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After WWII Charles returned to Premier Rubber as superintendent until 1949 when he took a job as chief chemist at Mogul Rubber in Goshen, IN. In late 1950 he started what is now Triangle Rubber. His first small building housed one press, operated by a hand pump. The first job he produced was a dishwasher door bumper for American Kitchens in Connersville, IN. (This later became the D&M Manufacturing Company eventually acquired by WCI.) In the 1950's to the mid 1960's, Triangle continued to grow at a steady rate, enlarging the original 40x60 ft. building to 15,000 sq. ft. Two mixing mills and one sheeting mill were acquired. Triangle relied heavily on business from Western Electric Company in Chicago and Indianapolis. Fred Duncan, previously of Premier Rubber, joined the firm as Vice President and Plant Manager in 1955. Fred was an early proponent of on time delivery, as he was known never to be late with a shipment. The 1970's saw rapid change as new technologies of liquid nitrogen deflashing, injection molding, Barwell preforming, and a Monsanto Rheometer were added. Paul Gerwels, son of founder Charles, joined the company full time in 1971 as Lab Manager. Paul received his B.S. degree from the University of Dayton in 1970. In 1980, a separate division dedicated to making lathe cut rubber gaskets was opened on Wilden Avenue, along the Elkhart River. Tri Seals continues today as a precision lathe cut gasket producer. The 1980's saw demand for Triangle product continue to increase with a total manufacturing and warehouse space at 90,000 sq. ft. Additional injection molding equipment was added to compensate for sales growth. Edward Gerwels, son of the founders, joined the business in 1977. He earned his bachelor's degree in Industrial Management from Purdue University in 1977. Triangle Rubber started its third division, dedicated to molding of TPE's, Thermo Plastic Elastomers, in 1989. The 1990's saw continued strong growth in this sector. Land was purchased in the Goshen Industrial Park on Eisenhower Drive and a new building was erected to handle this division in 1997. A second addition to this building is scheduled for completion in early March, 2000, bringing the total sq. ft. to 24,000. Triangle serves a wide variety of customers in the automotive, appliance, plumbing, electronic and industrial markets. Triangle believes in staying in its niche of elastomeric products for sealing, damping and appearance applications. |
Molded
Products Division • Thermoplastic
Division • Tri-Seals
Lathe Cut Division
History •
R & D •
Quality •
Lab & Materials •
Contact Us
Triangle
Rubber Co. Inc.
P.O. Box 95
Goshen, IN 46527
PH: (574) 533-3118
FAX: (574) 534-0416