The Journey of Tuthill

Tuthill Corporation has been on a journey to become a Conscious Company since 2005. At Tuthill they strive to create an environment where individuals are both motivated and effective. One of the ways that this is accomplished is by treating people as the great individuals that they are instead of as business objects.

With unwavering confidence that each and every one of their employees has the potential to become a Radical Leader, Tuthill has invested a large amount of time in teaching the principles of a Conscious Company and Radical Leadership® at all levels within the organization.

It's wonderful that the benefit of becoming a Conscious Company doesn't stop here within the walls of Tuthill. In the words of Tom Carmazzi "We have embarked on a journey that we believe will have impact outside of Tuthill. In fact, our vision statement describes our desire to have seismic impact on the world, and we will accept nothing less."

Business System

The Tuthill Business System (TBS) is modeled after the Toyota Production System and has been popularly described as Lean, Kaizen, TQM, etc.

The fundamentals of TBS are as follows:

• Determine what the customer values and how they create that value.
• Deliver that value at the rate the customer wants.
• Have the customer "pull" their requirements.
• Try to produce these requirements in the units the customer requires, one at a time.
• Strive to always close their performance gaps.
• Expect problems and relish their resolution knowing that this makes them stronger.
• Respect, acknowledge, and listen to people.

History

Their journey began in 1892 when James B. Tuthill started a business to manufacture and sell common brick to Chicago construction companies who were fueling the city's rapid expansion.

Tuthill Transfer Systems (TTS) is a wholly owned, privately held subsidiary of Tuthill Corporation, located in Burr Ridge, IL. Tuthill Corporation has a long history in the development of new products for the pump markets. Dating back to 1892, Chicago builders needed a vast supply of construction material to fuel the city's rapid expansion. James B. Tuthill purchased a local clay quarry and a kiln and began supplying Chicago common bricks to local construction firms. Tuthill searched for an efficient way to lift the clay from the quarry floor and deliver the company's bricks to construction sites. In the early 1920's, his inquiries turned up a new transportation idea - a steam - powered truck engine.

The design of the engine proved unworkable, but Tuthill recognized the value of the engine's only practical feature: a small, internal gear pump which injected fuel oil directly into the truck boiler. Tuthill refined the pump design and marketed it to companies that produced oil-fired boilers for use in residential and industrial heating. In 1927 the Tuthill Pump Company (TPC) was formed by James B. Tuthill and Gray B Tuthill to manufacture and sell lube and oil burner pumps. The Tuthill internal gear pump was well accepted and proved itself successful and thus became the foundation for today's Tuthill Corporation.

With this legacy and competency in the fluid transfer product offerings, Tuthill acquired Ossian Engineering Company in 1961 which resulted in the introduction of the Fill-Rite branded fuel and meter product lines. In 1995 Tuthill Transfer Systems broke ground on their new state-of-the art production facility on Aviation Drive in Fort Wayne, IN. where to this day continues to manufacture world-class products with a commitment to U.S. based manufacturing. In 1998 Tuthill Transfer Systems augmented its core Fill-Rite fuel pump and meter offerings by making another acquisition – the purchase of Fluid Power Products, Inc. (FPP). This product line, now known as Fill-Rite Precision Meters extends the capabilities of fuel pumps by offering highly accurate, weights and measures compatible metering systems for the transfer of a wide range of fuels, liquids, oils, and chemicals.

Long known as the 'Red Pump' TTS continued to develop its core competency providing rugged, high performance, fuel, oil, and chemical transfer pumps and meters that have continuously enjoyed a leadership position for the past 50 years. Tuthill Transfer Systems and Fill-Rite are now celebrating 50 Years of Excellence providing the industries best fluid transfer products in the world.