Fluid Handling LLC history

Reinforced concrete pipes were introduced by J.Monier in 1867.

An early patent in the field of water delivery pipes was filed in April 4, 1919 by Ernest Tribe.

In 1925, Frederick H. Bedford and James H. Hayes acquired a license for the invention and started producing it as the Victaulic coupling, a product of the Victaulic Company of America.

Brothers Russell and Leil Gray incorporated Gray Company in April 1926 during the height of the “Roaring Twenties.” The Gray brothers launched the company to manufacture and market an air-powered, portable lubricator Russell invented while working as a parking lot attendant.

In 1931 Victaulic couplings were used to minimize leaks at Hoover Dam, the most ambitious engineering project of the time.

The company continued to grow even during the Depression years, and in 1938, the business moved into a new plant, where Russell Gray further expanded the product line.

Sales topped $1 million in 1941.

The company acted quickly to create an infrastructure to manage worldwide growth, forming the first export department in 1960, followed by the first international sales division with subsidiaries in Europe, Asia, South America and Canada.

In 1965, Gray Company developed an electrically-powered airless-spray system which freed painting contractors from bulky compressors.

Plastic pipes were introduced in 1966 as that versatile new material became more advanced.

In 1969, Gray Company, Inc. was taken public and changed its name to Graco Inc.

Graco reached $50 million in sales in 1971, just five years before celebrating our 50th anniversary.

Graco also authorized a three-for-two stock split in 1973, the first in our history.

Net sales for 1974 rose only 6.3 percent, and net earnings fell 50 percent.

Financial analyst Ken Johnson, in a 1975 Corporate Report article, suggested that Graco was surprised by a weakening market which had been disguised by customer purchases made in response to rapidly rising raw material prices.

Nevertheless, Graco rebounded in 1976.

Graco sales more than doubled over four years, and earnings reached a high of $10 million or $4.45 per share in 1979.

In 1981, the company established a joint-venture, Graco Robotics, Inc. (GRI), with Edon Finishing Systems of Troy, Michigan, in order to develop a robotics paint-finishing system.

In 1982, Graco sales and earnings were hit by a combination of poor market and economic conditions, but the company continued to pump research and development dollars into the slowly progressing robotics venture and even increased its ownership from 51 to 80 percent.

The company acquired 100 percent ownership of former Japanese joint venture in 1985, thus expanding its international operations in the Far East.

According to Eben Shapiro, in a June 1987 Minneapolis/St Paul City Business article, Graco saw robotics as "a logical and necessary extension of its finishing business."

Graco's 1988 domestic sales were flat, while a 31.7 percent increase in international sales was attributable to its traditional products, such as portable airless-spray painters.

Also in 1993, Graco became the first company in its industry to become ISO 9000-registered at all its major sites.

In 1994, Graco restructured its operations in the Pacific and in Europe.

Colfax Corporation was started in 1995 by Steven and Mitchell Rales, two brothers who had previously created Danaher Corporation, growing it from a group of discrete manufacturing businesses to a leading science and technology innovator with a market value of more than $100 billion.

After 33 years as CEO, David Koch stepped down from the post in January 1996.

Pat McHale was named president and CEO in 2007.

At the beginning of 2012, Colfax became a diversified industrial company via the acquisition of Charter International plc.

In 2016, Graco was named a Best Workplace by Fortune Magazine based on the Great Place to Work Trust Index survey.

Colfax launched a new brand for the company in 2019.