Company Profile
Di-Acro History
- 1930’s - Irwin Manufacturing was started by Justice Irwin. First product is a small hand bender.
- 1937 – Al O’Neil becomes Irwin’s partner. Company name changes to O’Neil Irwin Manufacturing.
- 1947 - O’Neil buys out Irwin and moves the company to Lake City, MN.
- 1958 - Company name is changed to Di-Acro (die-less duplication).
- 1965 – O’Neil sells company to Houdille a holding company originally based in NY. At one point, it owned 22 companies, many of them tied to the sheet metal fabrication industry. Other holdings included Strippit in Akron, NY. Powermatic in McMinnville, TN. and Fairmont Tool in Cleveland, OH.
- 1984 – Houdille closes doors at the Di-Acro plant amid increasing foreign competition and a lingering strike by union employees. Production of Di-Acro Turret Press and Press Brakes are shifted to Strippit. Processing of K-Prene urethane (for tooling) is sold to 3 Di-Acro employees and Acrotech Inc. is born.
- 1985 - Strippit starts to have some of the remaining Di-Acro line (including the manual equipment) manufactured in Mexico.
- 1988 - Strippit sells production rights of Di-Acro Press Brakes to “Pacific Press and Shear”.
- Strippit sells Di-Acro name and line of manual equipment (shears, finger brakes, benders, notchers, slip rolls, rod parters, and power benders to a firm in Canton, OH. The new owners attempt to bring the manufacturing back to the states.
- 5/24/06 – Due to ongoing production problems, Di-Acro is sold at auction to Acrotech Inc., the spin off company started in 1984. Paul and Andy Oliver, sons of one of the original owners, are now running the business.
- 6/1/06 – Di-Acro patterns, inventory, etc. are moved back to Lake City, MN. After a 23 year absence the name has returned and the manufacturing is back in the USA. The facility is ½ mile from the original Di-Acro location and production involves some of the very same individuals that built the line originally!
- 9/20/06 - A pair of Model 24 Finger Brakes are the first machines shipped in 23 years from Lake City, MN under the Di-Acro name.
Initial Press Release about the sale of Di-Acro to Acrotech Inc. – 6/15/06
Di-Acro is coming home!
Acrotech Inc. purchases the company it evolved from 22 years ago……
Proving once again “what goes around comes around”, Paul Oliver, president of Acrotech Inc. has announced the recent purchase of Di-Acro, the former long time local company!
While the product line returning is less then what was manufactured by Di-Acro when it was Lake City’s 2nd largest employer, all the hand machines (rod/tube benders, punches, brakes, shears, notchers, etc.) will soon be manufactured in Acrotech’s plant, a ½ mile south of where they were originally designed and built.
At the time of Di-Acro being shut down by it’s parent company Houdille, it had a world wide reputation for building some of the best sheet metal fabrication equipment available! While numbers are not available, a significant amount of the original Di-Acro equipment remains in use today. Acrotech personnel, several whom worked at Di-Acro in the 70’and early 80’s, (see photo) still hear compliments about the quality!
Acrotech Inc. was started in 1984 when Dale Oliver (Paul’s dad), Dick Huppert and Leon Rutz, long time Di-Acro employees on the verge of losing their jobs due to the pending plant closing, purchased the rights from Houdille to process the K-Prene urethane that was being made into tooling for some of the Di-Acro machines. The sale included distributor and customer lists, some of which are still Acrotech Inc. customers and are likely to become customers again, for the hand machines!
Over the years, the variety of products and parts made out of K-Prene has been expanded and in the process has allowed Acrotech Inc. to penetrate several niche markets, while maintaining it’s original position in the sheet metal fabrication industry. Some of the newer niche markets are expected to have a strong interest in the Di-Acro machines.
Oliver (Paul) believes “the two businesses will compliment each other nicely and should result in increased opportunities for existing employees and will require additional personnel”. The company is already looking to hire a couple more machinists!
This past week, Oliver and his brother Andy (company Vice President) returned to Canton OH. to supervise the loading of machine related patterns, existing machines and part inventories onto semis for the trip to back Lake City. Arrival of the semis is expected this week.
While production schedules are unknown at the moment, the Oliver’s’ hope to have this new product going out the door in 3-4 months. To help with the re-introduction of the Di-Acro line, it will be exhibited and demonstrated at “Fabtech”, a major fabrication related trade show, in late October, in Atlanta, GA. An Open House here in Lake City, is also being considered for next spring, to give the public the opportunity to re-acquaint themselves with and or learn about an important part of Lake City’s manufacturing past and future.
If you want to find out more about the DiAcro line right now, simply go to www.diacro.com While on the web, you are encouraged to check out Acrotech’s revised site www.acrotechinc.com
