Since 1981 we have been an independent manufacturing company with a very heavy R&D component. In 1981 we started working for Weyerhaeuser R&D helping them make better saw blades for less money. As our technology developed and our reputation grew we acquired more and more customers for our advanced technologies. We also developed a reputation for solving problems and doing research so that companies from one-man shops to multi-billion internationals have used us for our products, services, research and training. Throughout our history we have done a great deal of work on health and safety at no charge. In an industry heavily dominated by mechanical engineers, our background in chemistry and biology made us uniquely qualified to do this. We could justify it economically by saying that keeping our customers alive is good for business but the truth is that we just believe that we owe something to an industry that has been so good to us.