At just 23 years old, in 1959, Ken Voges sells his prized 1955 Thunderbird car to start his own machine shop on his parents’ farm near Red Bud, Illinois. From humble beginnings, he nurtures the company, then known as ABC Metal Products, to service local industry with machine shop services. With the help of his wife and parents, the company soon outgrows its birthplace on the family farm and moves into a larger industrial site. Here the company continues to grow and begins designing and building tools and dies on a larger industrial scale for high volume manufacturers of household appliances and other steel products. From there, the company moves into designing and building progressive dies and equipment for manufacturing transformers. These earliest ventures gave experience and knowledge which grew into the company’s current product line. Today, the company is a world renowned designer and builder of Coil Processing Systems, known as Red Bud Industries, with over 1,300 installations worldwide. Red Bud Industries’ Equipment can be found operating in every major steel market throughout the world, processing virtually every type of material.

1971

•Red Bud Industries builds a 25,000 square feet
(2323 square meters) manufacturing facility and moves into its present-day site.

1973

•Red Bud Industries is granted its first of many patents to come. This one is for the Grip Feed Measuring System.

1978

•Red Bud Industries designs its first computerized inventory control system, which is later expanded and upgraded to provide customized quoting capabilities.

1986

•The manufacturing plant expands to 50,000 square feet (4645 square meters).

1987

•Red Bud Industries introduces In-Line Stretcher Levelers up to .138” (3.5 mm) thick.

1988

•Multi-Blanking Lines are offered with the introduction of a patented CNC Slitting Head. To date, Red Bud Industries has over 140 of these systems in operation around the world.

1997

•Red Bud Industries introduces the Dual Action Grip Feed, which achieves production speeds as high as 400 FPM (122 m/min).

2000

•Red Bud Industries supplies its first Coil-To-Coil Slitting Line.

•The manufacturing plant expands to 100,000 square feet (9290 square meters).

2002

•Red Bud Industries builds and installs its first .250” (6.3 mm) In-Line Stretcher Leveler.

2005

•Red Bud Industries develops and sells its first .500” (12.7 mm) Stretcher Leveler and Cut-To-Length Line.

2008

•The manufacturing facility expands again to 200,000 square feet (18,580 square meters).

2011

•Red Bud Industries also delivers its first Roll Feed Measuring System as an alternative to its existing Grip Feed System.

2012

•Red Bud Industries’ Equipment receives its first of several national #1 rankings in the field of Coil Processing by Metal Center News’ annual equipment survey.

•Red Bud Industries begins manufacture of its own Scrap Choppers with thickness capacities up to .750” (19 mm).

2013

•Red Bud Industries develops and sells its first Dual Drive Roll Feed System that produces superior length tolerances when compared to traditional roll feeds.

•Red Bud Industries ships its first .500” (12.7 mm) Coil-To-Coil Slitting Line.

2014

•Red Bud Industries develops and sells its first 1.00” (25 mm) Stretcher Leveler and Cut-To-Length Line.

•Red Bud Industries designs and adds Light Gauge Slitting Lines to its product offering.

2015

•Red Bud Industries installs a Fully Automatic Slitting Head for a Multi-Blanking Line. The Fully Automatic Slitting Head can also be installed in Slitting Lines.

2016

•Red Bud Industries sells its first Packaging Line for a Slitting Line.

2019

•Red Bud Industries is voted #1 for the 4th consecutive year in the field of Coil Processing by Metal Center News’ annual equipment survey.

•Red Bud Industries celebrates its 60th Anniversary, acknowledging God’s great blessings of its 200+ dedicated employees.

2021

•Since 1986, Red Bud Industries has sold 60 Stretcher Levelers, which is more than its competitors combined.

•The Company is again voted #1 for the 5th time in the last 6 years in the field of Coil Processing by Metal Center News’ annual equipment survey.

2022

•The Company is again voted #1 for the 6th time in the last 7 years in the field of Coil Processing by Metal Center News’ annual equipment survey.

•The manufacturing plant expands to 254,000 square feet (23,597 square meters).