J.C. Bamford Excavators Limited, universally known as JCB, is a British multinational corporation. It produces over 300 types of machine, including diggers (backhoes), excavators, tractors and diesel engines. It has 22 factories across Asia, Europe, North America, and South America; its products are sold in over 150 countries. JCB was founded in 1945 by Joseph Cyril Bamford, after whom it is named; it continues to be owned by the Bamford family. In the UK and India, 'JCB' is often used colloquially as a generic description for mechanical diggers and excavators and now appears in the Oxford English Dictionary, although it is still held as a trademark.
In 1948, six people were working for the company, and it made the first hydraulic tipping trailer in Europe. In 1950, it moved to an old cheese factory in Rocester, still employing six. A year later, he began painting his products yellow. In 1953, his first backhoe loader was launched, and the JCB logo appeared for the first time. It was designed by Derby Media and advertising designer Leslie Smith. In 1957, the firm launched the "hydra-digga", incorporating the excavator and the major loader as a single all-purpose tool useful for the agricultural and construction industries. In 1960, JCB's hydraulic tractors entered the North American market, proving a long-lasting success. JCB became, and still is, the brand leader in the world. By 1964, JCB had sold over 3,000 3C backhoe loaders. The next year, the first 360-degree excavator was introduced, the JCB 7.
Production of the first engine designed and manufactured by JCB, the JCB444 diesel engine, started in 2004. In 2005, for the first time in nearly forty years, JCB bought a company, purchasing the German equipment firm Vibromax. In the same year, the firm opened a new factory in Pudong, China. By 2006, the firm had 4000 employees, twice what it had in 1975. JCB shed 2,000 jobs during the recession, but in 2010 it announced it was recruiting up to 200 new workers. The Company was a member of the business lobby group CBI until on the 11th of October 2016 it emerged on BBC news that JCB had left the group in the summer of 2016 following the Brexit vote.
JCB has 18 factories in the UK, Germany, North and South America, Australia, India, and China. The company employs some 12,000 people on four continents and sells its products in 150 countries through 1500 dealer depot locations. The company has a range of more than 300 products. In December 2013 it was announced that the Rugeley Cab Systems plant would move to a new facility in Uttoxeter which would allow the in-sourcing of cab assembly currently contracted to third parties. This investment is to be accompanied by the expansion of the Rocester and Cheadle production sites by 2018. JCB dominates the Indian construction equipment market with every three out of every four construction equipment sold in India being a JCB. JCB India's revenue rose more than 12 times to $1 billion in 2012-13 from $75 million in 2001. The Indian operations of the UK company account for 17.5% of its total revenue.
Many of the vehicles produced by JCB are variants of the backhoe loader, including tracked or wheeled variants, mini and large versions and other variations for carrying and moving items, for example fork lift vehicles and telescopic handlers for moving materials to the upper floors of a building site. Wheeled loading shovels and articulated dump trucks are also produced. JCB product line includes, Excavators, Wheeled Loaders, Tractors, Military Vehicles, JCB Dieselmax, JCB Vibromax and JCB Phones.
