6100 King Road, Marine City, MI. 48039 - Phone: 810-765-4666
Selective Industries has been designing, running and building progressive dies since inception. We generate quick turn-arounds, competitive pricing and superior quality tools.
"The art of metalworking has been around for ages. Coins were one of the first things made of metals using the art of die sinking. Eventually though, coins were created by using two coining dies. A metalworker would place a blank between two dies and then strike it with a heavy hammer. The use of a hammer lasted until machines started taking over. The 15th century saw the first machine with guides to ensure that the die and punch aligned. The 1890's saw the most significant push for metal-stamping with follow-on tooling and successive gang cutting.
After the Second World War the US economy saw a huge boost. This meant that manufacturers had to focus on speed to deliver materials on time. Operators were hand feeding material into presses. The blanks were dropped into containers and then brought to and hand-fed into press-and-die forming and cutting machines. This single feed operation hindered speed and put operators in danger.
In 1953 the Capitol Engineering Company was started by Ed Stouten in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Stouten had an idea on how to "overcome the safety, effiency and productivity challenges related to the use of single-hit dies." His idea was to include scrap metal between parts to allow them to be carried through a single multi-station die. This concept had not been used prior and many were skeptical to try it. However once he found a manufacturer to test his method, word quickly spread.
In 1970, Stouten and one of his engineers, Arnold Miedema, were invited to speak about pregressive dies at the Society of Manufacturing Engineers in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This one event led him to speak at every SME meeting in Michigan over the next two years. Throughout this time, the due developed their manual; a 266 page manifesto titles Progressive Dies for Designers, Engineers and Managers." -Stamp Source
