JBT Corporation (JBT Marel Corporation, formerly JBT Corporation) is a US company listed on the New York Stock Exchange that began in 1884 as a California orchard spray pump maker, and a material-handling veteran that has supplied AGV systems to automotive, food and beverage, and manufacturing industries since the 1980s.
1. Company Overview
- Company name: JBT Marel Corporation (formerly JBT Corporation, John Bean Technologies), NYSE ticker JBTM
- Founded: 1884 as the Bean Spray Pump Company; spun off from FMC Technologies as an independent company in 2008
- Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Business area: food processing machinery, automation systems (AGV)
- Renamed to “JBT Marel Corporation” after completing its acquisition of Marel in January 2025
2. History and Personnel
Founded in 1884 in Los Gatos, California by orchardist John Bean as a pesticide spray pump company. It became part of Food Machinery Corporation (FMC) in 1928 and began participating in defense industry contracts from 1946. It designed the first wire-guided AGV in 1981, was spun off as FMC Technologies in 2001, and was reorganized into the independent JBT Corporation in 2008 through the sale of FMC Technologies’ non-energy businesses. In 2009 it installed the first automatic battery exchange system enabling AGVs to swap batteries with one another, and completed its acquisition of Marel in January 2025, renaming itself JBT Marel Corporation.
As of 2023 the company had approximately 5,200 employees, and in 2022 reported revenue of USD 2.166 billion and net income of USD 130.7 million (per publicly available materials). It holds a number of brands under its umbrella, including A&B Process Systems, Alco, and Proseal.
3. Core Technology and Key Equipment
Starting with its design of the first wire-guided AGV in 1981, the company successively developed the SGV 3000 integrated vehicle control platform in 2011, the JayBoT for small-scale automation in 2015, and 3D camera-based pallet detection and natural feature navigation (NFN) vision technology in 2017.
- SGV 4000/3000 — modular, expandable vehicle control platform built on standard commercial components
- JayBoT — simplified AGV solution for small-scale automation
- Automatic battery exchange system (2009) — enables AGVs to exchange batteries with one another
- Natural feature navigation (NFN) vision technology — for complex environments such as hospitals
- 3D camera-based pallet detection technology (2017)
4. Production Infrastructure and Quality Assurance
Centered on its Chicago headquarters, the company operates across North America, Europe, and Asia.
5. Delivery Track Record and Partnerships
The company states it supplies AGV systems to a range of industrial customers including automotive, food and beverage, manufacturing, printing, warehousing, and hospitals, and its partnerships with Crown and the Hyster-Yale Group for forklift and reach truck automation have been publicly disclosed.
6. Financial Status and Roadmap
As a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (JBTM), it reported 2022 revenue of USD 2.166 billion, net income of USD 130.7 million, and approximately 5,200 employees (per publicly available materials).
The company supports interoperability through its SGV Manager software, which integrates management of third-party-manufactured AGVs and AMRs, and is expanding its food processing and automation systems portfolio following its 2025 acquisition of Marel.
This profile was compiled from publicly available sources including Wikipedia (English) and the company website (jbtc.com); unverified figures and non-public information have not been arbitrarily included.