Our History

Warren Johnson partners with Milwaukee businessman and financier William Plankinton to form the Johnson Electric Service Company. Johnson serves as vice president and treasurer, and Plankinton as president. Installations at the Milwaukee Public Library and city hall help the business grow quickly.

In the age of Edison, Bell, Daimler, Pasteur, Tesla and Ericsson, anything seems possible. It’s an era of firsts: electric lights, internal combustion engines, X-rays and hydroelectric power plants.

Against this backdrop, Warren Johnson toils for three years to invent a device to regulate room temperature. In 1883, he receives his first patent for what will be known as the electric room thermostat—an invention that launches an industry and changes how people live. Within two years, his quickly growing Johnson Electric Service Company brings evenly regulated temperatures to buildings around the world.

Warren Johnson and associates patent steam valves, steam traps, pressure reduction valves, water heaters, hydraulic air compressors and electric meters in developing the first automatic zone temperature control system. A century later, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers calls it  “the grandfather of all control systems.”

A McClure’s magazine ad promises “domestic harmony and budget savings” with the Johnson Electric Service Company Furnace Draft Regulator.

With installations worldwide—including the U.S. Capitol, the New York Stock Exchange, a Warsaw factory and a palace in Tokyo—Johnson Electric Service Company changes its name to Johnson Service Company and moves to the downtown Milwaukee site that is now headquarters for Johnson Controls Building Efficiency.

Johnson Service Company introduces a line of gasoline cars featuring luxurious leather and wood interiors.

The first skyscraper, Singer Sewing Machine’s New York City headquarters, has “every approved modern device for comfort, convenience and safety,” including 1,200 Johnson Service Company room thermostats. Future Johnson Controls company York International’s refrigeration system delivers “a continuous supply of cold drinking water.”

Construction booms. The elevator sends buildings to new heights—and multi-zone temperature controls make them comfortable places to work.

Harry Ellis becomes president when Warren Johnson passes away in 1911. Ellis sells the automotive and pneumatic clock businesses. Like Johnson, though, he emphasizes efficient manufacturing and dedicated customer service, insisting that only company technicians install Johnson Service Company building control systems.

World War I takes a bite out of civilian construction, but the company’s innovative products become money-saving necessities during the Great Depression.

Globe Electric Company, a future Johnson Controls business, begins making electrical equipment for streetcars and street lights, and soon adds automotive battery production.

A 15-cent U.S. postage stamp acknowledges the country’s transition to the horseless carriage, depicting a postal delivery truck made by Johnson Service Company.

Future Johnson Controls business Hoover Steel Ball Company opens to serve the precision bearing and automotive industries. Years later, it expands into automotive seating.

Civilian construction slows during World War I, and Johnson Service Company becomes ineligible for military procurement when the U.S. government categorizes its products as luxuries. The company continues to thrive, though, by retrofitting old buildings with temperature controls.

The Johnson Service Company’s pneumatic system for temperature and humidity control promises fuel savings of up to 35 percent.

Johnson Service Company buys the patent for a dual thermostat developed by the chief custodian of the New York City schools (and a Johnson Service Company customer). The device lowers temperatures automatically by sensing increasing air pressure when occupants leave a room and reduces fuel consumption—a boon during the Great Depression.

A worsening economy forces Johnson Service Company to lay off workers, reduce salaries and move sales offices to salesmen’s homes. With construction stagnant, the company focuses on retrofitting older buildings with the Duo-Stat, which saves fuel by adjusting indoor temperature as outdoor conditions change.

As the Depression grinds on, government employment programs generate construction projects for private and public buildings that need temperature regulation systems. When war breaks out again, the U.S. government classifies Johnson Service Company’s products as essential.

The war’s end unleashes demand for new buildings with modern features like air conditioning. Johnson Service Company responds by developing a pneumatic control center for controlling temperature from one location. Emphasis shifts from individual room controls to “zone control systems.”

Joseph Cutler, who started with Johnson Service Company as a sales engineer in 1912, becomes president. Over the next 22 years, he reorganizes the sales force and adds 79 branch offices, and sales grow from $3 million in 1939 to $67.3 million in 1960.

Johnson Service Company goes public, listing its securities over the counter.

The U.S. government classifies building controls as essential to the war effort because they improve worker efficiency in defense plants and save fuel needed in combat zones. Johnson Service Company equips U.S. military training facilities and defense plants with temperature and humidity control systems.

With the war’s end, new construction increases, as does demand for skilled workers. Johnson Service Company launches its first formal technical training program in New York. The Johnson Technical Institute offers the equivalent of two free years of college to employees who complete night classes or correspondence courses.

