�ǳ�web Knowledgebase - history

History of �ǳ�web

Rob �ǳ�web — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:34:32 +0000

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[ 1910-1930 ] [ 1930s ] [ 1940s ] [ 1950s ] [ 1960s ] [ 1970s ] [ 1980s ] [ 1990s ] [ Present Day ]

The story of �ǳ�web is multi-dimensional. There are many parts of �ǳ�web's past that fit into multiple places in history, each impactful in a unique, cohesive way. It's a story of the entrepreneurial spirit, reinvention and ongoing growth of a family company, and how its people and products impact our world. Pride is another word that describes this 75-year-old company. Pride in being an American manufacturer, pride in maintaining a solid company culture, and pride in the quality products made by top-notch employees who seek to solve customer problems with innovative solutions.

"I have been approached daily on purchase or merger by many companies. I am not interested in this, knowing full well and being advised that to do so is the best way to get back the dollars and effort I have ploughed into it. I simply want to see if there still isn't room in this country of ours for an independent small company to exist and be successful."
—Leonard �ǳ�web, 1967 letter to Mark Berliant

The Ohio-made brand has grown immensely since its inception and is known throughout the industry for creating the standard for miniature pneumatic products. �ǳ�web products are used across the globe and in a variety of different markets. But while the name is big and constantly gaining recognition, the company itself feels small. Walk into the �ǳ�web offices and you will instantly feel at home. Warm smiles, hearty handshakes, and stories—lots of stories. Stories of past employees who helped build the company, accounts of current team members and fun events, and tales of �ǳ�web's ingenious founder. Through the years, the company has been able to maintain its small-business feel internally while making leaps and bounds in sales. Culture is a big part of the �ǳ�web legacy, which aids in the company's success. All those involved in the process, from employees to distributors to even the community itself, are treated well by the team at �ǳ�web Instrument Laboratory, as was the standard set by the founder.

From the very beginning, the desire for �ǳ�web wasn't to be a big-name success or to make an ever-increasing profit, but to create an independent company with a product that benefits many while providing for the employees' families. That is the business of �ǳ�web. The stories you read in the pages that follow are only a mere fraction of what has occurred since Leonard �ǳ�web began making coils out of his home in 1941. The names mentioned and events, both good and bad, have molded the company into what it is today. These are the stories behind the quality people and quality products of the world's very first miniature pneumatic manufacturer.

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History: 1980s

Rachel Desenberg — Tue, 06 Jun 2000 15:53:23 +0000

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�ǳ�web

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Growing Sales & Building Culture

The 1980s saw much of the same as the 1960s and 1970s. �ǳ�web was experiencing up to 40% growth years thanks to the combination of passionate people, effective sales methods, strategic business expansions, and their well-known quality products. Exciting advancements were continuing to happen in the business.

Moving forward from Leonard's retirement, the start of this next decade brought grief into the company when Leonard passed away at his Arizona home in 1983. The death of Harriet the following year added to the heartbreak of the family and company. But that was not going to keep the �ǳ�web team from carrying on their founder's legacy. By the end of the 1980s, �ǳ�web had finished construction on their new Belgium facility, which would be the headquarters for all of the company's international sales in Europe. They had also completed the third and final expansion on the Colerain plant in 1989, a direct reflection of �ǳ�web's massive growth over the years.

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History: 1970s

Rachel Desenberg — Tue, 06 Jun 2000 15:52:16 +0000

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�ǳ�web

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The Departure from Coils

Over time, unions started organizing in Paris and filling the heads of �ǳ�web employees with false dreams of higher wages and more benefits comparable to nearby automotive plants. This was not, however, the reality of the situation. Because of huge overseas competition and increasing obsolescence of coils, �ǳ�web couldn't afford all the unions were promising employees, and unfortunately, management couldn't tell them this. Strict labor laws were in place that prohibited employers from speaking against unions to their own employees.

