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Company type | Privately owned |
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Industry | Manufacturing |
Founded | 1916 in Chicago, Illinois |
Founder | J. Walter Becker |
Headquarters | Sycamore, Illinois |
Key people | |
Products | Connectors, hand tools, testers, meters |
Number of employees | 1,225 [1] |
Website | www.idealindustries.com |
Ideal Industries is an American company that produces connectors, hand tools, testers, and meters for the electrical and telecommunications industries. [2]
The company manufactures many of its products in the United States. [3] It also owns Western Forge and Pratt-Read, the largest– and second-largest American-made producers of screwdrivers respectively at the time of their acquisitions. [4]
It is a competitor to Klein Tools, and its tools are sold at Lowe's and Ace Hardware stores as well as many independent distributors. [5]
Ideal was founded in 1916 by J. Walter Becker as the Ideal Commutator Dresser Company in Chicago, Illinois, manufacturing commutator dresser stones. [6] In 1924, Becker relocated the company to its current location in Sycamore, Illinois. [7] By 1949, it had become the United States' leading producer of wire nuts. [8]
In 2010, Ideal acquired three American hand tool manufacturers: Western Forge in January, [9] [10] Pratt-Read in March, [11] [12] and SK Hand Tools in August. [13] [14] [15]
Former Subsidiaries