For more than a century, Dana Incorporated has been advancing automotive technologies. Invention was the impetus of the company’s origin when founder Clarence Spicer patented the world’s first encased universal joint — an invention that literally “unchained” the automotive industry and began a long series of further innovations that have continued to advance automotive and manufacturing technologies to this day.
Originally known as the Spicer Manufacturing Co., the company was renamed in 1946 in recognition of Charles Dana, who served as its president for more than three decades and successfully guided the company’s global growth. The Spicer name, honoring the company founder, was retained as the primary brand for the company’s drivetrain products and today is synonymous with quality, durability, and innovation. The Dana Diamond is the company’s official mark, and – along with Spicer – is supported by international brands that include Victor Reinz® sealing solutions, Long® thermal-management products, and Brevini™ power-transmission and fluid power technologies.
Innovation: The Motivation at the Foundation
Dana manufactures and supplies components to virtually every major passenger car, commercial truck, and off-highway equipment manufacturer around the world, along with systems for industrial applications. The company’s core technologies include drive and motion products, sealing solutions, thermal management, and fluid power systems. This year, Dana engineers and associates crossed a major milestone, earning the company’s 10,000th patent, a significant achievement in innovation.
The global marketplace for vehicles and equipment is continually changing. Government regulations and consumers are demanding vehicles that are cleaner and more efficient, with increased performance and greater sustainability. This translates into innovation across all vehicle systems, including technologies that enable new electric and hybrid electric platforms. Dana continues to excel in helping customers meet these efficiency, performance, and sustainability objectives.
The Visionary Leader
Leading the charge is James Kamsickas, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dana Incorporated. When he joined the company in 2015, he brought along a deep knowledge of the automotive industry and manufacturing operations, as well as a proven track record of success in growing companies, both organically and inorganically. His career includes achievements at Lear Corporation and in leading International Automotive Components from its founding in 2007 to become a top global automotive supplier.
Now, Kamsickas is guiding Dana’s “Shifting into Overdrive” strategy, an enterprise-wide initiative that directs the company’s collective decision-making and actions, with a strong focus on customers and core technologies.
Nurturing with Technology
Dana occupies a unique position in the marketplace as one of the few suppliers that delivers advanced technologies and top-tier integration support to all major vehicle markets: passenger vehicle, commercial truck, and offhighway equipment, along with industrial equipment applications. As a result, Dana enjoys a substantial competitive advantage based on its ability to synergistically leverage technology, processes, and assets across all these end markets.
The company has 16 technology centers strategically located around the world to serve customers and inspire organic growth in new technologies.
Over the past 18 months, Dana completed four significant acquisitions that have strengthened its manufacturing and supply base while expanding the company’s product portfolio with adjacent and complimentary technologies. These inorganic growth opportunities include U.S.-based Magnum Gaskets, a complement to the company’s Victor Reinz® portfolio; manufacturing operations in Warren, Michigan, that bolsters the company’s supply of advanced driveline products; strategic assets of SIFCO S.A. in Brazil; and the power-transmission and fluid power businesses of Brevini Group, S.p.A.
Strengthening the Supply Base
The acquisition of Brevini has expanded Dana’s global offhighway portfolio with adjacent technologies allowing the company to provide solutions that both move equipment and enable the work functions of the machine. It has also expanded the reach of Dana’s product portfolio to include stationary industrial applications.
The company regularly receives supplier and industry awards for its innovation and service to customers. Recently, Dana was honored as 2017 Innovations Supplier of the Year for North America by FCA US LLC and also received a 2017 Ford World Excellence Award as a top-performing supplier. This year, Dana was the only company to have three separate technologies honored as finalists for Automotive News PACE Awards and is one of only six companies to be a finalist in each of the past six years. In 2016, Dana also earned first place in the CLEPA Innovation Awards presented by the European Association of Automotive Suppliers.
Dana is well positioned to continue its corporate tradition as a leader in vehicle technologies and a trusted supplier of products and integrated systems for original-equipment manufacturers around the world. The company is also making this technology available to the aftermarket through an expanding portfolio of offerings that meet the needs of today’s automotive enthusiasts and service technicians.
As human expectations for vehicle function and performance continue to evolve, Dana’s innovators are already working on mobility solutions for the future, helping to make Dana one of our “most valuable brands.”
