The Early 1950’s………..

The Greenville Tool & Die Company was formed as a part-nership between Charles J. Randall and Vandel Nielsen and opened for business on August 15, 1946. These two men intended to make small tooling for their former employer, Federal Mogul Corporation.

They set up shop with several war surplus machines in a 1500 sq. ft. garage on Benton Street in Greenville (now the site of the Catholic Church and directly south across Benton Street from the Public Safety building).

Business went well enough in the first year that ten (10) more em-ployees were hired including

a 4000 sq. ft. cement block ware-house at 1215 S. Lafayette Road (our present location).

Destiny would shape the future of the company with Stan and Bill at the helm. Stan would soon become president and owner while Bill would later become his executive vice president.

The early 1950’s saw GTD’s scope of work expand to include a considerable amount of aircraft tooling and machine work on parts for a mobile gun carrier.

The History Of

The Beginning……….. S i n c e Au g u s t 1 5 , 1 9 4 6

The original site of Greenville Tool & Die

Company— Benton Street in

Greenville, Michigan 1946.

Stanley P. Ash and Ivan W. (Bill) Arntz. Stan was the engi-neer with the additional respon-sibility of searching out new business in other markets and geographic areas. In May of 1948, Stan Ash purchased Vandel Nielsen’s interest and be-came Charlie Randall’s partner. Their product line grew to include some work for the appli-ance in-dustry. In 1949, growing pains ne-cessitated a move to

Stan Ash—1949 This picture was taken of

Stan in back of the old onion storage plant at 1215

S. Lafayette Rd. which is still our site today.

In 1949, the Company was moved to this cement block onion storage building at

1215 S. Lafayette Road.

In the early 1950s, GTD began its long and profitable partner-ship with area high schools and the Coop. Program. On September 1, 1953, the com-pany reorganized as a corpora-tion. By the mid 1950’s, at the urging of friend and customer, R. J. Tower Iron Works, the com-pany purchased its first large boring mill and began shifting emphasis from small appliance tooling to large automotive tool-ing and stamping dies.

In 1994, Mr. Owen Mayer of the BAT presents president Stan Ash with the

Certificate of Meritorious Service.

In 1951, the company started an apprenticeship tool and die training program under the direction of the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, U.S. Dept. of Labor (BAT). Still in effect today, the program has earned the respect of many and in 1994 was recognized with the prestigious Certificate of Meritorious Service by the BAT, an award offered to fewer than one hundred programs annually.

An Employee Owned Company 1215 S, Lafayette Rd., P.O. Box 310

Greenville, MI 48838 (616) 754-5693—Fax (616) 754-5500—Website: www.gtd.com

62 Years

In 1957, GTD further improved its capabilities by purchasing the Grand Rapids Grinding Com-pany. They moved its equip-ment, and expertise lock, stock, and barrel to our present loca-tion. GTD was now able to han-dle most of its own grinding re-quirements and also do custom work for other area businesses. In 1956, the company estab-lished a profit sharing program which is still in place today. With more sophisticated equip-ment, more and larger tryout presses, and more experienced personnel, the early 1960’s saw GTD start engineering, design-ing, and building more intricate and precise dies such as decora-tive trim, grilles, wheel covers, and structural forms.

In 1963, Bill Arntz (right) was appointed vice president. In 1965, Stan Ash purchased Charlie Randall’s interest and became sole owner.

Page 2

In 1966, the 1st Warehouse was built, Avalon Park was pur-chased, and the company’s news-letter, “The Tool Bits,” was born. In 1967, the first of our (3) 800 ton Danly tryout presses was installed and our capabili-ties for producing larger and more intricate dies greatly im-proved with the addition of our first Droop & Rein duplicating mill.

In July 1970, GTD completed a 3-year project working with Kai-ser Aluminum and Chrysler on the development of the first production run aluminum hub-

cap machine for Dodge automo-biles. In the same year, GTD

built a guidance unit fixture for Fedders (formerly Ranney Re-frigerator) for insulation foam control.

