Powerful Innovation

Two brands do not reach a combined 225 years by maintaining the status quo; to achieve lasting success, they must lead their industry through change and growth. From 1882 when the DODGE® brand initiated radical change in the pulley industry to 2000 when the new TORQUE-ARM II T speed reducer was introduced, and from the creation of the first adjustable speed DC motor in 1905 to 1993 when Reliance received White House recognition for energy leadership, the DODGE and Reliance brands have exemplified innovation at its best.

The number of patents awarded is one measure of engineering innovation. Over 750 patents have been awarded throughout the history of the DODGE, MASTER® , REEVES® , and Reliance brands.

But innovation does not always mean advancing the design of an existing product or inventing new ones; sometimes innovation involves the clever re-purposing of existing technologies to applications for which they were never previously considered. Reliance® motors could be found in an extraordinary application inside the scientific experiment Biosphere in the early 1990s, where they were responsible for powering the air handling system of an entire indoor ecosystem..

Similarly, both the REEVES and Reliance brands have been a part of the automotive industry for decades, REEVES as an early designer of automobiles and Reliance as a major supplier to automotive manufacturers. Today, Reliance engineers are working with a variety of equipment designers to develop motors suited for use in school buses, public vehicles, and heavy trucks. In many of these applications, DODGE gearing and power transmission components have also been used in new ways that built on our expertise in industrial applications.

At times, engineering innovation may begin even before the full implications of the technology are known. Consider the application of High Temperature Superconductors (HTS) in electric motors. Since 1989, Reliance engineers have been pioneering new technologies in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy's Superconductivity Partnership Initiative and the United State 's electric utility industry to make superconductivity a viable energy-saving solution for the industrial motor marketplace. In 2001 Reliance engineers bested their 1996 and 2000 world-leading demonstrations of 200 HP and 1000 HP HTS motors, demonstrating an HTS motor operating at 1600 HP for U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta.

The DODGE and Reliance brands were born from innovation, and that spirit continues, as their engineers work today to develop, test, and apply new products that just may change tomorrow.