A.O. Smith® History¹. 1874 - Machine shop started as Charles J. Smith - Machinist (name later changed to C.J. Smith and Sons) 1889 - Introduces concept of forming steel tubing from sheet metal and enters the bicycle manufacturing industry, eventually becoming the largest bicycle parts manufacturer in the world 1899 - Arthur O. Smith (son of Charles) develops the worlds first pressed steel.. Understanding Manufacturing Date Codes. Figuring out when an AO Smith water heater was made can seem tricky. The serial number is key to knowing when it was produced. I'll show you how to read these codes. AO Smith has a special way to show when a water heater was made in its serial numbers. The codes change over time, making it a bit hard to.
Learn the simple steps to decode the serial number on your AO Smith hot water heater and determine its manufacturing date for better maintenance and warranty.. acquired by A.O. Smith in 2001 and currently only manufactures American, American-Pro-line, Premium. B-W uses a 20-year letter code cycle to designate the year. The first letter is the year and the second is the month.. Created Date: 9/16/2011 8:02:00 AM.