later, Cummins offered the industry’s first 100,000-mile warranty.

World War II and the Postwar Trucking Market

During World War II, most of the company’s output went to the U.S. War and Navy Departments. Cummins products endured harsh conditions, from the tropics to the sub-Arctic. The convoys that supplied Allied forces—in Europe, Africa and elsewhere—were powered in part by Cummins engines.

In the 1950s, America embarked on a massive interstate highway construction program. Cummins engines powered much of the equipment that built the roads, and thousands of the trucks that began to roll down them. Truckers demanded economy, power, reliability, and durability, and Cummins responded. By combining lab-based research and field-based trials—including dramatic performances at the Indy 500 races—Cummins achieved technological breakthroughs, including the revolutionary PT (pressure-time) fuel injection system of 1954. By the late 1950s, Cummins had sales of over $100 million and a commanding lead in the market for heavy truck diesels.International Expansion and Technical Excellence

Confident at home and attracted to new foreign trade communities, Cummins looked beyond American borders to establish manufacturing facilities. The first of these was opened at Shotts, Scotland, in 1956. In the early 1960s, Cummins built plants or licensed foreign producers elsewhere in Europe and in Brazil, Australia, India, Mexico, and Japan. By the end of the decade, its sales and service network had expanded to 2,500 dealers in 98 countries. Through these efforts, Cummins established a strong international presence ahead of most U.S. multinationals.

Meanwhile, new challenges emerged at home. The trucking industry consolidated as engine producers merged with truck makers. (Cummins attempted such a move with White Motors in 1963, but ultimately remained independent.) Convinced that demand for heavy truck diesels soon would level off, Cummins' managers looked to capitalize on the growing market for smaller engines.

Meeting Challenges in the 1970s

In 1970, the U.S. government passed the Clean Air Act, which set tough new standards for diesel engine emissions. Through its advanced research, Cummins met and exceeded those standards, while improving the fuel economy and reliability of its engines.

The 1980s and Beyond: Restructuring for the Future

Cummins, like many leading U.S. industrials, confronted intense global competition in the 1980s. In response to this challenge and others, the company launched a massive restructuring program and began investing $1.3 billion in new plant and equipment and new engine designs.

In the early 1990s, this international effort moved ahead with major manufacturing ventures in Japan, China, and India.

Cummins has changed remarkably over its long history. Now a global enterprise, Cummins remains as committed to technological leadership and customer service as in its colorful pioneering years.