Formitt Metal Labs
Tube machinery
Company Overview and History
Grotnes, Inc., headquartered in Niles, Michigan, boasts a heritage spanning over 100 years in the metalforming industry. Originally founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1898 as 'Charles Grotnes Machine Works,' the company gained recognition for inventing the expander machine and developing shrinking and rotary rollforming technologies. Through strategic partnerships and acquisitions, including a licensing arrangement with Fontijne in the 1960s which led to Fontijne Grotnes, Inc. (FGI), and the 2013 acquisition of Hess Industries' intellectual property, Grotnes expanded its expertise into emissions canning and metal spinning. The company's mission is 'to make our customers successful by providing quality metalforming and assembly systems,' with a vision to be 'the recognized & trusted leader for metalforming systems and assembly solutions.'
Products and Services
Grotnes offers a comprehensive range of advanced metalforming and assembly solutions. Their core product lines include full-body expanders and shrinkers, designed to size and form a wide array of hollow components such as cylinders, cones, and rings for applications in appliance housings, jet engine parts, drums, and pipe couplings. The company also specializes in rotary roll forming, a cold rolling process for creating profiled configurations with close tolerances, which can significantly reduce or eliminate machining requirements. For the automotive and industrial sectors, Grotnes provides catalytic converter canning cells, commercial/off-road vehicle canning cells, and end forming converters, featuring patented technologies like the Rotary Sizer and Adaptive Gap Control. Additionally, their metal spinning technology offers a cost-effective method for forming tube ends, with concentric, eccentric, and oblique spin-forming processes, including patented 'Dynamic Length Control Technology.' Grotnes also supplies various closing tools for lug-type and plastic pails, along with original spare parts and upgrade packages.
Customer Support and Innovation
Grotnes emphasizes customer success through robust support and continuous innovation. They provide multi-lingual technical professionals globally to ensure high machine availability and optimal performance. The company focuses on keeping systems state-of-the-art by offering new technologies and upgrade packages, as well as solutions for improving or rebuilding aging equipment. Their process development aims to minimize scrap and maximize efficiency, drawing on extensive experience to deliver innovative solutions. Grotnes is committed to a quality management system that guarantees safety, prevents quality incidents, and eliminates defects, ensuring their offerings are reliable and meet customer needs.
