Initially it had purchased its transmissions from two sources
- The Gear and Transmission Division (internal)
- The Thorndike Machining Corp (external)
Thorndike developed and engineering the transmission initially on a ten year agreement basis
After the ten years the Laundry Division would have the right to design without restriction
Two years before the end of the agreement General Appliance Corp decided to expand operations and produce all of the company's requirements and therefore not renew the contract with Thorndike.
1985: Thorndike propose a new price for the transmission and states these reductions are possible because
"they are better off taking a lower prices than abandoning purpose built machinery and they expected increased productivity