COMPANY HISTORY

Wallner Tooling & Stamping started in late 1959, on Haskell Street, in Van Nuys, California, where Rudolf built dies for the aircraft industry. During WWII the San Fernando Valley was the air building mecca, and many of the acclaimed aircraft manufacturers and support companies remained located there after the war. Rudolf’s experience in machine tools and dies quickly made an impact on the business and earned him his reputation.

Soon after the company's humble beginnings, the Vietnam War was consuming hardware at an alarming rate and the aviation and aerospace industries were in full swing. Many other industries, including the filter industry, joined Wallner's customer base. Some of Wallner's first products for the filter industry were truck filter end caps, which were used in military vehicles overseas. After meetings with one automotive filter manufacturer, Rudolf had his first inquiry for expanded metal. Rudolf had made expanded metal in Germany, many years before the war during his apprenticeship with Demag Works, and soon they were expanding 1/2 thick boilerplate in a 5,000 ton hydraulic straight side press.

In the spring of 1968, after broadening services to include expanded metal, Rudolf put his mastery to work, and developed what was Wallner Tooling's first prototype expanded metal machine. He utilized existing components within the company, consisting of a two-post, ball bearing die set, an electric motor, gears, sprockets and chains. He machined, finished, assembled and trouble shot his new creation, and presented the customer with a quality-finished product. The first machine went from prototype to production almost immediately.

Initially, Wallner Tooling built complete expanded metal lines for many filter companies and in the years that followed, Wallner Tooling supplied the industry with hundreds of expanded metal lines. After many years of service, some of Wallner Tooling's customers traded their old lines for new ones and Wallner Tooling refurbished those lines and used them to produce expanded metal for private label filter manufacturers.

During the summer of 1975, Rudolf was contracted to build two lines to make expanded metal for the flat panel filters used in furnaces. At that time he noticed welded wire in the pleated filters, and quickly responded with an expanded metal alternative (HVAC Material) that could serve the same purpose at less than half the cost. As founder of this leading edge product Rudolf decided to manufacture and supply expanded metal directly to the HVAC filter industry. He established Expac Inc. (Expanded Metal Pacific) in 1976 as a separate entity, which became the supplier of the HVAC material. Years later, the two companies merged creating today's Wallner Tooling/Expac Inc. (WTE). In 1978, Rudolf purchased 5 acres of land in Rancho Cucamonga, which secured land for future manufacturing growth. Soon after, in 1980 WTE had its grand opening in its new 16,000 square foot facility. Because WTE was supplying much of its expanded metal products to the East Coast, there was a need to expand its operations there and in 1988 WTE opened a 10,000 square foot facility in Kennesaw, Georgia. After six years in operation, WTE purchased a 3 acre lot and 16,000 square feet were added to the Georgia facility to accommodate the rapid growth the company was experiencing.

The company continued to grow rapidly over the next few years and required larger facilities in both locations to accommodate new business. In 1997 WTE expanded both California and Georgia facilities to 40,000 square foot each. Responding to the steel market volatility and the rapid economic growth in the Pacific Rim, WTE expanded its operations in Gumi South Korea in Partnership with SKE (SamKwang Electronics Group), a leading metal perforator for the audio speaker industry. Together they established SKW (Samkwang Wallner Co. LTD ) in 2001. The operation continues to successfully service their WTE West Coast HVAC customer base and the growing market in Europe and Asia. In 2004 WTE purchased a new building for their corporate office. It was a great opportunity to purchase a building that would provide the necessary distribution resources to effectively handle imports from Korea, and relocate on the same street from the previous location on Hyssop.

Today Wallner Tooling/Expac, Inc. has grown to be a Worldwide recognized Expanded Metal and Machine Manufacturer and successfully continues to supply many industries with their expanded metal and machinery needs. Leadership, experience, innovative expertise and continued devotion to their customers make Wallner Tooling/Expac, Inc. what it is today.