The new United Nations building in New York City epitomizes a fresh generation of construction. Fully air-conditioned, it requires 3,600 Johnson Service Company thermostats and ancillary controls.

Eli Lilly & Company rushes researcher Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine into mass production at its Indianapolis, Indiana, plant. Johnson Service Company installs critical temperature-regulating apparatus in rooms where the virus is grown.

Business booms for Johnson Service Company as control systems grow more complex. The numbers of employees, branches and installations hit all-time highs, thanks to demand for pneumatic control centers that let one person monitor an entire building’s room and water temperatures and ventilation from one location.

Johnson Service Company’s sales surpass US$1 billion after merging with Penn Controls. The renamed Johnson Controls expands its technological capabilities through acquisitions, starting with Globe-Union, the largest U.S. manufacturer of automotive batteries. By adding seating and plastics machinery firm Hoover Universal and seating supplier Ferro Manufacturing, Johnson Controls can design, engineer and assemble complete automotive seating systems.

Richard Murphy becomes president. He holds that position for six years, but his overall service to the company is longer than any other employee—an amazing 63 years.

Having already begun serving international markets through subsidiaries in England, France, Australia, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland, Johnson Service Company builds its first European manufacturing plant in Lomagna, Italy. Worldwide sales exceed US$100 million.

Now listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Johnson Service Company provides climate controls to prevent rain clouds forming in the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Cape Canaveral, Florida, vehicle assembly building. Future Johnson Controls company York International installs 10,500 tons of water chillers for air conditioning.

Fred Brengel becomes the company’s sixth president. During his 21-year tenure, building control products are computerized, acquisitions move the company into automotive batteries and seating, and sales climb from US$140 million to $3.1 billion.

Johnson Service Company enters the Fortune 500 after acquiring refrigeration and gas heating controls maker Penn Controls. Product line additions include refrigeration controls for supermarkets, humidity controls for agricultural drying equipment, and controls for commercial laundromats.

Johnson Service Company introduces the JC/80, the first mini-computer for controlling building systems. It cuts fuel consumption 30 percent—and encourages building owners to automate as oil prices skyrocket. The company also adds computerized fire control and security systems for commercial buildings.

The company changes its name to Johnson Controls, Inc.

Johnson Controls becomes the leader in U.S. automotive battery production when it acquires Globe-Union. Founded in 1911 as Globe Electric, the company had invented the thin-wall, high-strength polypropylene battery case, a universally recognized breakthrough in battery design.

Diversification at Johnson Controls continues with the acquisition of Hoover Universal (the source of its automotive seating and plastics machinery businesses), and automotive seating supplier Ferro Manufacturing. The acquisitions mean Johnson Controls can design, engineer and assemble complete automotive seating systems.

Personal computers, mobile phones and the Internet change the world, while customer focus, globalization and outsourcing shape the business landscape. Johnson Controls achieves exceptional growth by remaining true to its core values of environmental stewardship, diversity and community support.

Entering the 21^st century, the company adds business operations and customers worldwide. Its 130,000 employees provide products and services for more than 200 million vehicles, 12 million homes and one million commercial buildings—and lead the way into the future.

The first Johnson Controls just-in-time automotive facilities in Indiana, Illinois and Ontario deliver sequenced seats to factories within hours of receiving orders. The battery unit adds Honda, Mazda and Toyota as customers and is the first aftermarket parts maker to win Ford’s “Q1 Preferred Quality Award.”

The breakthrough Metasys® Building Automation System links a building’s environmental control, energy management, lighting, fire management and security systems. Johnson Controls enters the European automotive market by purchasing an interest in German component maker E.A.H. Naue GmbH & Co. KG.

Johnson Controls achieves US$5.2 billion in sales.

When Sears ends its relationship with Johnson Controls, company leaders respond by implementing best business practices that identify key metrics to drive performance and reduce costs companywide. All the lost business is replaced even before Sears returns as a customer two years later.

Johnson Controls makes seats for more than eight million new automobiles, is listed in Industry Week Magazine’s “100 Best Managed Companies in The World,” acquires Prince Automotive and greatly expands its automotive interior systems business. Sales approach US$10 billion.

Having been in plastics since acquiring Hoover Universal, Johnson Controls is the largest U.S. soft drink bottle supplier and recycler and the world leader in plastic manufacturing and recycling technology—but sells its container and plastics machinery divisions to focus on core products. Making seats for Beijing Jeep opens new markets in China.

Johnson Controls ranks first among South America’s automotive seating suppliers, installs its 10,000th Metasys® Building Automation System and acquires the Becker Group, a European automotive interior supplier, and Cardkey integrated security solutions.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Buildings program names Johnson Controls “Ally of the Year.” The company also receives a General Motors “Supplier of the Year” award and the “Mandela International Award for Good Diversity Practices.”

