After 100 years, caring never gets old

This year, Cummins Inc. celebrates 100 years in Power Generation. It all started with the incorporation of Onan Corporation in 1920 - a family owned business founded by David W. Onan.

"Since the beginning, values have played a key role within Onan Corporation. In fact, it has been a combination of values, people and our innovation - strikingly consistent with Cummins' own 100 years history - that helped the small business in Minnesota (U.S.) become a global industry leader," stated Alex Savelli, Executive Director of Cummins Power Generation.

Today, many at Cummins make a lasting and positive difference by embracing a set of values: Caring, Diversity & Inclusion, Integrity, Excellence, and Teamwork. Let's look at three examples from our 100-year history on how teamwork, through partnerships with other like-minded stakeholders, can amplify the impact of caring. 

Making lives better by using assistive technologies for individuals with disabilities

Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute focuses on helping people with disabilities and people with chronic medical conditions. A critical element of the rehabilitation journey is assistive technologies, products used to improve functional capabilities of people with disabilities.

The partnership between Cummins and Courage Kenny began more than a decade ago, and volunteers from Cummins continue to put their engineering and technical skills into work at the facility. Volunteers periodically attend sessions to adapt, customize and invent mechanical and electronic devices for children and adults with disabilities. You can read how Dempsey Becker, a five-year-old boy, relies on these assistive technologies as a part of his occupational therapy at Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute.

In recent years, the effort has expanded beyond Minnesota. More Cummins teams around the world leverage these assistive technology designs, partner with local organizations and serve individuals with disabilities. 

Increasing the safety of military personnel with energy technologies

Military personnel put their lives at risk to defend our way of life, and the efforts focused on improving their safety are great demonstrations of caring.  

The partnership between Cummins and the U.S. military expands over eight decades. In fact, as Allied Forces fought with Axis Forces through the Second World War, more than half of their power generators were supplied by Cummins.

More recently, new technologies developed by Cummins continue to help save lives of military personnel. For instance, Cummins’ Advanced Medium Mobile Power Source (AMMPS) generator sets require less fuel than their predecessors; this increases the safety of troops in combat, because fewer fuel transport runs are required. When AMMPS is used together with energy storage and solar arrays to create a hybrid system, fuel economy and system reliability further improves. These improvements positively impact the safety and well-being of U.S. military professionals in the field. 

Bringing prosperity to a rural village through energy access

Residents of Padarwadi, India rely on agriculture for their primary income, as many other villages across India. For years, villagers lacked access to electricity needed to run a small mill. Villagers made frequent trips to the nearest town, through mountainous terrain to get their paddy dehusked, or spent hours doing the labor-intensive work of grinding and dehusking.

In 2010, Cummins partnered with the village to install a generator set to power a small mill. During a recent visit, the project team received first-hand feedback from the residents on how access to energy has changed their lives over the years. These include tangible gains such as increased income for the village, and intangible gains such not needing to spend hours doing the laborious task of rice grinding and dehusking anymore; this increased standard of living led to improved schooling of children too.  

"As the world keeps evolving, we continue to live our Values and Mission: Making people's lives better by powering a more prosperous world. I'm confident this will continue to serve us well as a strong foundation for the next 100 years," added Savelli.

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