Ideal Industries is an American company that produces connectors,

hand tools A hand tool is any tool that is powered by hand rather than a motor. Categories of hand tools include wrenches, pliers, cutters, files, striking tools, struck or hammered tools, screwdrivers, vises, clamps, snips, hacksaws, drills, and kni ...

, testers, and

meters The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its prefi ...

for the

electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

and

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

industries. The company manufactures many of its products in the United States. It also owns

Western Forge Western Forge was an American manufacturing company. The company manufactured hand tools that were sold under other brands, including private-label brands such as Craftsman and Husky. It was a subsidiary of Ideal Industries. The company was t ...

and Pratt-Read, the largest– and second-largest American-made producers of

screwdrivers A screwdriver is a tool, manual or powered, used for turning screws. A typical simple screwdriver has a handle and a shaft, ending in a tip the user puts into the screw head before turning the handle. This form of the screwdriver has been repla ...

respectively at the time of their acquisitions. It is a competitor to

Klein Tools Klein Tools is an American company based in Lincolnshire, IL that manufactures hand tools. The company is known for its popularity with workers in the electrical and telecommunications industries. Lineman's pliers in the past were often called ...

, and its tools are sold at

Lowe's Lowe's Companies, Inc. (), often shortened to Lowe's, is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States and Canada. A ...

and

Ace Hardware Ace Hardware Corporation is an American hardware retailers' cooperative based in Oak Brook, Illinois, United States. It is the world's largest hardware retail cooperative, and the largest non-grocery American retail cooperative. Founded in 1924 ...

stores as well as many independent distributors.

History

Ideal was founded in 1916 by J. Walter Becker as the Ideal Commutator Dresser Company in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, manufacturing

commutator In mathematics, the commutator gives an indication of the extent to which a certain binary operation fails to be commutative. There are different definitions used in group theory and ring theory. Group theory The commutator of two elements, a ...

dresser stones. In 1924, Becker relocated the company to its current location in

Sycamore, Illinois Sycamore is a city in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. It has a commercial district based and centered on Illinois Route 64. The population was 18577 at the 2020 census, up from 17,519 at the 2010 census. Sycamore is the county seat of De ...

. By 1949, it had become the United States' leading producer of

wire nut Twist-on wire connectors are a type of electrical connector used to fasten two or more low-voltage (or extra-low-voltage) electrical conductors. They are widely used in North America and several European countries in residential, commercial ...

s. In 2010, Ideal acquired three American hand tool manufacturers:

in January, Pratt-Read in March, and

SK Hand Tools SK Hand Tools (styled earlier as S-K, now usually SK) was an American tool company located in Sycamore Illinois. Major products include sockets and drive tools, wrenches, air tools, and other mechanics' tools. The company has a tool line of over 3 ...

in August.

Gallery

Image:Ideal speeder screwdrivers.jpg, Speed screwdrivers. Image:Ideal multibit screwdriver and F connector tool.jpg, Multi-bit screwdriver and

F connector The F connector (also F-type connector) is a coaxial RF connector commonly used for "over the air" terrestrial television, cable television and universally for satellite television and cable modems, usually with RG-6/U cable or with RG-59/U c ...

tool. Image:Ideal punchdown tool.jpg, A punchdown tool. Image:Ideal Reflex wire stripper.jpg, A

wire stripper A wire stripper is a small, hand-held device used to strip the electrical insulation from electric wires. Types Manual A US-style simple manual wire stripper is a pair of opposing blades much like scissors or wire cutters. The addition of a ...

. Image:Ideal 75' fish tape.jpg, A 75' steel

fish tape A fish tape (also called a draw wire, draw tape, or an electricians snake) is a tool used by electricians to route new wiring through walls and electrical conduit. Made of a narrow band of spring steel, by careful manipulation, the tape can be ...

IDEAL Subsidiaries

* Anderson Power Products * Cree Lighting * Enatel * Lacelok * Power Puck * Pratt-Read Tools Former Subsidiaries * CMD * Casella *

https://www.koaa.com/news/covering-colorado/western-forge-closing-its-doors-in-colorado-springs#:~:text=IDEAL%20INDUSTRIES%2C%20INC.%20is%20planning%20to%20close%20its,after%20they%20have%20fulfilled%20all%20current%20customer%20orders.

IDEAL - NIU Intrapreneurship Program

In partnership with

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

, IDEAL created a start-up incubator space adjacent to a manufacturing facility. The incubator houses several aspiring start-up teams initially composed of NIU students who have 24-hour access to the facility. Upon the students' graduation, they can obtain a full-time position within the company. Each team has a multi-disciplined background and has access to corporate IDEAL's resources while remaining independent enough to foster creative thinking. The program began to take shape in 2016 with two teams and has now grown to four units as of summer 2018. Each team is given an initial problem statement that will be researched and developed into a product or service which will then grow into a new business unit for the company.

References

External links

Ideal Industries web siteIdeal Industries Networks web site
{{Tool manufacturers Electrical tool manufacturers Tool manufacturing companies of the United States Electrical wiring and construction supplies manufacturers Manufacturing companies established in 1916 Privately held companies based in Illinois Companies based in DeKalb County, Illinois