Crown Equipment Celebrates 80 Years of Customer Focus
NEW BREMEN, Ohio (April 29, 2025) – Brothers, Carl H. Dicke and Allen A. Dicke, founded Crown Equipment Corporation in New Bremen, Ohio, in 1945 with an unwavering commitment to customer service. Eighty years later, Crown is a widely-recognised, global material handling equipment manufacturer and technology provider with more than 19,600 employees worldwide serving many of the world’s most recognisable brands and category leaders.
The fourth generation of the Dicke family continues to lead Crown from its global headquarters in New Bremen with regional headquarters in Australia, China, Germany and Singapore. The company provides sales and service through its Crown Lift Trucks retail locations and select independent dealers in more than 80 countries.
“I’m honoured to be a part of this company. Since the beginning, Crown has earned a strong reputation for working closely with its customers to enhance efficiency, productivity and safety. We could not have reached this point without the support of the communities in which we operate, and our employees, an incredible group of people dedicated to our customers’ success,” said Jim Dicke III, president, Crown Equipment. “We are excited to continue our legacy for developing innovative technology and equipment that keeps businesses moving around the globe.”
Crown has a long history of exploring and developing advanced technology that has helped direct and define the future of material handling. Most recently, it introduced the SP 1500 Series high-level order picker, which features the industry’s first mid-platform window and leading lift and lower speeds. The mid-window centred between the hand controls improves visibility while fast lift and lower speeds make order picking easier and more efficient.
As the company continues its industry leadership, it is working closely with customers to incorporate a number of trends creating change in the warehouse and broader supply chain. These include:
- Exploring flexible approaches to automation
The prioritisation of tasks and equipment that are ideal for automation is evident. Customers are developing a clear path for a tangible return on investment that they can build upon to strategically evolve their automation efforts in support of fulfilment strategies.
- Enhancing operator experience
Greater connectivity is enabling fleet managers to create a more informative and personalised experience for operators that is designed to simplify onboarding, maximise productivity, reinforce safety and emphasise engagement to improve workforce retention.
- Harnessing data
Customers are identifying and prioritising the type of data they want to gather and establishing a plan and processes to share relevant, timely information with the right departments and individuals at the right time. Data is presented in a manner that makes it actionable to create meaningful operational and behavioural changes.
- Considering alternative power sources
Companies are looking at innovative power sources for their forklifts to eliminate some of the pain points associated with the lead-acid battery power source. V-Force® Lithium-Ion is one option that offers a number of productivity, maintenance and operating cost advantages.
About Crown Equipment Corporation
Crown is one of the world’s largest material handling companies with a reputation for award-winning product design, advanced engineering and technology, and superior after-sale service. For 80 years, Crown’s business philosophy has utilised vertically integrated processes to design, manufacture and distribute forward-thinking, innovative solutions that improve customers’ productivity and operating efficiency. Crown produces a broad range of forklifts, batteries and chargers, as well as automation solutions and fleet management technologies.
The company’s global headquarters is located in New Bremen, Ohio, USA, with regional headquarters in Australia, China, Germany and Singapore. Its employees number more than 19,600 worldwide. Crown operates a service and distribution network that exceeds 500 retail locations in over 80 countries. To learn more about Crown’s ideas for helping customers advance the productivity of their operations, visit crown.com.