History

Just a year later, at the National Exposition of Railway Appliances held in Chicago, National received awards for the best Bolt Header, best Bolt Cutter and best Hot Press Nut Machine. It was the Bolt Cutter that carried the National name into bolt shops around the world. It's performance in cutting true threads was unparalleled. Our No. 1 Bolt Cutter cut threads from as small as 3/16" to as large as 1". It weighed about 900 pounds and sold for only $233.

Bolts were only half of the fastener, the other half was the nut which was commonly hot sheared and punched from strips of rectangular stock in Hot Pressed Nut Machines. After making the initial blank, nuts had to be deburred and tapped. On the scene came a new National innovation, the automatic rotary tapper which required only that the operator load and unload.

In 1889, the New York Daily published this brief statement about National Machinery Company: "This is a mammoth concern, occupying a building 300 ft. by 100 ft. They are equal to an annual output of $150,000 and enjoy the unique distinction of being the only establishment in the world capable of equipping a bolt and nut factory with machinery. They have correspondence and make sales all over the world".

Other outside activities led to the coining of the name we still hold dear today "The National Family". Bicycle excursions were very popular and some of them extended as far down as Kentucky. Back as far as 1893, we had a championship baseball team and we began our tradition of family picnics.

When Meshech Frost persuaded Bill Anderson, who owned the National Bolt and Pipe Machinery Co. in Cleveland, Ohio, to relocate in Tiffin, he received some stock as a fee for promoting the transaction and move to Tiffin. As the plant started to prosper, stock holders decided to buy out the company and an offer was made. Meshech was of a different mind however, he felt as long as the other investors had set a price he should have the opportunity to buy them out. It was agreed upon and Mr. Frost obtained an option on the National Machinery Company. The option was given because the other investors who controlled practically all of the capital in the Tiffin area and were certain Meshech could not come up with the money to exercise the option. Meshech, however went to New York and borrowed the money from an old friend, Diamond Jim Brady.

By 1902, the plant had expanded to 68,000 sq. ft. Meshech continued "The National Family" tradition and on Saturday, June 20, 1903 a "National" Day was held at Meadowbrook Park in Bascom, Ohio. Electric trolley cars left Tiffin at 8 o'clock in the morning to take National families to the park and return them at 10:30 that night. The day was filled with races, contests, and athletic events with prizes from pearl necklaces to Meerschaum pipes.

Modernization continued and in 1908, the first large overhead crane was installed. As modern electric motors came on the scene, the steam engines that powered our line shafts became a thing of the past and electricity became the new source of power.

The early 20th Century was fast becoming the era of the railroads and we built many machines for railroad blacksmith shops. The need for machines to forge parts other than bolts was gradually increasing. Around 1915, the demand for forgings was reaching an all-time high for the railroad and the new automotive industry. Engineers were finding that forgings were far stronger than the castings. With the popularity of forging, we gave the industry a National Heavy-Pattern Forging Machine, our first machine designed specifically for forging parts not just bolts and nuts. This became the forerunner of what we know today as our High-Duty Forging Machine.

As the years passed, "The National Family" not only worked together but continued to play together with special baseball games and picnics like the 1923 and 1927 affairs at Ruggles Beach at Lake Erie. A prize for the tallest woman was a sack of flour. The winner of the horseshoe pitching contest took home a ton of coal.

The 25 years between 1925 and 1950 were filled with new ideas and innovations. Techniques were developed to produce difficult forgings and technical papers were written on forging operations and forging tool design. In August of 1925, we held our "2nd Exposition and Demonstration of Forging Machinery". In this four day show, over 200 visitors from all over the world witnessed the latest equipment and methods available for forging parts. In all, there were 35 headers and forging machines.

The interest in forging grew and in 1927 we built the worlds largest forging machine, the 7-1/2". It weighed a whopping 187 tons. In 1928,we shipped the first automatic Tong Feed Forging Machine. This radical new concept in forging caught the eye of another very important entrepreneur of the time Henry Ford. Henry purchased a National 4" Automatic Tong Feed Forging Machine. When visitors and dignitaries arrived in Detroit, he drove them directly to his National 4" Forging Machine which he considered the marvel of its day.

Innovations continued. In 1930, a new machine and a new name was flashed across the forging industry Maxipres. Although the Maxipres really started as a coining press, it soon became a valuable asset to a forging line. With the development of our pneumatic clutch in the early 1940's, it was renamed the High-Speed Forging Maxipres.

Throughout the 1930's the plant continued to expand even though the depression had drained the life's blood from American industry. Thousands were out of work and the depression continued to darken, but "The National Family" grew even closer together. Many in the shop worked only four days a month and most of their work went into building stock machines since very few machines were being shipped. A lot of effort went into tending large gardens near the railroad tracks out back. In a barn just across the tracks, hogs were butchered and sold at cost. A cooperative grocery-buying program was set up and operated out of the Masonic Temple building.

