History
A Brief History of Ramcel Engineering Company
1950
Ramcel Engineering Company was founded by Richard A. Mengarelli (RAM) and Charles E. Lindgren (CEL). Operations begin in the basement of Richard's parents' home on the Northwest side of Chicago.
1951
The company changes from a partnership to a corporation under the laws of the State of Illinois.
1956
Ramcel moves to 8120 N. Ridgeway, Skokie, Illinois
1958
The company begins using its "tryout" press for production stamping.
1960
Ramcel purchases a 10,000 sq. ft. building at 7340 N. Ridgeway, Skokie, Illinois.
1968
The company builds a 25,000 square foot building and moves to its current location at 2926 MacArthur Boulevard, Northbrook.
1976
Ramcel adds an 11,000 square foot warehouse.
1978
The company constructs the building at 3120 MacArthur Boulevard to house Die-Tronics, its Wire EDM / Laser sister company, and for additional warehouse space.
1984
Ramcel's engineering department begins utilizing AutoCAD to design its dies.
1987
The company adds its west annex, an additional 11,000 square feet of manufacturing space.
1989
Ramcel purchases three Mazak vertical machining centers.
1991
The company begins replacement of mechanical press feeds with servo feeds.
1992
Ramcel purchases its first 300 ton Minster E2 Hevi Stamper.
1994
The company purchases 1.4 adjacent acres for future manufacturing expansion.
1995
Ramcel purchases three new Minster E2 press lines: two 160 ton and one 200 ton.
1997
The company adds 6,000 square feet of additional warehouse space.
1998
Ramcel expands the Engineering Department into its own facility.
1998
The company begins implementation of die sensor program to prevent tool damage.
1999
Ramcel purchases a totally enclosed automatic vapor degreaser.
2000
The company is certified to ISO 9002 and QS 9000 standards, purchases Navision ERP software, and begins implementation.
2002
Ramcel purchases a 400 ton Minster E2 Hevi Stamper, a View Summit 800 inspection machine, and constructs a training center.
2003
The company initiates the use of Analog Sensors for in-die measurements including the purchase of additional "Smart Pacs" and servo feeds to make a total of ten units.
2005
Ramcel designs and builds an automatic assembly machine complete with a vision system to optically inspect internal features for an assembly for the computer industry.
2006
The company designs and builds its first in-line vision system to verify the presence of more than 134 features for a part in the automotive industry.
2007
Ramcel begins to relocate equipment for increased material flow and introduces 5S and Lean Principals company-wide. Purchases new ancillary equipment for more efficient handling of larger tooling and new equipment to aid in the reduction of tool set up times.
2008
The company purchases a large scale automatic deburring machine with increased capacity.
Today, the company employs more than seventy-five people with annual sales exceeding $15,000,000.
Our fully-equipped facility employs the use of C.N.C. Mazak machining centers to aid in economically producing tooling and features Minster presses with capacities up to 400 tons.
Refer to our equipment listing for current data.