ABOUT GENERAL MACHINERY
Founded in 1908, General Machinery has grown into five divisions including Air products, Electrical/Automation products, Pumps, Lighting, and Service. Headquartered in Birmingham, AL and with offices in Mobile, Montgomery, and Madison, General Machinery serves the entire state of Alabama, northwest Florida and eastern Mississippi. Only forty-five companies in a million stay in business for over one hundred years. At 115 years old and going strong, General Machinery Company is one on the oldest industrial distributors in the United States and we look forward to working with you in the future.

OUR HISTORY
As industry in Birmingham became electrified in the early 1900’s, Crocker Wheeler Company of New Jersey, sent New Orleans native B.A. Schroder to open an office to take advantage of their new market.

Schroder watched Birmingham’s industry and opportunities grow and left the company in 1908 to start General Machinery Company. He originally started stocking Crocker Wheeler motors for electrical mining machinery, later becoming a Cutler Hammer distributor in 1913 and until 1995, was the second oldest Cutler Hammer Distributor in the country.

He soon then broadened the company’s scope by handling pumps during a slump in the mining industry. After Schroder’s death in 1954, his son in law Ed Wilkinson operated the company until his death in 1972, at which time the company was purchased by Francis Crockard Jr.

In 1987, General Machinery purchased the Fred Chenowith Company for further expansion in the compressor market and became partners with Gardner Denver.

In 1995, General Machinery became one of two electrical distributors in Alabama to qualify for membership in the Association of High Technology Distribution (AHTD). AHTD is an organization consisting of manufacturers and distributors that focus on the high-tech automation products and solutions produced for Industrial, OEM, Integrator, Utility, Municipal and Process companies throughout North America and abroad. In 2020, General Machinery was named as one of the very few Schneider Electric Industrial Automation Distributors (IAD) in the southeastern United States. General Machinery was also selected by Grundfos Pump in 2023 as a warranty repair center and one of their partners in the Grundfos Global Service Network.

In 2007, Francis Crockard’s sons, Frank and Paul Crockard became owners and have since developed General Machinery into five divisions including air products, electrical/automation, lighting, pumps, and service. While the main office remains in Birmingham, branch locations have since been opened in Mobile, Madison, and Montgomery to better serve the entire state of Alabama, Northwest Florida and eastern Mississippi.