With union organizations planting these ideas into employees' minds without balanced information, the Paris plant workers voted Pro-Union and after the vote was announced, Leonard announced the plant was closing immediately. Realizing what they done, the employees, in a last ditch effort, asked for their jobs back without the union vote but it was too late.

By this time, word had spread about �ǳ�web's up and coming revolutionary miniature pneumatic line. Realizing he could no longer compete strictly in the coil business, the Paris plant was closed and Leonard shifted his focus strictly to pneumatics. Prior to this, Leonard bought LEPCO (Leonard Electric Products Company) in Brooklyn, New York, and moved it to Matamoros Mexico. A new plant was built as part of the Maquiladora Border Industrialization Program, which was sold to Ralph Smith in 1971 when �ǳ�web got completely out of coil production. �ǳ�web Instrument, Inc. (a Tennessee corporation) was dissolved and Leonard was ready to devote his full attention to the pneumatic line.

The Next Level of Innovation

�ǳ�web had already done an excellent job of establishing themselves as the pioneers of pneumatic technology, but the product lines introduced in the 1970s significantly increased the company's sales and reputation as leaders in the coming electronic era.

The first of these products, debuting in 1973, was the electronic valve, otherwise known as the "EV." The idea behind the creation of the EV was that Leonard wanted to build a valve that would turn on with a very small amount of power. Typical valves of the time took 6 to 7 watts to operate, but Leonard wanted one that operated on only about half of a watt. No one else had ever made a low-power valve, and �ǳ�web needed a product that would transition the company into the electronic market. This product revolutionized the industry and set new standards that would last for the next 40 years. It was the final large product launch of Leonard's career, and is still one of �ǳ�web's most popular and well-known products.

Another revolutionary product launched at this time was the modular valve, which had a full line of all-pneumatic controls. This line was unique—then and now—for being the most complete, versatile line of pneumatic logic components. The modular valve was developed by Leonard's son, Bill �ǳ�web, in the early 1970s and made �ǳ�web a leader throughout the world in pneumatic logic controls. To this day, it is difficult to find a machine or fixture within the �ǳ�web plants that does not utilize one of these devices.

Until 1976, �ǳ�web only produced brass and aluminum cylinders. Stainless steel cylinders were introduced and became the third major product line success of the 1970s. Although �ǳ�web was releasing products each year to further complement the large variety of brass control valves, these three particular product lines took �ǳ�web into new areas and markets that would continue to propel the company's growth for the next several decades.

1975 Plant Expansion

With sales driving production beyond capacity, an expansion took place in 1975 that more than doubled the facility's capacity. In addition, the office space was greatly expanded to accommodate the growing need for support and the main lobby was constructed for welcoming distributors, vendors and customers.

The First Sales Meeting

With the launch of these new products, particularly the popularity of the EV, competitors began surfacing. Manufacturers began creating smaller pneumatic devices because of the market �ǳ�web had created. Yet this didn't effect Leonard's team. Their sales efforts had succeeded; word was spreading quickly about �ǳ�web's revolutionary products as well as the great �ǳ�web team. In 1974 Jim Crain, Len Barrett, and other members of �ǳ�web's sales department worked together to conduct the first national sales presentation for �ǳ�web. Meeting at a hotel in downtown Cincinnati, over 100 distributor personnel were in attendance. Follow-up sales meetings were then conducted at the Colerain facility, including plant tours and presentations of the various departments. Here distributors were shown how �ǳ�web products were made, showcasing the talent and care �ǳ�web employees had in creating solutions and producing quality products for any type of client.

Training Schools

A year later in 1975 these sales meetings sparked the idea for a distributor plant training school distributors could come into the Colerain plant and learn about the products from the �ǳ�web employees who produce them. The program was quite basic—participants were taught how to hook up circuits, engaged in discussion over the different applications for products, and were shown how products were made and used in the shop. One of the attendees to the training school was Ken Lappin, who was participating with his employer Keystone Components. Ken joined the �ǳ�web sales staff a year later.

