Norton Abrasives - Origins and History

Origins and History

Norton Company was founded in 1885 by a group of ceramists and entrepreneurs from Worcester, Massachusetts. The group set out to manufacture the first mass-produced, precision-made grinding wheel to fulfill the burgeoning U.S. manufacturing industry's growing need for abrasives.

In 1886, employing the help of WPI student surveyors, the partners built a new factory on the outskirts of Worcester. The factory was not only important to the company for its innovation but also for its proximity to two major railways for shipping. Through the end of the 1890s, corporate decision-making proved extremely conservative until it was assured the company would succeed. Until that time, dividends were frequently forgone and many of the owners refused to draw a salary.

Also pivotal to Norton's early growth was a focus on marketing. The company introduced a series of pamphlets and related literature, which detailed the intricacies of each wheel and advised users on benefits for desired applications. By the mid-1890s, Norton stocked the largest inventory of grinding wheels in the world, subsequently beginning distribution in Chicago (1887), New York (1904), and soon after, across Europe.

One of the largest keys to the growth of the company was Norton's 1900 expansion into the machine tools industry. Through partnership with Charles H. Norton, the company founded the Norton Grinding Company division. The company specialized in the production of stationary grinding machines, an alternative to expensive workmen, which were capable of producing high volume, working with extremely heavy materials, and grinding with an unbelievable tolerance. Initially, with minimal product need, Norton's Grinding division saw little success, but the American industrial needs of World War I and the American automobile industry boom began a period of explosive growth. In 1914, Henry Ford's purchase of thirty-five Norton Grinders prompted Ford to remark that "the abrasive processes are basically responsible for our ability to produce cars to sell for less than a thousand dollars. Were it not for these processes these same cars would cost at least five thousand dollars, if indeed they could be made at all." With 95 percent of an automobile's moving parts requiring grinding, the automotive industry soon became Norton's biggest customer. With a resistance to grinding innovation, Norton gradually lost most of its industry market share by the mid-1950s.

In 1931, Norton completed its first acquisition, when it purchased the Behr-Manning company of Watervliet, New York. This purchase added coated abrasives and sandpaper to Norton's line, which, going forward, would be two of Norton's more successful products. In the mid-1950s, with sales over $30 million, Behr-Manning was fully absorbed into Norton.

Since 2009, Norton has been a chief sponsor and abrasive supplier for both the United States Men's and Women's Olympic luge teams. Both teams competed under Norton sponsorship in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games.

Norton was also a leader in the design and building of grinding machines for mass production.