RUDOLF WALLNER - FOUNDER

Rudolf Wallner was born in Duisburg Germany, November 7, 1922. His father was a steel mill superintendent at Tyson Steel and his mother was a home maker raising seven children.

Before Rudolf enlisted in the German Luftwaffe, he served a four year apprenticeship as a machinist at Demag GMBH, one of the largest crane and equipment manufacturers in the world. During WWII Demag GMBH manufactured many components that were used by the military.

In the midst of WWII, most large cities were devastated by bombing raids, including Duisburg. After serving on the Russian front for 4 years during the war, Rudolf returned to his hometown and found that the place he had grew up was in mere shambles. His mother had been killed in the bombing raids, and he had also lost two of his brothers. Once the war was over, he acquired a new job serving as a driver for an English Lieutenant. The Lieutenant and Rudolf became very close with one another, and because of their friendship the Lieutenant was able to convince Rudolf to come to the United States where opportunity was plentiful.

Rudolf and his wife Sophia left Germany with their first born son to start a new life in May of 1952. They landed in New York and moved to Pennsylvania where Rudolf worked odd jobs to support his family. Rudolf later moved his wife and children to Chicago where he would seek the profession he was trained for, machining tools. Rudolf found his niche in the dies used for precision stamping. This included progressive, lamination and deep drawing dies. He worked in several well known tool and die shops learning the trade at a rapid pace. Around the early 1950's Rudolf would typically start a job working under the die makers that had the most seniority. Very often the owners of the shops would notice Rudolf's drive and his desire to finish the job. He would frequently be found working through his breaks and running more than one machine at a time to increase efficiency. On one occasion Rudolf was earning more in his first month of work than some of the die makers were earning who had been there for over twenty years!

Rudolf built his home in Chicago and worked until the summer of 1959, when he decided that there was a greater opportunity and better weather in California. After being a part of several partnerships, Rudolf decided he could advance further by working independently. His modest beginnings, Wallner Tooling & Stamping, started in late 1959. Wallner was located on Haskell Street in Van Nuys California where he built dies for the aircraft industry. During the time of WWII, the San Fernando Valley was the aircraft building mecca for the United States. Many of the acclaimed aircraft manufacturers and support companies remained in business even after the war had ended. Rudolf's experience in machine tools and dies quickly paid off.

Not long after Wallner Tooling & Stamping was up and running, the Vietnam War had began to consume hardware at an alarming rate. Needless to say, the aviation and aerospace industries were in full swing. Many other industries, including the filter industry joined Wallner's customer base. One of Wallner's first products for the filter industry was truck filter end caps which were used in the military vehicles overseas. After having a few meetings with one automotive filter manufacturer, Rudolf had his first inquiry for the production of expanded metal. To the customer's surprise, Rudolf shared that he had experience with expanded metal in Germany during his apprenticeship at the Dermag Works. While working at Dermag, Rudolf had expanded 1/2” thick boiler plates in a 2,000 ton hydraulic straight side press for use in the catwalks on the U-Boot Bunkers.

In the spring of 1968 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. Rudolf machined, finished, assembled, tested and then presented the customer with his finished product. With great enthusiasm the customer replied “How fast can we receive the first shipment of expanded metal?” Rudolf's machine went from prototype to production almost immediately.

In their first few years of business, Wallner Tooling built complete expanded metal lines for many filter companies, and in the years that followed, Wallner had supplied the industry with hundreds of expanded metal lines. After several years of use, many of Wallner's customers traded their old lines for new ones. Wallner Tooling refurbished the returned metal lines and used them to produce expanded metal for private label filter manufacturers.

In the summer of 1975, Rudolf had his first exposure to the HVAC filter market. Rudolf was contracted to build two lines to make expanded metal for the flat panel filters used in furnaces. After noticing welded wire in the pleated filters Rudolf quickly responded with an expanded metal alternative (HVAC Material). This new material served the same purpose at less than half the cost of the prior material.

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 to Wallner, which became the supplier of the HVAC material. A couple of years later Wallner Tooling and Expac, Inc. merged and created Wallner Tooling/Expac, Inc. (WTE). In 1978, Rudolf purchased 5 acres in Rancho Cucamonga California, which secured land for future manufacturing growth.

In 1980 WTE had its grand opening in its new 16,000 square foot facility. Considering the fact that WTE was supplying much of its expanded metal products to the East Coast, there was an additional need to expand their operations in that direction. In 1988, WTE opened a 10,000 square foot facility in Kennesaw Georgia.

After six years in operation, WTE purchased an additional 3 acre lot with 16,000 square feet that they added to the Georgia facility to accommodate the rapid growth the company was experiencing. The company continued to expand and larger facilities became necessary in both locations to accommodate new business. In 1997, WTE enlarged 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 to Gumi South Korea where they joined in Partnership with SKE (SamKwang Electronics Group), a leading metal perforator for the audio speaker industry. Together the two companies established SKW (SamKwang Wallner Co. LTD) in 2001. The operation continues to successfully service WTE's West Coast HVAC customer base and the growing market in Europe and Asia. In 2004, WTE purchased a new building for their corporate office. This purchase provided the necessary distribution resources to effectively handle imports from Korea.

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. Their leadership, experience, innovative expertise and continued devotion to their customers makes Wallner Tooling/Expac, Inc. what it is today.