Community Sports

Leonard was a big fan of children's sports programs. He religiously attended multiple games every Saturday morning during the season. Many of these sponsored teams would carry the �ǳ�web name. The �ǳ�web Red Sox, White Sox, �ǳ�web Comets, the mini-Comets, �ǳ�web Eagles, �ǳ�web Cardinals, Raiders, Cosmos and of course, the �ǳ�web Sockettes to just name a few. Many local families would stop in the lobby of �ǳ�web in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s to see the pictures and trophies of the many �ǳ�web teams.

Merger of Northeast Fluidics

In the 1970s �ǳ�web became the largest customer of a small manufacture of unique valves for ultra-low pressure. Northeast Fluidics was located in New England and was merged into the Colerain facility in 1977. Many of the products were redesigned for its manufacturability.

Merger of Image Control

Again, �ǳ�web became the largest customer of the small family company in Madison, Indiana which produced acrylic manifolds. In 1984 �ǳ�web acquired the company as it was a great fit for �ǳ�web's modular valve line. Paired together, the products were a clean, leak free solution for packaging typical pneumatic logic circuits. Kathy Ayers, daughter of the founder, stayed on with �ǳ�web and ran the facility until her retirement in 2006 when the company was merged into the Colerain Facility.

�ǳ�web Europe

The launch of �ǳ�web Europe started with Max Comes in the 1970s. Max sold fluid power products in some European countries through Rocke International, an export company in New York who was a �ǳ�web distributor. While Rocke sold many different fluid power products, Max was extremely interested in �ǳ�web's because of their innovation and quality. After some time with the distributor, Max began working more closely with �ǳ�web, organizing exhibitions and training seminars of the products in different countries for international distributors. Once Rocke's partnership with �ǳ�web was dissolved, Max and Bob �ǳ�web started discussing the possibility of opening an office for the company in Europe as a way of controlling international distribution and sales. To show their commitment to the project and discuss details with the �ǳ�web staff in person, Max and his wife Doris travelled to the U.S. in September, 1975, warmly welcomed in Ohio. Leonard �ǳ�web was very impressed with them and directed that �ǳ�web Europe be established. Bob travelled to Belgium (on a PanAm plane flown by Buck), and he and Max finalized the plans that following spring. On April 1, 1976, the first European office for �ǳ�web opened in Wavre near Brussels.

Running business out of a small rented house, Max and Doris began supplying orders to customers by June 1st of that year. Because of the many different languages spoken across the continent, Doris was a large asset to the success of �ǳ�web Europe due to her multi-lingual and organizational abilities. Upon opening, �ǳ�web Europe established a bonded warehouse, allowing it to receive and inventory products shipped from the U.S. Once the paperwork was complete and administrative work had been handled, the location was up and running.

Much like the beginning of �ǳ�web in America, the business eventually outgrew their small rented facility and needed a bigger location for employees and products. Bill, Bob, and Leonard all worked together to begin planning for the construction of a new �ǳ�web location in the same area. In 1985, Bob and an architect flew to Belgium to scope out potential building sites chosen by Max. Within the next two years, construction for the facility was complete and �ǳ�web's brand new European office opened in the Scientific Park of the University of Louvain-la-Neuve July, 1987.

�ǳ�web Europe in Belgium was the springboard for the company's international presence. The staff in Belgium, though small, services many different countries and cultures from the industrial countries of France, Holland, and Germany, to Eastern Europe and the UK. As the face of �ǳ�web Instrument Laboratory in Europe, all European sales go directly through the Belgium office. Though separated by the Atlantic, �ǳ�web Europe upholds the same principles of quality and maintaining strong relationships as the U.S. offices, keeping strong ties with all of their distributors and customers throughout the continent.

