Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rockwell Automation employs approximately 27,000 people and has customers in more than 100 countries worldwide.

[2] In 1904, 19-year-old Harry Bradley joined his brother in the business, and the company's first patented product, a carbon disc compression-type motor controller for industrial cranes, was demonstrated at the St. Louis World's Fair the same year.

Its product line grew to include automatic starters, switches, circuit breakers, relays, and other electric equipment.

By 1937, Allen-Bradley employment had rebounded to pre-Depression levels and company sales reached an all-time high of nearly $4 million.

With Fred Loock serving as president and Harry Bradley as chairman, the company began a major $1 million, two-year expansion project in 1947.

[6] Rockwell was later announced as a founding member of the ISA Global Cybersecurity Alliance to help advance readiness and awareness in manufacturing.

[8] Simulation software provider Ansys and Rockwell Automation also allied to help customers design simulation-based digital twins of products, processes, and manufacturing.

[9] In May 2023, The Wall Street Journal reported that Rockwell Automation was under a U.S. federal investigation regarding potential access to its software by the Chinese government through company employees in Dalian.