During the late 70’s, there was considerable effort put into the development of tooling for heavy aluminum, particularly bump-ers. Special EDM machines were built to notch and pierce bumper reinforcements. A sec-ond warehouse was built as well as more assembly space (A-5).

Stan Ash with a Condenser Tube Stretcher made for the former Ranney Refrigerator Company, early 1950’s.

In 1969 the “Grinder Building” is moved to its present day location.

The 1960’s ushered in the start of many plant additions and expansions as

Greenville Tool & Die continued to grow.

Even though this injection molding machine was purchased in 1968,the company would soon decide that its

focus would be on designing and building metal stamping dies

rather than molds.

THE HISTORY OF GREENVILLE TOOL & DIE COMPANY

Hubcap Machine

Guidance Unit Fixture

Above, a special EDM machine for aluminum bumper reinforcements. Below, a notch, pierce, and extrude

machine for inner roof rails.

The 1950’s, 1960’s, to the 1970’s………..

1970 saw the completion of a plant addition (M-1 & M-2) and an office

expansion.

The 1980’s and 1990’s……….. By the 1980’s, the company had already designed and installed roll out bolsters on most of its tryout presses. The next signifi-cant event was the installation of our first Computervision CAD station in Engineering. This one station has now grown to more than 25 on two shifts.

Although the design and manu-facture of special machines con-tinued into the 1980’s, another significant event in 1982 was the installation of the first Cincin-nati/Milacron (CNC) computer-numerical-controlled vertical milling machine. Currently, with as many as 20 of these ma-chines and their connection with CAD design, there is no question that these two areas have made the greatest single impact on our industry, our company and how we design and build dies.

The first jobs to be completely CAD designed and CNC ma-chined were refrigerator/freezer door dies for Greenville Products Co. and a Ford wheel cover. Bill Arntz retired in 1983 and Dale Hartway became Executive Vice President.

Page 3

In 1984, a special heat staking machine and shaving fixture were designed and built. In 1985, we saw more Class A surface part dies like Dodge and Jeep Wagoneer Grille Sur-rounds.

The following are examples of parts made from the tools and dies being designed and built by GTD during the 1980s:

1988 saw the addition of our first PC’s to handle invoicing, accounts payable, payroll and our job file. The company developed a

reputation for offering a high quality product and delivering on time. It was designing and building dies for fuel filler hous-ings, roof drip rails, underbodies, gas tank shields, A-Pillar assem-blies, wheel covers and hubcaps, grilles, refrigerator/freezer doors, fluorescent light fixtures, radiator supports, front end pan-els, tailgates, cowl sides, bump-ers, sunroofs, oil pans, mufflers, windshield headers, fuel tank brackets, heat and exhaust shields, D-Pillars, window bez-els, cross members, prototypes, and so on.

Assembly area A-6 was added in 1989 as well as our first CNC wire EDM machine.

As the 1990’s came, the majority of the dies built were designed in CAD with components and sec-tions programmed and cut on the CNC milling machines.

Dies for Class A surface parts along with more customer re-quirements for progressive and transfer dies pushed GTD to-ward larger equipment, which would allow the company to de-sign and build larger dies for larger parts. Dies were made for GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, BMW, Mazda, Haworth, Nissan, Mercedes Benz, Honda, Isuzu, Toyota, and Suburu.

In 1981, current CEO, Dale Hartway, works on a design at our 1st

Computervision CAD station.

Greenville Tool & Die 1980’s

Shaving Fixture 1984

Charmilles Robofil 400 and 600 CNC Wire EDM machines.

Greenville Tool & Die late 1990’s.

Large Okuma CNC Vertical Mill

THE HISTORY OF GREENVILLE TOOL & DIE COMPANY

The turn of the century presents new challenges as the company postures itself to meet competi-tion in a global market place.

A Hauser CNC Jig Grinder is added in 2000, dies are produced for Harley Davidson while other dies are shipped to Mexico.

