text: In January 2013, Applied 
  
  Industrial Technologies 
  
  will celebrate its 90th 
  
  anniversary. The Company 
  
  was founded in 1923 by 
  
  Joseph M. Bruening as 
  
  The Ohio Ball Bearing 
  
  Company, a distributor 
  
  of bearings to customers 
  
  in Cleveland, Ohio. Over 
  
  the years, the Company 
  
  grew to become a regional 
  
  distributor of bearings, 
  
  then an international 
  
  distributor of a wide range 
  
  of industrial technologies 
  
  and components. Today, 
  
  nearly 90 years since our 
  
  beginning, customers 
  
  served by Applied 
  
  benefit from our years of 
  
  accumulated experience, 
  
  expertise and exceptional 
  
  ability to improve our 
  
  customers’ operations. 