This firm dates back to 1874. In 1940 they entered the motor manufacturing business with the acquisition of Sawyer Electric Manufacturing Co. In 1950 they acquired Whirl-A-Way Motors Inc., of Tipp City, Ohio, which supplied the motors for the Multiplex line of radial arm saws made by the Delta division of Rockwell Manufacturing Co. For about a decade, A. O. Smith continued as the motor supplier to Rockwell/Delta. In December 2010, Regal Beloit Corp. announced that it was purchasing A. O. Smith's electric motor division, which completed in 2011. The motors made in the former A. O. Smith plants in Milwaukee and Tipp City now carry the "Century" brand. A. O. Smith Corp. now focuses on the manufacture of water heaters.

Information Sources

• A Delta-Rockwell radial arm saw has been reported, labeled, "Manufactured for Delta Multiplex by A. O. Smith Corp." A 1/2 HP motor on a Delta Rockwell 6" professional jointer is labeled as follows: "Power Tool Division / Rockwell Manufacturing Company / Milwaukee -1- Wisconsin / Mfg. for Delta by A. O. Smith Corp." Thanks to Matthew Schenck for pointing us to a machine with the latter labeling.
• Keith Bohn provided this information:"A.O. Smith is a Milwaukee company that for a time was very wide spread in manufacturing. They revolutionized the car industry way back in Henry Ford's day by coming up with manufacturing techniques for churning out car frames fast enough to meet Ford's needs. They sold off this side of the business to Tower Automotive a little while ago but car frames are still made here and in fact the plant is right across the street from where I work. No really, right smackdab in front of us. Today they (AO Smith) mainly make water heaters. They did dabble in motors as it seems did everyone else in Milwaukee (Baldor, Doerr, (Charles) Allis Chalmers and Leeson)."