Johnson Controls acquires Japanese automobile seat supplier Ikeda Bussan and introduces the Auto Vision in-vehicle video system. The company’s Brengel Technology Center in Milwaukee is one of the first buildings in the world certified under Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design® (LEED).

Terrorists crash a jetliner into the U.S. Pentagon on September 11, killing 64 passengers and 125 people inside in the resulting firestorm. The Pentagon facilities manager says a Johnson Controls building operations control center installed two months earlier let him close dampers to contain fire and smoke, potentially limiting further casualties.

Johnson Controls acquires its Varta automotive battery division based in Germany. Sales exceed US$20 billion. John Barth is named the company's eighth CEO.

The company acquires Borg Instruments of Germany and is named to the Billion Dollar Roundtable for exceeding US$1 billion in purchases from diverse suppliers.

The U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium taps Johnson Controls to develop Li-Ion hybrid vehicle batteries. Dividends increase for the 30th year in a row. The company earns a World Environment Center gold medal for sustainable development, and the Brengel Technology Center is LEED® Gold certified.

Johnson Controls makes its largest ever acquisition: York International heating, ventilating, air-conditioning and refrigeration products and services, with worldwide presence. The company also acquires Delphi’s global automotive battery business and is named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index.

In a year of sales exceeding US$30 billion, Johnson Controls hosts U.S. President George W. Bush for a major energy speech at Building Efficiency headquarters in Milwaukee.

The "open globe" logo debuts and Steve Roell is named the company’s ninth CEO. Johnson Controls is a founding partner in the Clinton Climate Initiative’s Energy Efficiency Building Retrofit Program. A joint venture with China’s Fengfan Ltd. to make sealed lead acid batteries creates an edge in developing countries.

Best business practices and forecasting keep Johnson Controls ahead even as automakers suffer in a global economic crash. The company purchases US$1.65 billion from woman- and minority-owned suppliers and is Walmart’s “Automotive Supplier of the Year.” The American Society of Mechanical Engineers names the 1895 temperature control system a “mechanical engineering landmark.”

Johnson Controls is a major player in reducing the Empire State Building’s energy use by up to 38 percent. Walmart makes Johnson Controls its sole source of automotive, marine, powersport and lawn and garden batteries. The re3 (Rethink, Renew, Respond) concept car, a five-passenger plug-in hybrid, debuts at American auto shows.

In the company’s 125^th year, its Glendale, Wis., headquarters is LEED® Platinum certified. Building Efficiency takes on its largest order ever for work on the Holy Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and the Holland, Mich., battery plant is the first in the U.S. to make complete hybrid and electric vehicle Li-Ion battery cells.

Corporate Responsibility magazine lists Johnson Controls No. 1 among the “100 Best Corporate Citizens” in the U.S. Worldwide revenue surpasses $40 billion. Acquiring German companies C. Rob. Hammerstein and Keiper/Recaro lets Automotive Experience offer a full menu of metal components and mechanisms.

Power Solutions opens its first U.S. battery recycling center in Florence, South Carolina, featuring advanced environmental controls. The Stephen A. Roell Innovation Center opens in Milwaukee, underscoring the Johnson Controls commitment to fostering new ideas and creating new value for customers.

The company's name change from "Johnson Electric Service Company" to "Johnson Service Company" occurred 117 years ago, at a board meeting on June 30, 1902 in Milwaukee.  At its founding in 1885, the company name included the word "electric," yet in the ensuing 17 years, thermostat technology had changed to wholly pneumatic, so "electric" was no longer an appropriate descriptor.  Company founder Warren Johnson himself suggested the new name, and after consideration was given to other names suggested by shareholders, a vote was taken.  While there was not unanimity, "Johnson Service Company" was clearly preferred, and the motion to adopt the name change was carried.  Johnson Service Company would remain the official company name until 1974, when the company was renamed Johnson Controls.

A Johnson Electric Service Company (today's Johnson Controls) sales contract ledger entry from May 11, 1901 indicates a sale of two pasteurizing tanks to Miller Brewing Company of Milwaukee.  Although Johnson Controls' history is generally associated with temperature regulation systems and devices, Company founder Professor Warren Johnson's laboratory spawned a variety of products sold by the Company in its early years, including springless door locks, chandeliers, puncture-proof tires and yes, pasteurizing tanks, too.  The contract book also notes that Miller paid $380 for the tanks and some extras in August of the same year.  The Miller Brewing Company was founded in Milwaukee by Frederick Miller in 1855 - making it one of the oldest businesses in Wisconsin (and thirty years older than Johnson Controls).  Miller Brewing is now owned by Molson Coors.