Through these dark and bleak days, National engineers continued to work on optimistic programs for our future. They designed new Cold Headers and Boltmakers and built full scale wooden models to test out their theories and new ideas. The first Cold Header was shipped but not sold, it was put out on a trial basis. The foresight in continuing to design for our future paid off as business conditions began to improve our Boltmakers and Cold Headers were ready to meet the industry challenge of increased productivity. These new machines contributed significantly to our rapid recovery from the devastating depression.

Those ten years from 1930 to 1940 were hard but they also proved to be very productive. There were many firsts developed for the metal forming industry, machines like: Maxipresses, Cold Ball Headers, Double-Stroke Headers, Tong-Feed Forging Machines, Boltmakers, Single-Stroke Cold Headers, Open-Die Cold Headers, Long-Stroke Cold Headers and Progressive Headers.

In 1940, 15 years after the 1925 Exposition, we hosted a three day show in Tiffin. In addition to showing and demonstrating our machines, a variety of formed and forged parts were on display showing visitors what the National machines could do. We started out in the 1940's with a big bang. In 1941 we built our first 9" Forging Machine weighing just over 525,000 pounds. This machine was known throughout the world as the largest forging machine ever built. In contrast, we also offered a new line of small machines, Tubular Rivet Headers, the smallest weighed 2,500 pounds.

The family picnic held at Meadowbrook in 1942 was considered a day off from the hectic production line environment we were working in during those war-torn times. The energy of our 400 people turned toward the war effort. We even held our own scrap drive in 1942. In 1943, our efforts won us the renowned "Army Navy E" award. Only about 3.5% of the eligible companies in our nation won this prestigious award.

From June of 1944 until December of 1945, National published its "Serviceman's News Bulletin." The National employees published it monthly for their friends and buddies in the armed services. It kept them up to date with the news at home. Nineteen forty-four was significant for another reason. We introduced our first Cold Nut Former a new way of making nuts. This machine incorporated a unique transfer that allowed us to rotate the blank between operations improving the integrity of the formed nut blank while increasing productivity and saving material. This process is still the preferred method for making nuts even today.

Our growth continued and not just with the new products we developed but with the purchase of E.J. Manville Company in Waterbury, Connecticut. This helped us round out our line of slotters, threaders and other fastener making machinery. We continued to build the Manville line and supply repair parts for another 20 years.

In 1947, an employee open house was held that featured a cafeteria-style supper, hosted by a different department each evening. There was another brief open house in 1948 which gave employees and their families a chance to see the world's largest forging press, our 1,600,000 pound No. 10 Maxipres. This massive press weighed more than half the population of Tiffin.

As the 1940's came to a close, we celebrated our 75th anniversary with an optimistic eye on the future. Our plant was now three times the original size and we were 500 strong. National had developed a world-wide reputation for building the best hot and cold forging machinery.

Other innovations in the early 50's included our new Nail Maker capable of producing 1,200 nails per minute and a new Hot Nut Former that produced alloy nuts for bridges and sky scrapers. In 1954, another record was set when we built our first 10" Forging Machine, the world's largest, topping out at 1 million pounds.

By 1955, most of our building programs had been completed. The plant had expanded to over 400,000 sq. ft. seven times larger than at the turn of the century. An open house was held to show off the new expansion and our investment in over 150 new machine tools. Attendance was unbelievable . . . over 20,000 visitors.

In 1955, we were the only exhibitor of hot and cold forming machinery at the $20 million Machine Tool Show in Chicago. Prospects gathered to watch as we demonstrated our high-production metal forming equipment and methods. In the Fall of that year we announced another 20% increase in production capacity and purchased 32 additional major machine tools. The future lay bright before us.

Through the mid-50's we completed an all new line of Four-Die Boltmakers including the largest Boltmaker in the world. This giant
could consume one ton of steel every 13 minutes.

As the 50's wound down, we found ourselves in the midst of a business recession and for the first time in years, our work schedules were reduced to 30 hours per week. It didn't last long and by the spring of 1959, we were back up to 35 hours and shortly after that to 40 hours. By January of 1960, business conditions had improved and we pushed our production hours back up to 55 per week. With the close of the 50's, came a new innovation in industry . . . elimination of time clocks. With our new Honor Time Plan, each man was put on his honor to work the schedule he had selected.

In almost every decade, "The National Family" grew and by 1960 the attendance at our Meadowbrook Park picnic was 2,500. We continued our growth by building a new plant in Nuernberg, Germany and expanding our office, engineering and development departments here in Tiffin.

With this new emphasis on forming complex shapes, a new line of machinery was needed, like our five and six die Cold Formers. The Universal Transfer was developed to add even more flexibility and forming capability to this new line of modern forming machinery.

Through the early 60's we continued to expand our line of machinery. New Extrusion Maxipresses, Single-Die Tubular Rivet Headers, Two-Die Three-Blow Cold Headers and the world's largest press, the 8000 Ton Maxipres, were the pride of Tiffin.

