Tokheim is an American manufacturer of

fuel dispenser A gasoline pump is a machine at a filling station that is used to pump gasoline (petrol), diesel, or other types of liquid fuel into vehicles. Gasoline pumps are also known as bowsers or petrol bowsers (in Australia), petrol pumps (in Common ...

s. It is one of the world's leading manufacturers and servicers of fuel dispensing equipment. The group has operations in many countries and offers fuel dispensers and pumps, retail automation systems, payment terminals, media devices, replacement parts and upgrade kits, and support services including service station construction and maintenance.

Products

Tokheim designs and assembles fuel dispensing systems and electronic data and payment automation systems for the global fuel retail systems and services market. Tokheim services include installation, maintenance, construction, and refurbishment of fuel dispensers. The company's products and services are used in over 40,000 service station and sold to over 350 customers from major oil companies to independent distributors. Customers include Esso, Total,

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, Intermarché,

Carrefour Carrefour () is a French multinational retail and wholesaling corporation headquartered in Massy, France. The eighth-largest retailer in the world by revenue, it operates a chain of hypermarkets, groceries stores and convenience stores, whic ...

and BP. Tokheim has over 5,400 employees through 33 wholly owned sales and services subsidiaries in Europe, Asia and Africa. For the fiscal year ended April 2012, the company had sales of €643 million.

History

The company is named after the Norwegian John J. Tokheim. Working in a hardware store in

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

, he was conscious of the dangers of storing fuel. In 1898, he designed an exterior storage system, served by a modified water pump. This development had the advantage of allowing him to accurately meter the delivery of fuel. In 1901, he patented the world's first vehicle fuel dispenser. The popularity of his invention, the Tokheim Dome Oil Pump, led to the founding of the Tokheim Manufacturing Company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1901. In 1918, a group of executives from

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...

, purchased the company and moved the business there. It later grew to become Tokheim Corporation. In the 1970s, Tokheim unsuccessfully marketed a bicycle gearing system, an alternative to the

derailleur Shimano 600 front derailleur (1980) A derailleur is a variable-ratio bicycle gearing system consisting of a chain, multiple sprockets of different sizes, and a mechanism to move the chain from one sprocket to another. Modern front and rear d ...

. In 2003, Tokheim Corporation's North America operations were acquired by First Reserve, while its international assets and subsidiaries were acquired by Tokheim S.A.S., owned 94% by AXA Private Equity and 6% by a management team. In 2005, Tokheim S.A.S. was acquired by Cognetas (previously named Electra Partners Europe), together with the management of Tokheim.Scott Anderson
"The Gas Pump Showcase"

Petroleum Collectibles Monthly
', November 2002. In January 2016, Tokheim was acquired by OPW, and together form one of the largest fuel retail equipment providers in the world.

References

{{reflist Manufacturing companies established in 1901 1901 establishments in Iowa 2016 mergers and acquisitions

External links

Repair of Tokheim products