The 1990’s brought significant changes with the continued growth of the company and the addition of more new equipment and additional plant space. 1993 saw GTD accessing the world wide web while in 1994 the 1100 ton Niagara Tryout Press was added. The first large CNC bridge mill came in 1995, an Okuma MCR-16B Pallet Mill. GTD was now uniquely machin-ing all die segments separately, saving in processing time and making it easier and less costly for the customer to replace if nec-essary.

Because of its reputation for hav-ing an apprenticeship program second to none, GTD received and accepted an invitation to join the prestigious American Apprentice-ship Round Table in 1997.

Also, in 1997, Stan Ash received a patent for his LIF or Liquid Impact Forming process. In 1998, a Haworth, Inc. TAS chair arm assembly would be made from this process lauded as a significantly cheaper alternative method to the traditional hydro-forming of parts. The major rea-son being that customers could use their existing production presses.

Early 1998 saw the move into a new 28,000 sq. ft. addition, hous-ing a 2000 ton press (8’ wide X 20’ long bed), several large Okuma CNC mills, and assem-bly and handling capability for large dies. In August 1999, after a lengthy preparation process, GTD received ISO-9001 registration.

Page 4

Okuma MCR-16B CNC Pallet Changer Mill—1995

An overseas shipping container is loaded with dies for Mercedes Benz

in Germany, 1997.

In 1998, a Haworth TAS Chair arm is pulled from an LIF die patented,

designed and built by GTD.

November 1998, the 2000 ton Niagara Tryout Press is installed and ready.

In 2002, after 46 years of service, former vice president and chief engineer, Dale Hart-way is appointed president.

In July 2003, GTD purchased the for-mer Tomco Tool & Die Company of Belding, Michigan.

On February 29, 2004, a great one is lost as CEO and long time owner, Stan Ash, passes away after a long and courageous bat-tle with Parkin-son’s disease.

On February 17, 2005, the employ-ees of Greenville Tool & Die pur-chased the company from Stan Ash’s Trust and his wife Blanche. Today, Greenville Tool & Die is an em-ployee-owned com-pany (ESOP). Since that time, Dale Hartway has be-come CEO while Larry Caverley is President, and Ted Bush is Executive Vice President. The Company plans to continue industry leadership in design and building of high quality metal stamping dies.

Autoform and Pam Stamp Die Simulation software helps shortcut

the tryout process.

Bill Arntz, Stan Ash, Dale Hartway 50th Anniversary 8/15/96

Dale Hartway

Stan Ash

THE HISTORY OF GREENVILLE TOOL & DIE COMPANY

Finishing Out the 1990’s…….

The Twenty-First Century……

Larry Caverley

Ted Bush

Page 5 THE HISTORY OF GREENVILLE TOOL & DIE COMPANY

Page 6 THE HISTORY OF GREENVILLE TOOL & DIE COMPANY

Today……….. robust economy have caused the failure of many companies within our industry during the past several years.

There is no question that the advent of the computer has played the most significant role in the changing face of the tool and die industry. Its precision and automation allows highly accurate designs along with the capability to machine die compo-nents for A-Pillar assemblies,

Throughout its history, Greenville Tool & Die’s primary market has been automotive. It has designed and built dies to produce parts for almost every automobile company. And, it has established itself as a builder of very high quality stamping dies and delivers them on time.

Through the years GTD has seen the needs of its customers change as the emphasis today is more and more on cost efficiency dic-tated by challenges posed by very keen competition in a global econ-omy. Customers are requesting more progressive and transfer type dies as opposed to traditional line dies. Change requires adaptability which has led GTD to add more plant space and lar-ger equipment to handle these physically larger die require-ments.

Today’s automotive market place presents many challenges to GTD and the tool and die indus-try as we move into the 21st cen-tury. High quality standards, new materials, special surfaces, extreme competition both domes-tic and foreign, and a less than

Page 7

wheel covers and hubcaps, grilles, refrigerator/freezer doors, fluorescent light fixtures, radiator supports, front end pan-els, tailgates, cowl sides, bump-ers, sunroofs, oil pans, mufflers, windshield headers, fuel tank brackets, heat and exhaust shields, D-Pillars, window bez-els, cross members, and proto-types.