The Retirement & Death of Leonard �ǳ�web

Leonard continued to work in every aspect of the business and serve as President of �ǳ�web until 1975. Aging and ready to slow down, Leonard transferred leadership of the company to his son Bill, yet remained involved for another couple of years. In 1977 Leonard retired from his day-to-day responsibilities and started spending a great deal of time in Arizona. The transition from Ohio to Arizona was slow—the �ǳ�web founder gradually spent more and more time out west as he grew accustomed to the relaxing climate and days spent in his machine shop. Leonard passed away in 1983 at the age of 73. His wife, Harriet, died not long after him in 1984, leaving the �ǳ�web legacy and future of the business completely in the hands of Bill, Bob, and the trusted team Leonard had helped build.

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History: 1940s

Rachel Desenberg — Tue, 06 Jun 2000 15:49:03 +0000

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The Move to Fort Wayne, Indiana

Leonard remained with Crosley Radio Corporation for seven years, before deciding to leave his position in charge of Test Construction to pursue an Assistant Manager position with Magnavox Corporation in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Magnavox was another well-known electronics company, so the move to Indiana seemed, at the time, to be a beneficial career move. While at Magnavox, Leonard became fascinated with the concept of producing component parts for radios instead of larger, overall systems and began to look into starting his own coil company. Until then, he had been building electronic instruments and volt meters, but these larger systems were hard to produce in large quantities. The components—coils—that made up the meters could easily be mass produced as more and more technology was emerging. And so in 1941, Leonard began working on his coil business at home.

The Start of �ǳ�web Instrument Laboratory

The U.S. had newly entered the war against Nazi Germany and the military had begun calling on civilians to contribute to the war effort. Being blind in his right eye, Leonard was classified as 4-F and was unable to join the military. Because of this, he expanded on his interest in component parts and began making small coils for war walkie talkie radios out of his home after work. During the day he would perform his typical duties at Magnavox, and in the evenings he and a couple neighbor ladies would sit around the table winding coils. Harriet diverted the attention of curious young Buck and Pat from the operations at the table, saying to them, "Don't bother the nice ladies. Dad is starting a business."

Longing to strike out on his own, Leonard relocated his family back to Cincinnati in 1943, after spending only 18 months in Indiana. Cincinnati had been home to Harriet and Leonard, the place where they had started their family, and, due to being recognized as the machine tool capital of the world, it was also a gold mine for manufacturing. Its central location was also ideal—80% of the U.S. population was within a day's drive. Cincinnati was the logical choice. With just a few household tools and $11.45 in the bank after paying his moving expenses, Leonard rented an old, dilapidated storeroom in Northside, where he planned to live and work full-time until �ǳ�web Instrument Laboratory got off the ground.

For six months, Leonard worked out of the storeroom, just a few feet away from he and his family slept. With the help of Harriet, 11-year-old Buck, and five-year-old Pat, he made due with the resources he had to get his business started. He made workbenches and coil-winding machines by hand and started building inventory with his first hired employee, Mickey Deters. One of their first projects was what he referred to in a letter as a "small job of instrument work for a New Jersey firm."

Chase Street Facility

While in Northside, Harriet tried her best to make the most of the small living quarters they shared with the new business. One way she did this was by arranging the furniture in such a way as to divide the wall-less area into rooms. Walls were a small sacrifice the family made during those first six months. The building had only one toilet and one sink that was shared between the family and the nearly ten employees Leonard hired in their short time there. With a workforce quickly outgrowing the storeroom, Leonard moved the business to a larger store facility on Chase Street in 1944, and subsequently rented a furnished apartment in which to live.

A Top-Secret War Project

A sense of constant awareness blanketed the country during World War II. Every able citizen and business did their part to contribute. One of Leonard's Crosley acquaintances, George Platts, went on to become a Commander for the U.S. Navy and was based in St. Louis to work procurement during the war. Having worked with Leonard previously, George knew of his former colleague's talents in design and mechanics. In need of materials and components for the Navy, George sent many of his job requests to Leonard, providing him with supplies, light fixtures, and other materials Leonard needed to complete the work. Along with the job requests for George, �ǳ�web employees were unknowingly involved in making coils for the second most top secret project of World War II—the proximity fuze.

Used for the first time in Normandy on D-Day in five-inch naval guns, the proximity fuze was a small sensing device in the head of an artillery shell that used radio waves to detect when it got within a certain distance to a solid object. Once the fuze reached a distance of about 60 feet of an airplane, ship, or the ground, it detonated, sending razor-sharp shrapnel flying at high velocities over a broad area. Second only to the single most secret project of the war, the atomic bomb, the proximity fuze attributed to many changes in the way war was fought during this time, including eliminating guesswork and increasing the damage of artillery fire. Used first to bombard beaches, the proximity fuze proved increasingly more effective than others because the impact of the shrapnel range was much higher than fuzes that detonated upon impact.

Five companies collaborated on the creation of this project, each manufacturing a different piece, most without knowledge of what the end result would be. Fear of the fuze's design falling into the wrong hands fueled this secrecy, resulting in the device's initial use over water or in the air as to ensure it either detonated or was lost, unable to be recovered intact by enemy forces. Leonard, however, was given special clearance by the government through his ties with Navy Commander Platts and took special, top-secret trips to the Pentagon to discuss the development of the device. In the end, �ǳ�web manufactured coils as well as developed the testing equipment for the proximity fuze. Because there was no secret in the component coils, employees and family members remained unaware of this project until years later when the information was made public in a biography about the Crosley Corporation, which was also involved in the project.

The Late Forties

The war was a challenging time for the start of a business as it not only took many able bodies away from the workforce, but also shifted the focus to manufacturing items specifically for that effort. But this did not stop �ǳ�web from growing. Though the work requests from Commander Platts helped keep Leonard busy, he needed more trained employees. By extending working hours, training people, and providing work to part-time workers from other plants, Leonard was able to take on additional work requests and prove the worth of �ǳ�web to a number of outside contractors. These contractors gave �ǳ�web enough production work to keep moving forward through the end of the war in 1945. In a letter Leonard wrote to attorney Mark Berliant, he says it wasn't until the war ended that �ǳ�web's true opportunity for growth came.

With all the war contract work cancelled, American companies abruptly converted back into civilian mode, and many didn't know what they were going to do. Leonard hit the ground running, personally calling on radio manufacturers who were anxious to get back into regular production. Through these calls, he secured orders for radio frequency coils and started building more equipment to fill his Chase Street plant with the tools necessary to fulfill the orders.

Growing production orders demanded a growing staff. George Platts, who had been providing work to Leonard during the war, was let go from the Navy, along with his assistant Jim Dillon. With nowhere to go, Leonard invited both of them to work for him at �ǳ�web. Up until this point, Leonard was heavily involved in the labor of the business, working alongside his employees as the head engineer, the salesman, the one who built equipment, and the man responsible for signing the checks. While this remained true through his entire career, Leonard also brought in key players who had strengths in areas where he was weaker, beginning with these two men. Where Leonard's key strengths were in building and engineering, George was a born businessman, and Jim had a knack for purchasing. Combined with Leonard's mechanical talents, �ǳ�web's reach began to expand to more and more companies in need of coils.

The end of the war brought about a shift in the coil market. While radio frequency coils were still a necessity to electronic companies in 1949, TV started making its way on the scene at this time as well. Still a new technology, TV sets consisted of a large wooden box filled with dozens of tiny coils and other components. Big-name electronics companies such as RCA, Magnavox, Sylvania, Motorola, and General Electric soon became �ǳ�web customers with large orders of coils.

Bank Street Facility

In 1946, with a staff of over 40 employees, the Cincinnati operation outgrew their facility on Chase Street and moved to a larger, old meat packing factory on Bank Street, which provided for current and future growth needs. Still young, the �ǳ�web children were allowed to roam the factory while Leonard and Harriet worked. Buck and his friends spent many afternoons hunting rats in the basement when he wasn't sweeping the floors for extra cash.

1948 Employee Strike

When trying to capture the history of �ǳ�web, it is important to have a record of the events that helped to forge a vibrant culture, despite how dark those events may have been. As the U.S. came out of the Great Depression and WWII, job growth and wages were naturally on the rise, as was the average wage for �ǳ�web's staff. Unions approached �ǳ�web employees and convinced many that their assembly wages should be the same as a machinist, despite the technical ability, training, or education. On November 31, 1948, 150 assemblers went on strike until December 12, 1948.

Sturgis, Kentucky Plant opens in 1949

In the wake of the strike, Leonard worried about the exposure to the Machinist Union, considering that the company was based in the capital of the machine tool world. He began exploring options to open another facility and settled on Sturgis, a small town in western Kentucky, as the ideal location for the next plant.

The first factory in Sturgis was in an old house until a manufacturing facility became available later that year. The plant remained in operation until 1955 when it was moved to Paris, Tennessee.

The Birth of Miniature Pneumatics

In the manufacturing industry, testing products is key. If a component doesn't work or is ill-produced, it will impact the entire system it's placed in, not to mention dissatisfy the customer. The coil business was no different. Each coil was manufactured with a core that had to be aligned just the right way when installed in order to do a particular job. �ǳ�web had to test to make sure the core in the coils was adjusted and performed appropriately. In order to test this, workers would have to insert the coil into a fixture and connect wires to it—a time-consuming process, as each coil had anywhere from four to eight terminals to connect to. For most of the connections, mechanical needles were placed on specific points of the coil. But these needles weren't reliable in their contact. Bad contact between the needles and a coil skewed the testing results, showing the coil as improperly made even if it wasn't. This was a huge obstacle in the testing process because it not only took time to connect coils to the testing equipment, but it was also an inconsistent, flawed method of testing. When producing hundreds of thousands of products to supply customer demands, �ǳ�web couldn't afford to continue guessing whether or not a coil was bad because of its production or because of the testing connection. So Leonard began devising a better way. Leonard approached the problem with the mindset that the product was good and the general concept for the testing process was good, he just needed a better testing device. He racked his mind for answers to the problem, for how to create a testing device that would make better contact, more consistently, and in less time. In 1949, he found the solution. Cylinders on each corner of the device, driven by air, would power the needles enough to make good contact with the coil and would save time by automating the tedious connections. It was an ingenious idea, but the solution carried with it a catch—where would he find tiny air cylinders?

Pneumatic air cylinders existed, but even the smallest, measuring over one-inch in diameter, was too big and too powerful to put in the device. The force from the stroke length would crush the coil. Leonard was interested in the coils and improving the testing process for that product—he wasn't interested in building pneumatics. However, in pursuit of this, he designed the air cylinder he wanted and began searching for someone to make it. Every manufacturer he approached told him it wouldn't work, that what he wanted was too small. They weren't interested in the "midgets," as they called them. Leonard was left with no other option than to make the cylinder himself. And thus, the first miniature pneumatic cylinder was born.

The original product was nothing more than a brass tube with a piston rod and a leather seal, but it did the job he needed it to do. When put on the testing device, the cylinders made perfect contact with the coil every time, thus enhancing the reliability of the process. The cylinders also reduced time for the tester because a foot pedal activated the cylinders, making the process semi-automatic. Formerly known as the MAC-385—now known as the 3PS-1/2—this was the first miniature rolled construction air cylinder to ever be built. A brass ferule allowed a hose to slip on the tube at the end. Leonard preferred to use a threaded connection, but no standard pipe fittings were small enough for the cylinders, so he developed the #10-32 port to fit it, another industry first. Miniature cylinders used small amounts of air, but the air valves commercially available at the time were also all too large, so Leonard developed a small 3-way valve using the new #10-32 ports. At the time, it did not even occur to him that he had created a whole new world of possibilities for pneumatic technology.

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