Hutchinson Group
The story of the traditional Hutchinson company is as old as the history of caoutchouc processing.
A few years after the invention of vulcanisation by Charles Goodyear, the American engineer Hiram Hutchinson acquired the exclusive rights on the patent of his friend Goodyear and in the fifties of the 19th Century, founded two plants for the industrial processing of caoutchouc in Europe: in Montargis, France, (1853) and Mannheim, Germany, (1859).
The two production facilities launched by Hiram expanded quickly during the years of rapid industrial expansion in Germany at the end of the 19th century.
His family, now settled in France, soon founded further companies including subsidiaries in Spain and Italy. In 1903 the company was converted into a public limited company and relocated to the office on the Champs-Elysées in Paris. Since 1974, the Hutchinson S. A. is part of the Chemical Division (ATOFINA) of the French TotalFinaElf Organization.
Today, the Hutchinson Group belongs the world's leading manufacturers and processors of high quality elastomer products. In many areas, Hutchinson is the market leader. The Hutchinson Group comprises around 150 manufacturing and sales plants with around 32,000 employees in 28 countries.
