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Giddings & Lewis

Introduction

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Giddings & Lewis began in the mid-nineteenth century when John Bonnell opened a machine shop to provide services to the booming lumber industry in Fond du Lac. In 1866, the company added a foundry and named the firm Novelty Iron Works. By the turn of the century, George Giddings and O.F. Lewis had acquired the firm, naming it Giddings & Lewis Manufacturing Company and making sawmill machinery and steam engines.

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Backstory and Context

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 After the waning of the lumber industry, the firm moved into the production of other types of machine tools for the booming factory business in the country; manufactured lampposts and catch basins for the City of Fond du Lac; and was contracted, first by the British, then later by the American government to manufacture shell lathes during World War I. During the 20th century, the company grew and expanded its product line under the guidance of the Rueping family who now owned the company. After the Great Depression and World War II the company continued to expand and diversify. In 1994, Giddings & Lewis ranked as the largest North American industrial automation and machine tool company and one of the largest firms in the world, Theissen/Trekker. It was acquired by the Paris-based Fives Group in 2013 and was renamed Fives Giddings & Lewis. 

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