Bombardier
Corporate Headquarters 800 boulevard René-Lévesque ouest Rail transportation equipment Transportation: 35,600 History Born in 1907, Joseph-Armand Bombardier showed a genius for tinkering early in life. He was only 10 years old when he took a cigar box and a broken alarm clock and made a working model of a tractor. As he grew older, Armand dreamt of building a vehicle that could glide over snow—a fitting goal for a boy growing up in rural Valcourt. At 15, Armand designed and built his first snow vehicle which was basically a large sleigh powered by a Ford Model T engine with a wooden airplane propeller at the back. He and his brother drove the noisy contraption through Valcourt before their father ordered them to stop. Undeterred, Armand kept working on his idea while he earned a living as an auto mechanic. His big breakthrough came in the mid-1930s when he developed a drive system that would revolutionise travel in snow and swamp. In 1937, Armand sold 12 snowmobiles—named the B7—and opened the company l'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée five years later. J. Armand Bombardier never intended his snowmobile invention to be fun. The first snowmobiles were large, multi-passenger vehicles designed to help people get around during the long winter months. Snowmobiles are used in rural Quebec to take children to school, to carry freight, to deliver mail, and as ambulances. His invention served a very real necessity and soon business was booming. In 1941, Armand opened a large new factory in Valcourt. Then a major setback hit the growing business: the Second World War was well underway and the Canadian government issued wartime rationing regulations. Suddenly, Bombardier customers had to prove that snowmobiles were essential to their livelihood in order to buy one. To keep his business going, Armand switched gears and developed vehicles for the military. After the war, Armand experienced another setback in his snowmobile business. In 1948 the Quebec government passed a law requiring all highways and local roads to be cleared of snow; Bombardier's sales fell by nearly half in one year. Armand decided to diversify his business and make all-terrain vehicles for the mining, oil, and forestry industries. Bombardier was an inventor who never rested. By the late 1940s, the quiet French Canadian had survived several setbacks and had a modestly successful small business centred in Québec. But Armand was not satisfied with the status quo and dreamt of developing a fast, lightweight snowmobile (the Ski-Doo) that could carry one or two people. He worked tirelessly on his idea but always found the engine too heavy for the vehicle. In the early 1950s, Armand set aside his dream to focus on developing his company's other tracked vehicles. But by the end of the decade, smaller, more efficient engines had been developed and were starting to come on the market. Armand resumed his efforts to build a 'miniature' snowmobile. He worked alongside his eldest son Germain, who shared his father's mechanical talents. Armand and Germain developed several prototypes of the lightweight snowmobile and finally the first Ski-Doo went on sale in 1959. The Ski-Doo became an instant hit but not for the reasons imagined by J. Armand Bombardier. The Ski-Doo was originally called the Ski-Dog because Bombardier meant it to be a practical vehicle to replace the dogsled for hunters and trappers. But the public soon discovered the speedy vehicles that can zoom over snow were a lot of fun. Suddenly a new winter sport was born, centred in Quebec. In the first year, Bombardier sold 225 Ski-Doos; four years later, 8,210 are sold. But Armand was reluctant to focus too much on the Ski-Doo and move resources away from his all-terrain vehicles. He vividly remembered his earlier business setbacks that forced him to diversify. Armand slowed down promotion of Ski-Doo to prevent it from dominating the other products. On February 18, 1964, J. Armand Bombardier died of cancer at age 56. He left behind a thriving business, but also one that had been focused on one person. Armand dominated his company, overseeing all areas of operation. He controlled the small research department, making all the drawings himself. Now the younger generation took over and was led by Armand's sons and sons-in-law. The young team reorganized and decentralized the company, adopting modern business tactics. The company adopted the latest technological innovation—the computer—to handle inventory, accounts, and billing. Distribution networks were improved and increased, and an incentive program was developed for sales staff. Joseph had the ability to overcome great odds in his life to develop a company that laid a solid foundation for the creation of a transportation giant. He had a unique ability for an inventor which was to parlay his inventions into a successful business. By the time of his death sales of the company had reached C$20 million, which is the equivalent of C$160 million in 2004 dollars. During his lifetime the province of Québec had been economically dominated by the top anglophone businessmen and socially by the Catholic Church, with very limited opportunities for francophone businesspeople. He was able to overcome these obstacles through sheer determination and inventiveness. Global expansion In 1970, Bombardier acquired the Viennese company Lohner-Rotax, a manufacturer of snowmobile engines and tramways, and thus became involved in rail business. This section started to grow important in the mid-1990s in the renaissance of tramways or 'light-rail transit'. Bombardier acquired the assets and designs of American Locomotive Company/Montreal Locomotive Works, who continued in the locomotive business until 1985. They built the Class 170 Turbostar and Class 357/375/376/377 Electrostar trains which are widely used throughout Britain. They also built the Croydon Tramlink and Nottingham Express Transit trams and parts of Alstom's Eurostar trains. They are one of the companies which took over British Rail's R&D facilities after privatisation (the remainder largely being absorbed into AEA Technology and Alstom). They were part of a major consortium in the construction of the Eurotunnel railway cars, and also built new metro trains for a wide range of customers including the Toronto Transit Commission, the Commission de transport de la Communauté urbaine de Montréal, and the New York City Transit Authority (R62A, R142), and developed the Las Vegas Monorail system. Bombardier is a UK Notified Body, under The Railways (Interoperability) (Notified Bodies) Regulations 2000, in one TSI area: rolling stock. Bombardier Transportation also leads the development and production of the Acela Express train in a 75%–25% arrangement with Alstom. The train runs between Boston, New York City and Washington, DC. Bombardier provided carbody design and tilting mechanisms from its LRC ("Light