History

Tokheim began in an Iowa hardware store more than a century ago. Merchant John J. Tokheim was searching for a way to improve the method of dispensing gasoline. In 1898, he invented ‘Tokheim Dome Oil Pump’ to do the job. The popularity of his invention, the, led to organizing the Tokheim Manufacturing Company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1901. In 1918 the company was purchased and relocated to Fort Wayne, Indiana.

1920: Establishment of Aster-Boutillon. Later acquired by Tokheim.

1925: “Roman tank” pumps first appear in France. Fuel is sold in multiples of 5 litres, featuring 200-litre drums. The pump is a hand-activated 5-litre twin-gauge pump.

1927: Tokheim Fuel pumps are installed at service-stations.

1940: Koppens Automatic, a manufacturer of fuel dispensers and later part of Tokheim, is founded in the Netherlands.

1947: End of sales in 5-litre multiples! The first mechanical measurers and calculators appear, enabling the price to be calculated according to the volume dispensed. From now on, any volume can be delivered.

1954: Quotation of Tokheim on the NYSE and creation of EIN, near Caen (France).

1969: The first tests of an electronic calculator take place in a petrol station.

1970: The first self-service stations appear.

1974: Self-service stations are equipped with cabled logic consoles, an ancestor of today’s EPOS.

1976: Tokheim introduces the first electronic calculator equipped with a microprocessor as standard. Fuel pumps become multi-product dispensers.

1977: Self-service consoles are equipped with microprocessors.

1985: Acquisition of Koppens Automatic by the Schlumberger group. Credit card readers are built into Tokheim fuel dispensers.

1987: The console becomes the PC and station management in the true sense makes its debut.

1990: Acquisition of Schwelm Tanksysteme by the Schlumberger group. Acquisition of EIN by the Compagnie Générale des Eaux; this newly created group is named Sofitam.

1991: Acquisition of Dunclare Dispensers (Dundee, Scotland) by the Schlumberger group.

1996: Acquisition of Germann (Germany), Guéant (France), CME, Borghetti and Nuova RIMIC (Italy) by the Schlumberger group. Tokheim, for its part, acquires Sofitam.

1997: Acquisition of Management Solutions Inc (“MSI”) by Tokheim.

1998: Acquisition of Schlumberger’s Retail Petroleum Systems division by Tokheim.

2003:  Tokheim S.A.S. is created by European Management and Financial Investors, headquartered in Paris, to acquire Tokheim Corporation’s assets located outside of North America. Tokheim Corporation’s North American assets are acquired by local US companies.

2005: Tokheim completes a new Joint Venture in China (Tokheim Hengshan). Tokheim completes a new Joint Venture in India. Acquisition of Steinebach Maintenance business in Germany.

2008: Acquisition of the Retail Petroleum Business of the Goehler Group. Acquisition of Forecourt Systems in Ireland. Acquisition of Holland Verlichting Service in the Netherlands. Acquisition of Elektro Spiller GmbH in Austria. Acquisition of Timelec in France.

2009: Tokheim acquires a 60% stake in Background2 Ltd. in the UK. Acquisition of Rohé: Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Latvia, Lithuania.

2010: Acquisition of Acis Slovakia & Czech Republic

2012: Tokheim returns to South Africa after the acquisition of various assets of Petro-Logic from the PSV Group. Establishment of Precision Brasil, Brazil

2016: Dover completes acquisition of Tokheim’s dispenser and systems businesses. Today Tokheim, head-quartered in Dundee, UK, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of fuel dispensing and automation equipment. With operations in many countries around the globe, Tokheim offers customers a complete range of fuel dispensers and pumps, retail automation systems, payment terminals, media devices, replacement parts, and upgrade kits.