PRESS RELEASE - For Immediate Release - March 8, 2010
Granite City, IL - As we all know from both news reports and our personal experience, the last two years have been very difficult in the machining business. On March 8th, National Tool & Machine of East St. Louis will cease operations after more than 75 years of operation. In order to serve their customer base and continue to benefit from the great relationships they have established over these many years, National has partnered with Ehrhardt to handle all the machining and parts production for their customers.
Founded in 1929, National Tool & Machine was owned by the same family and stayed in the same location throughout the 75 years. National Tool & Machine operated in a 7,000-sq.-ft. facility with 12 employees and produced a wide range of tools, jigs, fixtures, special machinery and general machine work and repair. National Tool & Machine served a wide range of industries within a 200-mile radius of the St. Louis area including: automotive; chemical; aircraft; railroad; medical equipment; appliances; hand tools and general industrial equipment. The company focused on small to medium sized runs and works with virtually all metals and some plastics. Syl Fontana, the President of National Tool, is now a Sales Engineer for Ehrhardt and he will continue to maintain and develop his relationships with his customers - but he will be better. He will have the capabilities and support of Ehrhardt Tool & Machine and he is thrilled to have this opportunity to expand his offering to his customers and to increase his sales success. As Syl said at the announcement meeting - “I now have the ability to support my customers better with the backing of Ehrhardt and the equipment can do almost anything my customers need.” His customers benefit from an uninterrupted source of supply, Syl benefits by continuing to get “value” from his relationships and Ehrhardt benefits from the addition of production work that is well within our capabilities.
Ehrhardt can machine parts as large as 8 feet by 16 feet weighing as much as 30,000 lbs while holding very tight tolerances. Ehrhardt began in 1937 and earned the reputation as a supplier of high precision hand transfer and progressive dies. We have expanded and now produce customer tools, dies, special machines and complete automation for production lines. We also offer contract stamping operations in presses from 35 to 800 tons with coil handling and feed systems. Ehrhardt will complete all customer orders for National customers while providing additional machining and production capabilities.
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Contact: Andy Adams, Ehrhardt Tool & Machine, 618-219-3704, AAdams@EhrhardtTool.com
