About MFC
Forged in History
About Meadville Forging Company
What started as a small hammer shop in the 1940’s, this humble family-owned operation has grown into one of the largest, most diverse forging operations in the United States.
Palmer Tool Company was acquired by Paul Keller in 1969. Mr. Keller grew up on a Tennessee farm and worked his way through the University of Tennessee by shoveling coal. He later worked for Bethlehem Steel before starting Meadville Forging Company. At this time, sales were slightly over $3,000,000 annually. With backing and foresight of the Keller’s, the Company began to grow and participate in the highly competitive automotive market.
About MFC QUALITY
Meadville Forging Company was one of the first forging operations to be certified in the ISO 9001 MTS 16949 quality standards. Both MFC facilities are registered with the IATF 16949 and ISO 9001 Quality Standards. And our internal processes are evaluated to drive improvement using technology.
“We used to feed our parts into the furnace one at a time running them through a hammer. It was very slow. Now we have presses that can produce around 15 parts per minute.”
About MFC Equipment
Our Meadville plant has 16 Manual and Automatic forging presses including two Erie 4000 ton presses, Bar Cutting Equipment, and a range of Heat Treat capabilities.
In Cambridge Springs, our world class die making capabilities include high speed mills and lathes and production machining with over 50 turning and milling centers, induction hardening and broaching machines.
Our History
- 1969
Palmer Tool Company Acquired
Palmer Tool Company Acquired
June 1, 1969Palmer Tool Company was acquired by Paul Keller.
- 1971
MFC Start
MFC Start
April 1, 1971Press Room added and 1,000 ton press installed.
- 1972
New President
New President
March 1, 1972John. P. Keller becomes President of Meadville Forging Company.
- 1976
New Benchmark
New Benchmark
March 1, 1976Annual sales reach $10,000,000
- 1976
New Presses Installed
New Presses Installed
March 1, 1976307, 1,600 ton press added.
- 1978
New Heat Treat Services Added
New Heat Treat Services Added
March 1, 1978Heat Treat capabilities were added.
- 1979
New Steel Yard Due to Fire
New Steel Yard Due to Fire
March 1, 1979Shear building caught on fire and burnt to the ground. Existing Steel Yard building and yard erected.
- 1979
New Press Installed
New Press Installed
March 1, 19792,500 Ton Press, 310 was purchased, delivered and installed.
- 1982
CNC Division Established
CNC Division Established
March 1, 1982The CNC Division was established in Conneaut Lake.
- 1984
New Forge Addition
New Forge Addition
March 1, 1984A new addition was added as well 4,000 Ton Press, 345 was delivered and installed.
- 1988
Big Move for CNC Division
Big Move for CNC Division
March 1, 1988The CNC Division was moved to its current facility in Cambridge Springs.
- 1989
New CNC Building Addition
New CNC Building Addition
June 1, 1989An addition was added to CNC which doubled its size.
- 1989
CNC Addition Added
CNC Addition Added
June 4, 1989An addition was added to CNC which doubled its size.
- 1991
New Furnace Installed
New Furnace Installed
March 1, 1991A Electro/Seco nitride furnace was purchased and installed. This was a significant step to improving die life making MFC competitive for years to come. This replaced a smaller nitride furnace.
- 1992
New Office Building
New Office Building
March 1, 1992Existing office building, lunch and locker rooms were built.
- 1993
CNC Addition Added
CNC Addition Added
June 6, 1993An addition was added to Meadville Forging Company’s CNC division.
- 1993
New Press Installed
New Press Installed
June 26, 19932,500 Ton 355 Press was purchased and installed in the old hammer shop.
- 1994
CNC Addition Added
CNC Addition Added
June 12, 1994An addition was added to Meadville Forging Company’s CNC division.
- 1995
CNC Addition Added
CNC Addition Added
June 4, 1995An addition was added to Meadville Forging Company’s CNC division.
- 1996
CNC Addition Added
CNC Addition Added
June 2, 1996An addition was added to Meadville Forging Company’s CNC division.
- 1997
Virginia Forge Established
Virginia Forge Established
June 1, 1997Virginia Forge was established in Buchanan, Virginia to support our largest customer, Timken.
- 1997
New Press Installed
New Press Installed
June 28, 19971,600 ton press 3180 was purchased and installed.
- 1999
New Benchmark
New Benchmark
June 30, 1999MFC Group exceeds $100 million in sales.
- 1999
New Press Installed
New Press Installed
July 1, 19992500 ton press 3300 was purchased and installed.
- 2002
CNC Addition Added
CNC Addition Added
June 2, 2002An addition was added to Meadville Forging Company’s CNC division.
- 2004
New Press Installed
New Press Installed
June 1, 20042,500 ton press 3500 was purchased and installed.
- 2005
CNC Addition Added
CNC Addition Added
June 5, 2005An addition was added to Meadville Forging Company’s CNC division.
- 2007
New Ring Roller Installed
New Ring Roller Installed
June 1, 20073600 MERV 16 ring roller was purchased and installed.
- 2013
Brand New Press Installed
Brand New Press Installed
June 1, 2013A 4,000 ton press, 3700 was ordered from Erie Press systems and scheduled to arrive in 2015. This is the first and only press that MFC has bought brand new.
- 2016
Division Moved
Division Moved
June 1, 2016VFC operations ceased and additional machining equipment was moved to Cambridge Springs. Due to the additional equipment, the Die Shop was moved to its current location on Route 198 in Saegertown.
- 2017
New President
New President
June 1, 2017Jack Keller became MFC President.
- 2019
Awards
Awards
June 1, 2019MFC was awarded GM Supplier Excellence Award.
- 2019
New Press Installed
New Press Installed
June 30, 20192,500 press 3800 was purchased and installed in the old hammer shop.
- 2021
Mill Installed
Mill Installed
June 1, 2021Vision Wide SF3120 Mill installed at MFC in the 5M building to machine bolsters & sandwiches for our MFC designed tooling.
- 2022
Awards
Awards
June 1, 2022MFC was awarded Ford’s prestigious Q1 Award.