PT Cruiser sun roof opening and Reinforcement.

Double Progressive Die to make Ford RH and LH rear spring brackets.

Double Progressive Die to make a Chrysler Front

Side Rail Reinforcement.

Double Transfer Die to make a D-Pillar for a DaimlerChrysler

LX Wagon.

Transfer Die to make a cross member C-Pillar RH & LH for a DaimlerChrys-

ler Dodge Dakota pickup truck.

Transfer Dies to make a right and left hand inner windshield frame.

Progressive Die to make a steering heat shield on a Ford Mustang.

Robotic Transfer Die to make a Ford F-150 Flareside Tailgate.

Transfer Die to make a cross member for a Ford Mazda SUV.

Greenville Tool & Die Company 2005

THE HISTORY OF GREENVILLE TOOL & DIE COMPANY

Greenville Tool & Die Company, under the tutelage of its late president and owner, Stan Ash, has long demonstrated its com-mitment of partnership with the community. Starting in the early 1950’s, partnering with our area high schools and career centers, the Cooperative Vocation Educa-tion Program (Co-op) has become our cornerstone for new employ-ees. Under this program, quali-fied area high school students work at GTD part time to explore career opportunities within the tool and die trade. More than half of GTD’s present full time employees were originally in the Co-op program for us. To help make these programs work, GTD regularly donates money, people, expertise, equipment and supplies to their educational partners.

As the company’s number of em-ployees increased, the early 1960’s saw a real need for an edu-cational partner to provide the related instruction or academic portion of our apprentice pro-gram. Because of this, President Stan Ash became active in orga-nizing a study committee which led to the founding of Montcalm Community College. He became chairman of the first board of trustees of M.C.C. in 1965 and

would later become long time president of the M.C.C. Founda-tion. In 1960, the Stanley and Blanche Ash Foundation was founded which stresses educa-tion and community projects. Many area students have re-ceived scholarships for post sec-ondary education while many community projects like the Flat River Community Library and the M-TEC named the Stanley and Blanche Ash Technology and Learning Center were bene-factors.

The company has been a regular sponsor of area recreational ath-letic teams like little league, softball , and bowling teams. For many years the company has been a staunch sponsor of the American Red Cross and encour-ages its employees to regularly donate blood. It does so by host-ing its own blood drive and al-lowing employees to donate on company time.

Initially motivated by GTD Treasurer, Bob Wheeler and his battle with the dreaded disease cancer, the company formed a team (Wheeler’s Walkers) and entered the first American Can-

cer Society’s Montcalm Relay for Life in 1992. Each spring the company conducts a campaign to raise money for this event and sponsors a team to help fight cancer.

Of equal importance since 1993 has been GTD’s participation in the Montcalm Challenge Food Drive each fall to benefit all the food pantries of Montcalm County and the needy they serve. And, since 2003, a Toys For Tots campaign is also con-ducted.

GTD has always welcomed stu-dents, teachers, and the commu-nity into its facilities. A stead-fast supporter of career educa-tion, GTD has opened its doors numerous times through the years to students and their par-ents on shadow and career show-case days, teachers for teachers-in-industry, and class tours. GTD also encourages and sup-ports its employees in presenting career opportunities in the Tool and Die Industry at area career days.

A Community Partner… THE HISTORY OF GREENVILLE TOOL & DIE COMPANY

Coop student operating a cutter grinder.

In 2000, Blanche Ash (left) and Stan Ash proudly flank the plans for the

M-TEC named in their honor.

The original Wheeler’s Walkers Team in 1992..

An Employee Owned Company

GTD President, Stan Ash, presents machine tool certificates at M.C.C. commencement in the mid 1960’s.

GTD employees donate blood at the company’s Red Cross Blood Drive. Greenville Tool & Die Company

welcomes tours of its facilities especially to students, parents, and

teachers investigating career oppor-tunities in the Tool and Die Industry.

3/02/2009