Measuring and Dispensing Pumps

During the late 2000s, an estimated 81 establishments engaged in manufacturing measuring and dispensing pumps. Industry shipments continued falling in the mid- to late 2000s before reaching $119 million in 2009. Industry-wide employment was about 3,500 workers; each establishment employed an average of 47 workers and shipped products worth $2.1 million.

There are three subcategories of measuring and dispensing pumps. In 1997, the first subcategory of multi-pump units, which offer several grades of gasoline from the same pump, accounted for about 38 percent of industry shipment values. More traditional single-pump units, the second type of measuring and dispensing pumps, maintained a near 15 percent share of the market in 2002. Meanwhile, the third subcategory of lubricating oil pumps, barrel pumps, grease guns, and other miscellaneous measuring and dispensing pumps represented about 32 percent of 2002 shipment values.

Non-industrial gas, oil, and grease pumps were a corollary of the proliferation of cars and trucks during the early and mid-1900s. As American society became increasingly mobile, markets for service station pumps expanded rapidly. Indeed, by the late 1970s, the service station pump industry was shipping more than $600 million worth of products per year and employing about 8,000 workers.

Despite an oil shortage in the United States in the late 1970s and a recession in the early 1980s, industry revenues climbed sporadically to $1.14 billion by 1988. Although growth of demand for new gas, oil, and grease pumps waned in comparison to growth in previous decades, other product segments prospered. Importantly, environmental regulations forced service stations in many states to equip their pumps with costly new vapor recovery systems and safety devices.

Industry participants were able to increase production yet keep a lid on employment growth during the 1980s--primarily through productivity gains. A U.S. economic recession that began in the late 1980s suppressed pump sales to about $1.03 billion per year by the early 1990s. As sales faltered, industry employment plummeted from a high of 9,400 in 1987 to about 8,000 by 1990. Figures for 1992 showed that employment levels were at 6,500 workers, 31 percent below 1987 levels, while the value of goods shipped slipped to $896.3 million. However, in 1993, the economy began to improve, and the industry responded.

In the mid-1990s pump manufacturers had scrambled to revive profits by introducing new gas pump systems, focusing on the multi-pump market, and incorporating computer technology into their machines. New pumps with point-of-sale credit card devices, for example, allowed customers to fill a vehicle with gas and pay without leaving their car, thus reducing labor costs. Likewise, to help service stations comply with federal "Stage II" vapor recovery guidelines, producers of vapor recovery pumps and attachments were introducing a variety of new systems and designs.

At the close of the 1990s, the industry reported 6,824 employees and shipped goods worth $1.3 billion. By the mid-2000s, he Annual Survey of Manufactures reported that overall shipments for the industry were valued at nearly $946 million. Shipment values increased to $1.28 billion in 2008. Companies in this industry tended to be smaller in size, with nearly 45 percent employing fewer than 20 workers.

The largest U.S. company primarily engaged in the production of service station pumps and equipment was Graco Inc. of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Graco boasted sales of $579.2 million in 2009 and employed 2,000. Second was Burr Ridge, Illinois-based Tuthill Corp., with more than $399 million in 2005 sales and 30 employees. Gorman-Rupp Co. of Mansfield, Ohio, reported $266.2 million in 2009 sales and close to 1,000 employees.

The workforce reduction did not show signs of slowing down, due in large part to continued equipment automation and the movement of some manufacturing activities overseas. Industry analysts' outlook was generally bleak for future employment projections. The U.S. Department of Labor expected annual job losses as well for the overall general purpose machinery manufacturing sector. In the decade from 2004 to 2014, about 36,000 positions in this broader industry were expected to be lost.