Pelican Products

Pelican Products, Inc.

Company type	Private
Industry	Protective cases, luggage, lighting
Founded	1976
Founders	Arline Parker, David Parker
Headquarters	Torrance, California , United States
Key people	James Curleigh (CEO)
Products	Backpacks, coolers, luggage, drinkware, protective cases, flashlights, temperature controlled packaging, portable area lighting
Owner	Platinum Equity
Number of employees	1,300+ (2019)[ needs update ]
Website	www.pelican.com

Pelican Products is an American multinational company that designs and manufactures portable lighting systems, temperature controlled packaging and protective cases. Their products are used in many industries including military, law enforcement, fire safety, and consumer entertainment. ^[1] The company's flagship product, Pelican cases, are molded plastic cases that seal with an airtight and watertight gasket. Pelican is based in Torrance, California. In Europe the products are branded Peli.

History

A water-resistant Pelican Products iPod case

Variety of Pelican hard protective cases

The company was founded in Torrance, California, in 1976 by David and Arline Parker as a mail-order home business. It was David Parker's desire to "develop unique and practical products for the dive market." ^[1]

Pelican introduced its Protector case in 1978. In the early 1980s, the SabreLite was launched for the dive market, and Pelican's products received their first safety approvals. In the early 1990s, molding operations were brought in-house, and the company's headquarters moved to Torrance, California. A subsidiary opened in Spain to serve the European market. In the early 2000s, Pelican opened a subsidiary in Canada and received safety approvals in Europe for their Peli flashlights.^{[ citation needed ]}

In October 2004, the private equity investment firm Behrman Capital acquired Pelican Products for approx. $200 million. ^[2] Lyndon J. Faulkner was named CEO of Pelican in 2006. ^[3] In 2007, the Pelican 7060 flashlight is introduced after being developed with the Los Angeles Police Department. ^[4]

• 2006–2007
  • Pelican Japan and China open
  • Company surpasses 100 million in sales
  • Canadian Armed Forces contracts Pelican to build the special MOB "Mobile Operations Box" case
  • Their largest injection molding machine (code named "Colossus") is installed at the Torrance, CA plant
  • The Pelican i1010/i1030 Micro Case series is launched
  • Pelican's first robot (code named "T-Rex") is installed in their Torrance, CA plant
• 2008
  • Pelican Products purchased their largest Australian distributor and opened Pelican Australia ^[5]
  • Pelican Products makes Inc. magazine's 5000 list for the second year
  • The company purchased portable LED area lighting manufacturer Bluei UK ^[6]
  • General Peter Pace becomes Pelican's chairman of the board
  • The 9430 Remote Area Lighting System debuts
• 2009
  • Pelican Products announced the acquisition of long-time competitor, Hardigg Industries of South Deerfield, Massachusetts, the world's largest manufacturer of rotationally molded protective cases ^[7]
  • Pelican lands an $80 million contract to create the General Mechanics Tool Kit for the U.S. Military
  • The Pelican 1090 HardBack case is introduced
• 2010
  • Pelican's chairman of the board, Peter Pace, initiates the Pelican For Patriots program, which provides cases for wounded military veterans to protect their prosthetic
  • Pelican sends coolers, flashlights and cases to aid in the Haiti disaster rescue and recovery
  • Pelican introduces Advanced Case Solutions line for custom case applications
  • Pelican is certified as a Sony Green Partner
  • Pelican introduces the 1460 EMS case for the emergency and fire safety markets
• 2011
  • Pelican purchased Australian roto-mold case manufacturer Trimcast ^[8]
  • Pelican India and South Korea open
• 2013
  • The company introduces their consumer division, offering backpacks, lighting tools, coolers and more ^[9]
  • The company acquired temperature-controlled container manufacturer Minnesota Thermal Science ^[10]
• 2014–2015
  • Pelican introduces the Pelican 7000 flashlight, their first to shine up to 600 lumens
  • Pelican introduces Pelican Elite luggage
  • Pelican acquires Cool Logistics and re-brands the combined division (Minnesota Thermal Science + Cool Logistics) as Pelican BioThermal ^[11]
• 2016–2017
  • Pelican celebrates its 40th anniversary
  • Pelican introduces their Pelican Air Case line
  • Pelican introduces Pelican Traveler tumblers

In 2020, Pelican acquired the temperature-controlled packaging manufacturer NanoCool.^{[ citation needed ]} Phil Gyori was named president and chief executive officer, and Lyndon Faulkner executive chairman. ^[12] In 2021, Platinum Equity completed the acquisition of Pelican. ^[13]

Awards

• 2011: Corporation of the Year award by the National Institute of Packaging Handling and Logistics Engineers (NIPHLE)^{[ citation needed ]}
• 2011: Presidential "E" award^{[ clarification needed ]} for exports^{[ citation needed ]}
• 2016–2017: Queen's Award for Innovation^{[ clarification needed ]} for Peli BioThermal^{[ citation needed ]}
• 2018–2019: Queen's Award for Enterprise^{[ clarification needed ]} for Peli BioThermal^{[ citation needed ]}

References

1. "Pelican Products proves as durable as the storage cases it makes".www.latimes.com. 2012-April-29. Retrieved 2013-07-17
2. "BEHRMAN CAPITAL ACQUIRES PELICAN™ PRODUCTS, INC. IN $200 MILLION TRANSACTION" (Archived 2013-09-21 at the Wayback Machine (Press Release). Behrman Capital. 2004 October 26. Retrieved 2013-07-18.
3. Pelican Products Founder Retires, Faulkner Named New CEO, (Press Release), www.flashlightnews.com, 2006-08-16, Retrieved 2013-09-20.
4. "LAPD's blinding new flashlights too light to beat suspects". www.engadget.com. 2 April 2007. Retrieved 2013-09-16.
5. Pelican™ Products makes first-ever acquisition by acquiring Australian distributor, 2008-04-08, Retrieved 2013-09-20.
6. Pelican establishes Advanced Area Lighting Group Archived 2013-09-21 at the Wayback Machine , www.fireengineering.com, 2008-06-08, Retrieved 2013-09-20.
7. Pelican Products Acquires Hardigg Industries, www.pelican.com, 2009-01-09, Retrieved 2022-10-05.
8. Pelican Acquires Trimcast (Archived 2013-09-21 at the Wayback Machine ), www.growthbusiness.co.uk, 2011-04-05, Retrieved 2013-09-20.
9. A Product With Devotees Tries to Widen Its Niche, www.nytimes.com, 2012-08-05, Retrieved 2013-09-20.
10. Pelican acquires Minnesota Thermal Science (Archived 2013-09-21 at the Wayback Machine ), www.healthcarepackaging.com, 01-14-2013, Retrieved 2013-09-20
11. "Pelican Products, Inc. accelerates its BioPharma strategy with the acquisition of Cool Logistics". www.heathcarepackaging.com. 2014-02-04. Archived from the original on 2015-10-07. Retrieved 2015-10-06.
12. , Yahoo! News, 08-05-2020, Retrieved 2020-10-09
13. "PLATINUM EQUITY COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF PELICAN PRODUCTS" (Press release). PR Newswire . Retrieved January 4, 2022– via Yahoo! Finance.