History and Heritage

The roots of the modern Avery Weigh-Tronix extend back to 1731 when James Ford established a business as a maker of “stilliards” in Digbeth, near Birmingham, UK.  As the Industrial Revolution gathered momentum, the business was transferred to William Avery, soon joined by his brother Thomas, who traded under the name W&T Avery. 

In 1876, the company produced their first Weighbridge, with the first Service and maintenance contracts added soon after, in 1887.

In 1895, the company acquired James Watt & Co and moved to the 25 acre Soho Foundry site in Smethwick.  At the time of the death of the last Avery family member in 1918, it employed over 3,000 people and had businesses all over the world. Following the highly successful introduction of the first digital retail scale in 1971, the company was acquired by the GEC Group in 1979.

The US Business

The American side of the business, Weigh-Tronix, was incorporated in 1971 as a designer and manufacturer of agricultural scales.  The company’s proprietary technology, the Weigh Bar®, allowed it to quickly expand into all types of industrial scales.  Once part of the Staveley group, Weigh-Tronix acquired Avery with the help of private equity in 2000.  After several private equity owners, the company was sold to ITW in 2008.

The Present Day

Today, Avery Weigh-Tronix encompasses a number of the world’s best-known weighing companies, including Brecknell, Dillon and Railweight. The company is now a wholly owned subsidiary of ITW corporation, a publicly traded, Fortune 200 company with over 800 subsidiaries.  ITW has a repository of proven strategies and business process models used by all subsidiaries.  These tools help companies find new ways to enhance customer satisfaction by providing original, customized products and service.