Rapid Comfortable") line of passenger trainsets, and integrated a variant of Alstom's TGV propulsion system. This is the first high-speed rail line in North America, running at a top speed of 240 km/h (150 mi/h). To meet U.S. government "Buy American" regulations, final assembly of these trains was performed at Bombardier's U.S. rail car assembly facility in Barre, Vermont. Bombardier also provided seller-arranged financing to allow Amtrak to lease the trainsets rather than purchasing them outright as the railroad had previously done. They were, until recently, a major Canadian defence contractor. With the latest restructuring the company sold off nearly all of its military related work in Canada. However it continues to participate in military contracts in other countries, such as in the United Kingdom, with the ASTOR (Airborne Stand-Off Radar) conversion of the long range Challenger Global Express jet. The actual conversion is carried out by Raytheon. In 2001 Bombardier Transportation acquired Adtranz, making it the second largest manufacturer of railway rolling stock in the world. Depending on how one defines industrial activities, it is sometimes considered the largest in the world in this category. Criticisms Some Canadians object to such amounts of money being given to a private for-profit company, but the government argues that they create many jobs and that Bombardier would never have become an integral part of the Canadian economy without subsidies. Some business analysts believe that Bombardier's subsidies should be made conditional upon the company eliminating a share structure which they say gives the founder's family a disproportionate amount of control given their financial holdings. Recently Bombardier opened a engineering design agreement with an Indian company which, critics say, goes against the whole concept of Canadian taxpayers supporting local businesses. As is the practice with all aerospace companies, Bombardier's management aggressively seek out state support in every country in which they have plants, and often obtain it, in the form of direct subsidies, tax cuts, free land, previous debt erasure, or other forms. To give a few examples: It obtained tremendous sums in indirect ways from the United Kingdom when it acquired Short Brothers of Belfast, and modest but important incentives from the state of Vermont when it opened an assembly plant there. The government of Canada provided a large interest rate subsidy for the financing that made possible Bombardier's sale of metro trains to the New York City Subway. Bombardier's reputation may have been tarnished in the western United States by their association with the financially ambitious Las Vegas Monorail system. The system opened late, and after only a month of operation it was shut down for another four months due to mechanical problems. It had been hoped that the privately-funded system would be a first by being the only public transit system in the United States to operate without a deficit, but it reportedly lost US$85,000 per day while closed. These problems led the U.S. federal government to deny funding for a US$400 million extension of the system, which finally reopened on December 24, 2004. Recently, Bombardier have faced pressure from the media and their own shareholders over their involvement with the People's Republic of China government on projects including the controversial Qingzang Railway line into Tibet, to which they are providing passenger carriages. Bombardier Inc. ( Corporate Headquarters 800 boulevard René-Lévesque ouest Rail bombardier transportation equipment Transportation: 35,600 bombardier jettingHistory Born in 1907, Joseph-Armand Bombardier showed a genius for tinkering early in life. He was only 10 years old when he took bombardier a cigar box and a 1990 broken alarm clock and made a J. bombardier Armand Bombardier never intended his snowmobile invention to be fun. The first snowmobiles were large, multi-passenger vehicles designed to help people get around during flat the Bombardier was an inventor who never rested. By the late 1940s, the quiet French bombardier Canadian had rotax survived several setbacks and The Ski-Doo became an instant hit but not for the reasons imagined 650 by bombardier J. Armand Bombardier. The Ski- On February 18, 1964, J. Armand Bombardier died of cancer Joseph had the ability to overcome great odds in his life to develop a company that laid beetle a solid foundation for the bombardier creation of a transportation giant. He had a unique ability for an inventor which was beetle's to celebrity parlay his inventions into a successful business. 330 By the time of his death sales of the company had reached C$20 million, which is the equivalent of C$160 million in 2004 dollars. During his lifetime the province of Québec had auburn Global expansion In 1970, Bombardier acquired the Viennese company Lohner-Rotax, a manufacturer of snowmobile engines and tramways, and thus became atv's involved in rail business. This section started to grow important in the mid-1990s in the renaissance of tramways or 'light-rail transit'. Bombardier acquired the assets and designs of American Locomotive Company/Montreal Locomotive Works, Bombardier bombardier is a UK Notified boats Body, under The Railways (Interoperability) (Notified Bodies) Regulations 2000, in one TSI area: rolling stock. Bombardier Transportation also leads the development and production of the Acela Express train in a 75%–25% arrangement with Alstom. The train runs between Boston, New York bombardier City and Washington, DC. Bombardier provided carbody design bombardier and They were, service until recently, a major Canadian In 2001 Bombardier bombardier Transportation acquired Adtranz, making it the second largest manufacturer of railway rolling stock in the world. Depending on how one defines industrial activities, it is sometimes considered the largest in the world Criticisms Some Canadians object to such amounts bombardier of money being given to a private for-profit company, but As is the practice with all bombardier aerospace companies, Bombardier's management aggressively seek out state support in every country in which they have plants, and often obtain it, in the form of direct bombardier subsidies, tax cuts, free land, previous debt erasure, or other forms. To give bombardier a few examples: It obtained tremendous sums in indirect ways from the United Kingdom when it acquired bombardier Short Brothers bombardier of Belfast, and modest but important incentives from the state of Bombardier's reputation may have been tarnished in the Recently, Bombardier have faced pressure from the media and their own shareholders over their involvement with the People's Republic bombardier of China government on projects including the controversial Qingzang Railway 500 line vinson into Tibet, Information provided by Wikipedia. Back to top of Bombardier |
