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In 1935 – the height of the great depression – a young
engineer by the name of Ralph Allison founded ADC in the basement
of his south Minneapolis home, inventing ADC's very first product,
the audiometer, an electronic device designed to test hearing.
 Two
years later, fellow engineer Walt Lehnert joined Allison, and together
they diversified the company's product line to include amplifiers
and transformers for the broadcast industry. By 1942, the company
had designed a sophisticated audio system for the University of
Minnesota, and the resulting jacks, plugs, patch cords and jackfields
became the cornerstones for ADC's later entry into telecommunications.
In 1949, ADC sold its audiometer product line and Ralph Allison
left ADC to form a new company in California. ADC diversified and
focused its efforts in the area of transformers and filters for
power lines, military electronics, telephone jacks and plugs. And
in 1961, ADC merged with Magnetic Controls Company, a manufacturer
of power supplies and magnetic amplifiers with strong ties to the
U.S. space program.
The resulting company, ADC Magnetic Controls, had a decade of mixed
success. Although transformer sales boomed during the 1960s, other
new product initiatives failed to materialize. Perhaps the most
significant product innovation during this period was the bantam
jack, a miniaturized component that eventually became the standard
for telephone circuit access and patching.
 Building
on its growing sales of jacks and plugs in the early 1970s, ADC
introduced prewired, connectorized jackfields, wired assemblies
and test equipment for telephone operating companies. By 1974 the
company was on solid ground, and by 1976, ADC had become the largest
independent supplier of test boards in the United States.
ADC's growing presence as a supplier to the telecommunications
industry was significantly enhanced in 1983, when AT&T was ordered
to deregulate by the federal government. By establishing the seven
regional Bell operating companies (RBOCs) as independent entities,
the U.S. market for telecommunications expanded by 90 percent. No
longer forced to purchase their equipment from the Western Electric
Division of AT&T, the RBOCs began to look for suppliers like
ADC that had a reputation for quality and innovation in the marketplace.
Over time, the RBOCs would become ADC's key customer base.
1955 in a St. Peter, MN brewery |
1960 in South Minneapolis |
Today's World Headquarters in Eden Prairie, MN |
To more effectively focus its resources on the emerging
telecommunications market, ADC sold its magnetics business in 1984
and formally changed its name to ADC Telecommunications, capitalizing
on the shift in technology from analog to digital, and becoming
the industry leader in digital signal cross-connect devices.
In March 2004, ADC purchased the KRONE Group, a leading
global supplier of copper- and fiber-based connectivity solutions
and cabling products used in public access and enterprise networks.
With the addition of KRONE employees, products and services, ADC
now provides global scale and a broadened scope of products and
services designed to serve public network and enterprise customers
anywhere in the world.
Today, ADC has grown to become a leading global supplier
of equipment and software for telecommunications, cable television,
broadcast, wireless, and enterprise networks. ADC products perform
critical functions that ensure the quality and reliability of broadband
networks throughout the world.
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