BIG Kaiser Precision Tooling is celebrating a milestone: 25 years in the business. The year 2015 marks the companys 25th year of North American operations.
In spring of 1990, the company was incorporated under the name Kaiser Precision Tooling (KPT), the subsidiary of Switzerland-based Heinz Kaiser AG. KPT provided the North American market better access to products and more complete engineering solutions.
Establishing its home in Elk Grove Village, IL, KPT officially opened its doors on August 1, 1990. The company
We set out to be driven first by our engineering capabilities, recalls Jack Burley, VP, Sales and Engineering, and with the company from the beginning. We had an expression, give us your toughest boring problem. We’ve always believed if we can’t solve it, there probably isn’t anyone else who can. This kind of cooperation has allowed us to relate to customers as peers for the long term, not just as opportunistic, looking to make a quick sale and run.
Daily orders have gone from the teens to 150-plus in the 25 years. The engineering team is larger by more than ten times, and available parts that numbered around 2,000 in 1990 now exceed 20,000. A major catalyst of that growth came in 2003 when KPT formed an alliance with BIG Daishowa Seiki, a Japanese manufacturer recognized as a worldwide leader in tool holders, cutting tools and measuring accessories.
Eventually, KPT changed its name to BIG Kaiser Precision Tooling Inc. The partnership dramatically enhanced BIG Kaiser’s product offering. It also injected a global outlook and reach to BIG Kaiser’s vision all while maintaining production and development of two-thirds of the company’s components in the U.S.
In 2009, BIG Kaiser underwent a major move to a new 33,000 square-foot facility in Hoffman Estates, IL. This facility is three times larger than their previous headquarters. This new location made room for a growing team and features a state-of-the-art showroom, high-tech training auditorium, larger shipping warehouse space, as well as a repair center to save customers time and money instead of sending tools overseas.
Quality, innovation and performance—it’s always been about that, BIG Kaiser President & CEO Chris Kaiser says. That’s gotten us to wher we are today and it will not change. Whether it’s when we walk in to the office tomorrow or we’re looking towards the next 25 years, we’re not going to stray away from those things.
For more information, visit www.bigkaiser.com.