Our service to country and community continued throughout the 60's and we received in 1963 the President Kennedy "E" Award
for significant contributions to the government's Export Expansion Program. At that time, only 200 companies in the U.S. had received this award.

In 1966, the Quarter Century Club celebrated its 30th Anniversary and welcomed in 36 new members bringing the total membership to 202. It was about this time that we developed a program called "Vocations in Metal Working" that gave our local area high school seniors an opportunity to receive vocational instruction in a variety of trades so they could find out first-hand about the jobs, skills, equipment and the people of National Machinery Company while getting paid in the process.

Toward the end of the decade a new word was heard at National Machinery Company computer. To help us improve assembly time,
eliminate production snags and speed up deliveries, we installed a new computer. Since that time we have found so many diverse and innovative applications for electronic data processing that we have outgrown our systems many times over and even today we are installing a new Information Technology System.

As the 1960's gave way to the 70's, new cold forming machinery and processes were flowing from the creative minds and skilled
hands of our workforce. The first 1875 Cold Former . . . it could produce parts 17" long weighing 7.2 lbs. At the rate of 35 pieces per minute, producing over 7 tons of shafts an hour. And, if you think that is big, you should see the 11,000-ton Maxipres we designed. This machine was so big it could not be made in Tiffin but was built in Japan and after a short barge trip it was installed where it is still in operation today. This Maxipres weighs 2,400,000 lbs. and stands 37 ft. tall.

By 1970, we had shipped our first High Speed Boltmaker and S2 Cold Nut Former, adding two new lines to our already extensive line of high speed machinery.

In the fall of 1970, visitors from around the world attended our Open House to watch 13 cold and hot forging machines on demonstration. Business was good and our future was bright and we needed more capacity to build these new large formers, so, work was started on a new 200-ton bay

Meanwhile in Europe, we continued to grow market share and expand our Nuernberg plant by adding new production bays increasing the original plant space by 50%. In March of '72 we reached another milestone with the shipment of our 1000th High-Speed Cold Header.

Although the machine tool industry had suffered a general recession during the past few years, we maintained a high work level and
were ready to take on the upswing in business in 1973. By the end of '73, our production for all of '74, '75 and part of '76 was sold.

With this increase in business we needed to expand, so again we looked to outside acquisitions and bought the Special Machine Company of Rockford, Illinois which we converted into a sheet metal operation to supply our sound enclosures. Additional capacity was needed in Nuernberg so a small manufacturing company in nearby Kulmbach, Bavaria was purchased to add some much needed machining.

The 70's came to a close with four new and better ideas like our line of three and four-die Hot Formers. These machines took in bars
fed through induction heaters and produced nuts and special parts at rates up to 150 pieces per minute. The largest, 10-3 Hot Former, set another world record for size. It was shipped to a customer in France for the production of gear blanks and ring gears. This large Hot Former could feed over 3" diameter hot rolled bars and 8" gear blanks at 45 gears per minute.On the smaller end of our line, new machines such as the High-Speed Single-Stroke Ball and Roller Headers and High-Speed Double-Stroke Metric Headers ushered in
the decade of the 80's.

Some competitors in Europe and Asia also ceased to operate. By the mid-80's National also was in a very difficult business situation. We suffered from recessions through the world, the first time in anyone's memory that all markets were in economic downturn at the same time. It was our most difficult business situation in over 50 years.

Because we had borrowed heavily in the 70's and early 80's our financial position was no longer stable. Our banks were pressuring us to change and quickly develop a new business strategy in order to return to profitability and begin to reduce the large level of debt we had accumulated during the prior 15 years. A period of change was necessary in order to survive.

We first began an intensive program to sell the inventory we had accumulated in prior years. At the same time, we began a program to develop new technology in our cold forming machinery while we implemented a new selling approach overseas.

It was a difficult time, but the positive attitude of many was critical as we looked for new ideas that would help us survive and regain our
leadership position. The creative spirit at National remained and was hard at work behind the scenes. The positive spirit of people soon demonstrated its ability to remake our company, We formed teams as we worked to develop leading edge technology. The positive efforts of people working together became obvious to customers when we introduced FORMAX in November 1989 at Atlanta, GA at the International Fastener Exposition (IFE). We introduced, to record crowds, our new concept in cold forming machinery: FORMAX. The FORMAX line of cold formers met the needs of the fastener and the cold formed parts industry and was quickly embraced by many of our customers. The early success of FORMAX exceeded our expectations.

FORMAX provided customers a very simple and easy-to-operate system that drastically increased production through higher machine speeds and more rapid job changeovers. This new approach to cold forming machinery was quickly accepted worldwide. Before long, our manufacturing schedules were filled with production orders. The success of FORMAX was largely a result of people working together to try new approaches that would meet the needs of our customers.