Whirlpool History

Whirlpool was founded in 1911 by 3 brothers - Frederick, Louis and Emory Upton. The company, then called Upton Machine Corporation (Upton), was set up in Michigan, USA. The company produced small electric motor-driven wringer washers. The company got its first major order for 100 washers from Federal Electric.

There was a problem!, when these machines were put to work a cast-iron gear in them failed to work properly. The company's General Manager, Louis Upton, agreed to repair the gears free of charge, although he could not afford it.

Impressed with the company's business ethics, Federal Electric not only agreed to repair the machines themselves, but also ordered another 100 washers.

In 1916, Upton entered into a business partnership with Sears, Roebuck & Co under which Sears marketed the washers manufactured by Upton under a new brand name called 'Allen'.

During the mid-1990s, In an attempt to motivate staff, Whirlpool carried out a big restructuring and reorganizing exercise to create a more responsive environment for its staff to work in. In this process, Whirlpool globalized some of its key functions including product development. Now that Whirlpool is Global it's many departments enter into deals with suppliers around the world and ensured that to ensure quality and value for money it uses only high-quality, low-cost materials and components while manufacturing its home appliances.

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