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Most people have heard the classic story of business success. An ambitious young individual, filled with ideas but lacking resources, sells his prized possession to start the company of his dreams. From humble beginnings, the small company grows bit by bit and over time, becomes an industry leader.

The story of Red Bud Industries (Red Bud, IL) is no different. In 1959, Ken Voges, just 23 years old, sold his 1955 T-Bird to start his own machine shop in a small building on his parent’s farm near Red Bud. His teenage work experience in machine shops left him filled with ideas to use in his own venture, known at that time as ABC Metal Products. His parents and wife helped in the business and offered the moral support needed to get the company up and running.

The company began by serving area farmers with their machining needs and within two years, had moved into building tools and dies for manufacturers of heaters, washers and dryers, and commercial staplers. In the early days of the company, projects were sometimes taken on to maintain steady work and keep from laying off employees. At times, these projects appeared to be above the company’s design and fabrication capabilities. However, each project proved to be successful and prepared the workers for more challenging tasks.

Some of the first major projects included building progressive dies, particularly a burner die for the manufacturing of furnaces, automated transfer units for old dies, and coil lines used in the manufacturing of transformers. These coil lines were the earliest venture into the engineering and design of the present product. Around that same time, a 12 in (30 cm) automatic Shear was designed and built, further laying the foundation for today’s product.

While these early projects were successful, the company needed a product that was more than a one time project and could offer more stability to the workforce of 15 people. In time, Ken’s brother Bob asked him where he would be able to purchase an accurate and reliable Feed to transfer steel to Presses. Ken felt this was just the type of project for his young company, and a new product line gradually evolved.

In 1964, the company moved to a manufacturing space in the town of Red Bud. However, the company quickly outgrew that location, and plans were made to construct a new home for the company on the outskirts of town. In 1971, Red Bud Industries moved into its current location, at that time a 25,000 sq ft (2323 sq m) facility. Around the same time, the company expanded its product line to include cut-to-length equipment. Even early on, the company backed each piece of equipment with a 5-year warranty, a standard for which the company is known to this day.

On August 21, 1973, the company was granted its first patent for its Grip Feed Measuring System. This patented system allowed for closer tolerances in the blanking process. The Grip Feed was quickly accepted, showing that the company was becoming a presence in the industry.

In 1978, the company purchased its first computer to help keep track of inventory. In the years ahead, the computer system was customized for quoting lines without extensive engineering time and to accurately keep track of the time involved in the various manufacturing processes. Through the various computer programs, the company was able to effectively monitor costs, reduce manufacturing time, and respond to customers and their needs more efficiently.

During the mid-1980s, Red Bud began offering toll processing services to its customers and other service centers as a method to test new machines. This venture proved to be quite successful and in late 1992, the toll processing business was spun off into its own entity, now known as The Material Works, Ltd.

The late 1980s and 1990s were a period marked by continual updates and improvements to the product offering. Multi-blanking capabilities were added in 1988, and to date, the company has built approximately 120 of these systems. The patented Slitter was one of the first to offer CNC Programmable Knife Positioning that allowed the knives to be locked in position with just the push of a button. In 1997, a Dual Action Grip Feed System was introduced that broke the 400 fpm (122 mpm) barrier, the first system of its kind to do so.