www.applied.com

Applied Industrial Technologies was founded in Cleveland in 1923 as The Ohio Ball Bearing Company by Joseph M. Bruening. The company’s primary business was selling replacement parts for cars and trucks. With a single branch and two employees, the company’s first-year sales totaled $82,000. In 1952, the growing Ohio Ball Bearing merged with Pennsylvania Bearings, Indiana Bearings and West Virginia Bearings to form the 31-branch Bearing Specialists, Inc. The company changed its name the following year to Bearings, Inc., which remained until 1997 when the name changed to Applied Industrial Technologies.

In addition to internal growth from expanding relationships with customers across the spectrum of American industry, Applied has expanded its geographic reach and product and service offerings through strategic, targeted acquisitions. Some of the most significant acquisitions occurred during the 1990s and included King Bearing of Corona, CA, in 1990; Mainline Industrial Distributors, Inc., Appleton, WI, 1994; Engineered Sales, Inc., St. Louis, MO, 1996; and Invetech Co., Detroit, MI, 1997. In 2005, Applied acquired Spencer Industries, Inc., a regional fluid power distributor headquartered in Kent, WA. Applied then acquired Minnesota Bearing Company in 2006.

Applied expanded outside the United States with the acquisition of Rafael Benitez Carrillo, Inc. (RBC) of San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1998. In June 2000, the company made its first entrance in the Canadian market through the acquisition of certain distribution assets of Dynavest Corporation of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. In October 2002, Applied acquired Industrial Equipment Co. Ltd. (IECO) of Canada, adding 16 locations in Western Canada. In January 2005, Applied acquired Groupe GLM of Canada, adding five locations in Northern Quebec.

Mexico became a new Applied marketplace in January 2001 when the company entered a joint venture with the owner of Mexican-based Baleros y Herramientas de Precisión (BHP), a power transmission distributor, to form Applied México, S.A. de C.V. in Mexico City. Later that year, the company acquired Baleros Industriales, S.A. de C.V. (BISA), headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico. In November 2003, the company acquired Rodamientos y Bandas de la Laguna, S.A. de C.V. (Rybalsa), bringing the number of Mexican locations to nine.

Today, Applied Industrial Technologies is one of North America’s leading independent distributors of bearings, power transmission components, fluid power components and systems, industrial rubber products, linear components, tools, safety products, general maintenance and a variety of mill supply products. Applied represents more than 2,000 leading manufacturers worldwide, offering more than two million specific products to about 156,000 customer accounts within a broad cross-section of industries, including primary metals, pulp and paper, food processing, chemical processing, mining, utilities, textiles, agriculture and automotive.

Management stability has been a hallmark of the company throughout its history. Current Chairman and CEO David L. Pugh is only the fifth to hold that title since the company was founded. Since 1923, the company’s top officers (with the date they became chairman) have included: