During a month of celebrations in September 2024, Martin Engineering invited customers, local communities, and employees’ families to its flagship Centre for Innovation in Neponset, Illinois.
Martin Engineering develops and manufactures products that deliver cleaner, safer and more productive bulk materials processing.
The company holds dozens of patents for engineering designs that have improved workplace safety and production efficiency in foundation sectors like mining and quarrying, cement and steel production, as well as resource recovery and recycling.
Primarily focused on conveyor belt performance and bulk flow technologies, Martin products eliminate blockages, prevent spillages and reduce dust emissions.
Martin Engineering marketing manager, Seth Mercer, said visitors to the Centre for Innovation were impressed by what they saw.
Related stories:
- Martin Engineering unveils six new equipment designs
- Martin Engineering, Wright Engineering expand partnership
- Martin Engineering celebrates 50 years of air cannon technology
“People commented that the research facility was much bigger than it looked from the outside and more impressive than they anticipated, and they were amazed by the scale of the operation and breadth of our product range. Even those who were familiar with Martin were both surprised and impressed with how much the company has grown in recent years,” Mercer said.
The Martin Engineering story began during World War II when Edwin F. Peterson, the son of Swedish immigrants, followed in his father’s footsteps and took a job as a pattern maker at Demmler Manufacturing, a steel foundry and fabrication business in Illinois, USA.
Peterson saw his co-workers using sledgehammers to beat on core machines, loosen the sand and release steel components from their moulds. Troubled by the health and safety risks, equipment damage and loss of productivity, he was convinced there must be a better way and began working on a solution.
This led to the development of the Vibrolator – a compact ball vibrator that used compressed air to propel a ball bearing inside two steel raceways. The resulting vibration was enough to dislodge the sand and empty the core machines without the need for manual beating.
Peterson started the business in September 1944 with the backing of investor Charles H. Waller and friend Jim Martin – who gave his name to the business as Edwin felt ‘Martin’ had better name recognition than ‘Peterson’.
The Vibrolator soon went into production and was patented in 1949, and is still available and in use 80 years later.
Edwin’s son, Edwin “Ed” H. Peterson, started working for the business whilst still in high school. Ed worked with his father on numerous innovations and new products through the 1950s and 1960s, gradually assuming the leadership role in the company as it developed its international business.
By the 1970s, Ed had implemented plans for worldwide growth to accelerate his father’s legacy. Martin continued to expand both organically and through acquisition, taking the business into new corners of the globe.
Today, Martin Engineering employs more than 1000 people worldwide in offices and factory facilities across six continents. The business has a network of partners and distributors that across the world. It also remains family-owned – Ed H. Peterson is still Chairman, and the company’s culture is one of strong family values.