Open House marks growth, continued success at 142-year-old Black Bros.

MENDOTA, IL — It was an Open House full of familiar faces and fun Thursday, Nov. 21 as Black Bros. Co. welcomed nearly 300 attendees to celebrate the completion of its new Roll Manufacturing Building. The 18,200 square-foot addition has been in operation for over a month at the venerable company’s headquarters located 90 miles west of Chicago.

“We received many positive comments from business leaders, family, and friends — not only about the new building, but also the complex roll coaters and laminating systems we design and manufacture,” said Matt Carroll, CEO and fifth-generation decedent of the founding Black family. “The new Roll Manufacturing Building, the event’s centerpiece, provides better work flow, some new tools, better lighting and an overall safe, comfortable workplace for our team members.”

Plant Manager Mike DeLong agrees the building comes with obvious efficiencies over its predecessor built in 1907, but also mentioned no large-scale project comes and goes without an obstacle or two.

“We are very pleased with the new building, and the transition has been smooth so far,” DeLong said. “The biggest hurdle we have to overcome is the exhaust system for the rubber grinders and stripper lathe. Because the new building is so (air) tight, we need to figure a way to filter the air well enough to return it back into the building and not lose as much heat. I’m sure there will be a few more things to tweak as we get farther down the road.”

While the Open House aimed to showcase the new space — where Black Bros. handles the complete process of steel-roll manufacturing and rubber vulcanization — it also included tours of the entire facility, select machine demonstrations, and a generous smattering of hor d’oeuvres and beverages. Of course, no business’s special occasion would be complete without games, contests, and swag. Black Bros. had plenty. 

“It was fun to see our team members giving their families tours to show the pride they take in their jobs and work areas,” said President and COO Jeff Simonton. “It certainly takes a team of dedicated and highly-skilled people to manufacture the excellent products Black Bros. is known for.”

With all the already-stated advantages provided by the new Roll Manufacturing Building, the best may be yet to come. Setup on a recently-purchased, custom Kingston Lathe is still being finalized and once complete will bring even greater efficiency to the company’s rubber grinding. With a max-load capacity of 11,000 pounds and capable of holding rolls up to 197” long and 20.5” in diameter, the lathe was also built and programmed to match the exact applications of Black Bros. customers.

“All our other lathes are limited,” DeLong said, “either by the size of the roll they can handle or the number of threads per inch it can do. The new lathe can accommodate any roll we have every made and is equipped with a Servo drive, so we can achieve any thread specs we want just by entering the parameters on the touch screen.”

Black Bros. has a worldwide reputation for providing premier roll coating and laminating equipment to a wide-array of industries. Legendary for having workhorse durability, Black Bros. machines and machine systems offer customized solutions for unique applications on a one-by-one basis. Much more than an elite American manufacturer, Black Bros. also boasts start-to-finish engineering services, unparalleled customer support and parts availability, as well as superior project guidance and laboratory testing.   

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