Fisher & Paykel

Fisher & Paykel Industries Ltd was founded in 1934 in New Zealand by Sir Woolf Fisher and Maurice Paykel.[3] The company publicly listed in 1979 with authorised capital of NZ$ 40 million.

Initially the company was an importer of Crosley appliances, Maytag and Pilot products; in 1938 the company began manufacturing Kelvinator washing machines under license. This followed the introduction of tariffs by the First Labour Government of New Zealand.[11]

In 1956, manufacturing was moved to a purpose-built factory in Mount Wellington, Auckland. This facility included flexible machinery manufacturing techniques developed in tandem with the raw material suppliers, enabling Fisher & Paykel Industries to greatly increase production.

In 1955, Fisher and Paykel acquired Dunedin electric oven manufacturer H. E. Shacklock Ltd, which dominated the New Zealand domestic appliance market through the era of Government protectionism. Subsequently, the Shacklock brand was gradually withdrawn from the Fisher and Paykel product range.

The company began exporting within Australasia and East Asia around 1968. At that time the company also manufactured cabinets, sparkplugs and televisions.

During the 1980s, the company became more focused on research and development,[3] resulting in the development of the ECS direct drive mechanism washing machine and highly automated production lines.[11] In 1989, the company opened its first overseas manufacturing facility in Cleveland, Australia.

The company entered the European market in 1992, and by 1994 was exporting to over 80 countries.[3]

On 12 November 2001, Fisher & Paykel Industries split into Fisher & Paykel Appliances Holdings Ltd and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Corporation Ltd.[3]

In October 2004, Fisher & Paykel Appliances acquired Dynamic Cooking Systems Inc, a United States manufacturer and distributor of cooking appliances. Dynamic Cooking Systems was acquired for US$33 million (NZ$49.3 million) in a debt-free state, allowing the company to leverage market presence while maintaining its quality of engineering.

In June 2006, the Italian cookware business Elba was acquired from DeLonghi for €78 million (NZ$158 million).[12] Elba has been since renamed as Fisher & Paykel Appliances Italy S.p.A.[1] and exports to over 54 countries, focusing on the UK market.

Fisher & Paykel makes a relatively broad range of mid to high end dishwashers. Its notable drawcard to the Fisher & Paykel brand is the DishDrawer dishwasher. Most dishwasher brands don't offer drawer-style dishwashers, so Fisher & Paykel is the leader for this niche design. In 2018, Australian customers gave Fisher & Paykel 4 out of 5 stars for overall customer satisfaction for dishwashers.[13]

Their revolutionary Smartdrive top loading washing machine was created in 1990. It allowed the washing machine to vary the wash performance depending on the load size and fabric type. It also required fewer moving parts because it didn’t require a belt or a transmission or clutch like other machines back then and today still require. This technology was later introduced to the front loader line up.