OTC Tools (originally Owatonna Tool Company) is a tool and equipment manufacturer. It was founded in

Owatonna, Minnesota Owatonna () is a city in Steele County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 25,599 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Steele County. Owatonna is home to the Steele County Fairgrounds, which hosts the Steele County Free Fair i ...

, by Godfrey Kaplan, who operated a small machine shop there. Kaplan's son Rueben, invented the "Grip-O-Matic" universal gear puller and received his first patent. The tool remains virtually unchanged to this day.

History

By 1934, OTC was selling a variety of mechanic's tools to farmers and service stations. The tools were sold directly to the customer from makeshift display boards fitted into

panel truck A panel truck (also called a panel delivery or pickup truck-based van) in U.S. and Canadian usage is a small delivery truck with a fully enclosed body. It typically is high and has no rear windows in the rear cargo area. The term was first used ...

s or converted autos. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

broke out in 1939, the U.S. Army and Navy bought large quantities of OTC tools and by 1945, the company had doubled its staff. In 1950, Kaplan began work in ultra-high-pressure

fluid power Fluid power is the use of fluids under pressure to generate, control, and transmit power. Fluid power is subdivided into hydraulics using a liquid such as mineral oil or water, and pneumatics using a gas such as air or other gases. Compressed- ...

technology, a new technology for

hydraulics Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...

manufacturers of the day. One development was a twin-cylinder ram that operated at 10,000 psi—much higher than any other devices of the day. By 1985, OTC had an extensive line of tools and systems for both

OEM An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...

and aftermarket customers. That success led to its acquisition by Sealed Power Corporation (now

SPX Corporation SPX Corporation (NYSE: SPXC) is a supplier of highly engineered infrastructure equipment and technologies. The company operates within four markets: heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), detection and measurement, power transmissi ...

) of Muskegon, MI. In December 2012 SPX was purchased by Robert Bosch GmbH and OTC became part of their Bosch Automotive Service Solutions division. OTC is a global supplier of vehicle electronic diagnostic instruments; fuel systems service tools; special service tools; general purpose tools; pullers; heavy-duty tools; shop equipment and hydraulic components.

References

External links

Official site

SPX.com
{{Tool manufacturers Tool manufacturing companies of the United States