FMC Technologies: Story of Growth from a Small Oil Pump to Oilfield Service Equipment

FMC technologies started in 1884 when a continuous spray pump was developed by inventor John Bean for the orchards in California. Soon, neighbors clamored to have their own devices. Then followed the birth of a long history of technical innovation and the establishment of the Bean Spray Pump Company. Bean Spray Pump Company started with producing agricultural equipment. But mergers forged with manufacturers of food processing devices and equipment and machineries used for canning vegetable in the late 1920s required the creation of a new name. The company’s name was changed to Food Machinery Corporation. In less than a decade, FMC became the biggest producer of machines used for handling vegetables, fruits, fish, meat and milk products in the mid-1930s. During the World War II, FMC entered in to the industry of producing defense machineries with its amphibious tanks and tractors used for military operations. After the War, FMC engaged in the production of continuous freezers used in packing and sterilizing frozen and canned foods. The growth and diversification required that FMC acquire petroleum and chemical equipment. FMC decided to change its name in 1961 to FMC Corporation as operations get more and more diverse and global in scope. In 1966, the company reached the $1 billion mark in sales. In the early 1970s, FMC Corporation has employed 42,000 workers and has moved to a new headquarter in Chicago. In 2000, FMC restructured the company into two separate entities: the FMC Technologies will handle the machinery business and the FMC Corporation will take care of the chemical business. FMC Technologies was publicly traded in its IPO in June 2001. Its shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The following years saw several major breakthroughs for FMC Technologies. In 2002, the company was able to develop a High Pressure, High Temperature vertical subsea tree system. It was the first major vertical subsea tree system of such kind in the world. It was made for the Thunder Horse project of BP. In 2004, FMC Technologies set another world record when it installed subsea trees for Shell’s Coulomb project off the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. It was a record for the deepest subsea tree installation at 7,570 feet. A new world record was also set in 2007 for the Independent Hub project’s deepwater completion of 8,995 feet off the Gulf of Mexico.