Another "HOT" Day

Things in the oven and furnace business are really heating up..... God that was a terrible pun.

As I mentioned last time, the conglomeration's and contractions in the Industry continue. Someone, somewhere out there, has been trying for the last 10 or 15 years to break up and destroy the good Lindberg name. Once the Cadillac of the Industry.

It all apparently started in 1915, when the Hevi-Duty Electric was formed in Newark, New Jersey. The company produced small electric laboratory-type furnaces.

In 1924 the company was purchased by the North American Company and moved to Wisconsin where it operated in conjunction with the Wisconsin Electric Power Company of Milwaukee, in an effort to promote the use of electric energy. It's principal business was to supply electric transformers to Surges Electric Company. Eventually Hevi-Duty bought Surges Company outright.

In 1955, because of government action against utility holding companies, another Utility was forced to divest itself of that company and in 1956 Hevi-Duty became an independent company.
Eventually, again due to consolidation in the Industry, Hevi-Duty was bought by the company that eventually became Lindberg.

Blue M ovens, manufactured in Blue Island, Illinois, A General Signal Corporation, was joined with Lindberg and they made some fine products throughout the 1970's and 80's, suppling the military industrial complex and other industries across the nation.

It was truly a great company. If you wanted a well built, well engineered furnace or oven, that was the place to buy one.

But I'm getting off my point.

Sometime in the 1990's Lindberg was acquired by SPX Corporation and the present demise began.

As our economy began to shrink, and we shipped more manufacturing overseas....we basically stopped making great American products here, and the need for those great American companies became smaller.

The more we stopped making products, the more companies went overseas. It's a vicious cycle. As Bob Dylan once said...." They don't make nothin' here no more".

Again, I'm off my point.

Trying to get a product out of what's left of the Lindberg company is almost impossible.....almost impossible to decipher where to look for it, how to find it, and who might build it for you.

I was told today that a furnace formerly built by Lindberg now is built by Kayex, which was part of TPS, which owns Blue M, Tenny, Gruenberg, Lunaire and MPH.

Am I loosing anybody here?

I followed the trail as far as I could,...then gave up. And I'm in the business!

Again, to quote Bob, " Well, it's sundown on the union, And what's made in the U.S.A., Sure was a good idea, 'Til greed got in the way".

There will be more rantings........there are still some fine smaller furnace manufacturers out there, I represent most of them, but it's sad when an old horse goes down.

Labels: Bob Dylan, Hevi-Duty, Lindberg, ovens

posted by Burt @ 3:53 PM 1 Comments