Key people Tim Breen, President Number of employees 5,200 | Founded 1972 Parent organization Genuine Parts Company | |
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Type Subsidiary of Genuine Parts Revenue $4.77 billion USD (2014) Headquarters Birmingham, Alabama, United States CEO Timothy P. Breen (17 Nov 2014–) Motto Keeping Industry In Motion | ||
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Motion Industries, Inc., headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, is a distributor of industrial parts and has 150,000 customers and annual sales of $4.5 billion. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Genuine Parts.
Contents
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History
Motion Industries began as Owen Richards Co., an industrial supply company, which Caldwell Marks and William Spencer III purchased in 1946 in Birmingham. Changing the name to Motion Industries, Marks and Spencer merged with Genuine Parts Co. in 1972. According to Marks, Motion Industries was one of the first industrial distribution companies to establish a central distribution center and set-up an electronic parts database.
Modern Motion Industries is an industrial parts distributor for products including bearings, mechanical power transmission, electrical and industrial automation, and hydraulic hose. It also provides fabrication and repair services. As of 2015, Motion Industries had annual sales of $4.5 billion and 150,000 customers. Its customers cross numerous industries including: food and beverage, pulp and paper, iron and steel, chemical, mining, petrochemical, automotive, wood and lumber, and pharmaceuticals. At $4.5 billion in sales, Motion Industries placed ninth on Industrial Distribution's 2014 "The Big 50" list of industrial distributors. It was also recognized as "Distributor of the Year" by 3M in 2014.
Leadership
Tim Breen is Motion Industries' CEO. He replaced Bill Stephens, who led the company for 37 years, in 2015.
Name
Stephens explained the founders' decision to change the name from Owen Richards to Motion Industries "because everything we do moves – we’re in the bearing and transmission business."
Locations
There are more than 500 Motion Industries offices located throughout the United States and in Canada through its Motion Canada subsidiary. The company operates in Mexico through its Motion Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V. division.
Regional Locations
With 6,500 employees, Motion Industries is the largest employer in Alabama.
Acquisitions
In the late 1990s, Motion Industries acquired Illinois Bearing Co. in Mattoon, Illinois. On October 26, 2013 Motion Industries acquired AST Bearings. In 2015 the company acquired Miller Bearings, an Orlando-based industrial parts distributor.
Legal
In 2012 Donald G. Maynor II, an employee, sued Motion Industries for age discrimination, alleging that the company fired him due to his age in violation of the West Virginia Human Rights Act. In 2015 Motion Industries sued Superior Derrick Services for $1 million due to non-payment of a portion of a contract for parts delivered between 2011 and 2014.