About Us
Southworth is a leading manufacturer of ergonomic material handling equipment for vertical lifting and work positioning; designed to improve productivity while reducing the potential for worker injuries.
Wherever people are lifting and positioning items, handling pallets, working with parts in containers or transporting loads, Southworth has a solution to make the job faster, safer, and easier.
Mission
We make the toughest material handling work faster, safer and easier by creating customized vertical work positioning solutions and services designed to improve productivity and safety.
Vision
- Our vision is to be the global leader in the design, development, manufacture, distribution and support of solutions and services to make material handling safer and more productive.
- We work closely with our customers to create and deliver innovative and customized solutions to their most challenging material handling problems. And we conduct business at a level of value and service that causes channel partners and end users to prefer our brands to all others.
- In fulfilling our vision, we are creating a better future for each of our stakeholders: our customers, our employees and our shareholders, as well as for the communities in which we do business.
Values
Customer Focus
Our success depends on our customers’ success. We support, educate and provide our customers with the quality and service they need, and we strive to exceed their expectations.
Collaboration
We embrace a spirit of collaboration and teamwork with our fellow colleagues, customers and suppliers. We seek to help each other to be successful, recognizing each other’s knowledge and appreciating the power of diversity. We invest in and develop talent. We care for one another as a team.
Commitment
We are proud of our legacy and have a passion for safety and ergonomics. As individuals, we take initiative, learn from our mistakes and are focused on continuous improvement. As a group, we work toward clear objectives and expect great results.
Commercial Orientation
We develop our business for the long-term, every day. We are professional, business-minded and believe in an entrepreneurial spirit that allows us to take calculated risks and create profitability through increased customer value. We recognize and celebrate success, because success enables new opportunities.
Community
We build community based on honesty, transparency, and trust. Trust is established by respecting and caring for each other, being straightforward, and providing clear and constructive feedback. We listen actively to understand each other’s intentions and are honest and trustworthy in our relationships. As we seek to build a strong company community, we also seek to be an asset to the many communities in which our company does business. Mindful of our wider impact on those around us, we use the company’s, and the world’s, resources wisely.
Global Reach. Local Roots.
Southworth Products is part of Southworth International Group. Inc. (SIGI), a family-owned company with a global reach including locations in North America, Europe, and China. Our products provide ergonomic work solutions for a variety of industries and applications, while promoting safer work environments, improved productivity, and workforce optimization.
Our History
Dependability since 1890
1870s
It begins on the Maine Coast
The Reverend Francis B. Southworth, pastor at Seamen’s Bethel Church in Portland, Maine, develops and begins to produce library cases for seamen that contain a Bible and general reading material that Rev. Southworth prints himself.
1880s
A Family Business
Rev. Southworth is joined by his four sons—Francis, Edward, Alfred, and Constant—at his printing press operation.
1890
On Their Own
Edward and Constant launch their own business manufacturing graphic arts machinery.
1909-10
Southworth Machine Company
The brothers adopt the famous “Southworth Quality” trademark and incorporate their business as the Southworth Machine Company. Their new facility is the first reinforced concrete factory building in Portland, Maine.
1914-1918
Part of the War Effort
Southworth Machine Company manufactures turret lathes, shell trimming devices, wire winding equipment and other products for the war effort.
1920s-30s
Expansion
The company relocates to a modern manufacturing facility on Warren Avenue in Portland and adds an automotive division, focused on the manufacture of replacement machine parts and the rebuilding of commercial engines. The company also builds fire trucks for towns throughout New England and expands into the distribution and rebuilding of marine and aircraft engines and parts manufacture.
1930s
Patents Begin
Edward Southworth and engineer Grenville Whitney obtain patents for a range of machinery targeted at the printing, papermaking, and textile industries. The company patents its products in Canada, entering that market during the second half of the 1930s.
1939-1945
Building for WWII
The Southworth machine shop runs 24/7 to produce aircraft engine and propeller parts, alongside other vital war material. The company begins contract machining operations for high precision-close tolerance work for such aerospace customers as Curtiss-Wright, General Electric, Pratt-Whitney and Raytheon.
1940s-50s
First Line of Lift Tables
Efforts are refocused on the graphic arts, engine rebuilding, and aerospace industries, as well as the manufacture of equipment for paper and textile manufacturers. The first line of lift tables with a cam-style design is introduced in 1957.
1950s-60s
Growing Internationally
International agreements with partners in Canada, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, West Germany, Mexico, and elsewhere are established. A line of coil and roll handling machinery is introduced in 1960.
1970s
Southworth Incorporated
Southworth Machine Company is renamed Southworth Incorporated, which later became Southworth International Group, Inc. A line of lighter weight, mobile ergonomic products, which form the nucleus of a line of current products, is introduced. The company opens a new plant in Manila, Arkansas, to better serve its expanding customer base in the Midwest and Southeast.
1980s
The SWIFT LIFT Program
Long-running partnerships with Australian and Japanese firms begin, as does a joint venture with China. Southworth pioneers the SWIFT LIFT program to simplify the process of specifying, ordering, and receiving a lift table with minimum lead times.
1990s-Present
Innovation and Expansion
Southworth continues to innovate and expand its range of ergonomic material handling solutions, establishing long-term partnerships and joint global ventures.
Today
High Quality Solutions
Southworth focuses on meeting the evolving needs of a discerning customer base across a broad range of manufacturing, distribution, and retail industries, by providing innovative and high-quality lifting, tilting, and positioning solutions.
Join Our Team
Southworth is looking for motivated team members who understand how the work they do every day helps drive the value and success of our company. Interested?
How Can We Assist You?
Have a question? Please complete and submit the form below to let us know how we can help.
All fields are required.