Clark Material Handling Company (CMHC), stylized as CLARK, is an American manufacturer of

forklift truck A forklift (also called lift truck, jitney, hi-lo, fork truck, fork hoist, and forklift truck) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th century by various c ...

s based in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

. The company has a production plant in

Changwon Changwon () is the capital city of Gyeongsangnam-do, on the southeast coast of South Korea. With a population of 1.07 million , Changwon is South Korea's ninth-most populous city. A port city, Changwon is bordered by Masan Bay to the south ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. Clark currently (2018) offers some 304 different models. According to the company, there are some 350,000 Clark forklift trucks currently in operation around the world. Clark is credited with having invented the world's first truck with a

hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...

lifting mechanism in 1920, the ''Truclift'', the forerunner to modern forklift trucks. The company started as a manufacturer of transmissions and

axle An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearing ...

s for the

automobile industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue (from 16 % such ...

. Since 2003, Clark has been owned by the Young An Hat Company of Korea.

History

Clark Material Handling Company began as a division of

Clark Equipment Company Clark Equipment Company was an American designer, manufacturer, and seller of industrial and construction machinery and equipment. History Clark's predecessor was the George R. Rich Manufacturing Company, founded in 1903 in Chicago, Illinoi ...

in 1919. In 1953, the factory in

Mülheim an der Ruhr Mülheim, officially Mülheim an der Ruhr () and also described as ''"City on the River"'', is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It is located in the Ruhr Area between Duisburg, Essen, Oberhausen and Ratingen. It is home to many compan ...

was opened. In 1997, Clark built its 1,000,000 (millionth) forklift. In 2017, Clark celebrated its 100th year in business.

Factories

The Clark company has factories in South Korea, China, Vietnam, and Lexington, Kentucky.

References

External links

The company website

Companies based in Lexington, Kentucky Forklift truck manufacturers Construction equipment manufacturers of the United States American brands {{industry-company-stub

History

Factories

See also

References

External links