History of Acme Fab

"The Engineer's Solution to Industrial Parts Washing"

A Reputation for Innovative Solutions

In the early 1940’s Harley Huddle and Vern Baldwin, engineers, discovered the need for custom cleaning machinery and started a company in Ironton, Ohio. Even though the machinery was a lot less complex then, innovation was still a top priority with Harley and Vern and their team of pioneers. Custom-engineered
equipment led the way to growth, and a second plant was opened in Cincinnati, Ohio in the 1950’s, making transportation to industry much easier.

Over the next 10 years, Harley and Vern developed a reputation
for innovative solutions. During that time, for example, Harley had developed patented techniques to wash thousands of aluminum cans per minute, and the can washer equipment widely used today was invented.

Because of the great success of the can washer the company grew to the point that Mr. Huddle and Mr. Baldwin couldn’t continue close customer contact that was so important to them. With these growing pains Mr. Huddle and Mr. Baldwin decided to sell the company.

The foundation of designed solutions for industry had been established, and, in 1967, Vern Baldwin founded a new company to return to proven concepts dedicated to creating part washing solutions for industry. The company was called “Acme-Fab.”

A “hands on” company from the start, Acme-Fab has always believed that the best solutions come from solid fundamental design concepts. The Huddle family continued their involvement with Acme-Fab, as Dick Huddle, Harley’s son joined the business in 1970. True to form, Dick received his training through trial, working in just about every function, from office work to the plant, gaining valuable “Acme-Fab core values.” And today, as the President of Acme-Fab, Dick continues to rely on the principles he learned coming up in the business.

Acme-Fab grew rapidly during the 70’s, a time when new offices were opened in Cincinnati, Harley Jr., Dick’s brother joined the company, and added marketing emphasis. The growth and development of Acme-Fab continued in motion.

By the 80’s, more and more customers were looking for companies who could team with them to integrate machinery and equipment into their production environment. Acme-Fab was that Company.

In recent years, the engineer-driven solutions created by Acme-Fab have greatly expanded, with a wide line of equipment, satellite part washing systems, computer enhancements, and more.

Yes, today many of the cleaning needs are more sophisticated, and regulatory demands are more stringent…but with Acme-Fab, one thing hasn’t changed…the commitment to customer satisfaction through innovative solutions.

industrial cleaning equipment: part washer