Hosokawa Micron Powder Systems Company History

HMPSHosokawa Micron Powder Systems has worked hard to build a market leadership position. Our customers have confidence in our products, our services and our people. This confidence is built on a history of technical achievement that has consistently outpaced the competition. Our applications database and technical expertise cover a wide range of industries. Our knowledge of process applications and performance of difficult to handle powders is based on years of experience. To appreciate where we are today, I would like to share our history with you, prior to the Company joining the Hosokawa Micron Group in 1985. 

Louis Ruprecht, a Stevens Institute of Technology graduate, originally established the Company as Pulverizing Machinery in 1923 with offices in New York City and a small machine shop in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Lou's vision was to produce the best size reduction equipment on the market. His goal was to develop a pulverizer that would produce a finer grind, have increased capacity and be suitable for continuous operation. The first machine patented was a 12" diameter mill later to become known as the #2 Mikro-Pulverizer® pulverizing mill, a high speed hammer and screen mill that accomplished size reduction by mechanically impacting process material. The next machine to be produced was a 24" diameter model.  

By the early 1930's the business outgrew the facilities in Elizabeth and moved to Roselle Park in 1932. By 1934, following several significant improvements, the Mikro-Pulverizer® hammer mill quickly became the industry workhorse. The Company expanded its product line with other models.

By 1940, the volume of the business required a larger facility. The Company's current site in Summit, New Jersey was purchased and construction was underway. The Summit doors opened in May of 1942. With the start of the war, the production of pulverizers ceased and the Company was contracted by the U.S. Army and Navy to produce materials for the war effort. Between 1942 and 1945, the Company produced parts for tanks, airplanes and warships. The most important contribution the Company made was the processing of magnesium powder, used in tracer bullets and flares. Over one million pounds of magnesium were processed in Summit. Special facilities were constructed near the river, protected by seven-foot steel fences and armed guards. Magnesium processing was continuous and by 1945, another addition was made to the facility.  

With the death of its founder in 1954, the Company was sold to the Metals Disintegrating Company of Union, New Jersey (a division of Martin-Marietta).   

The Company's size reduction business grew steadily and its researchers recognized the market need to develop a product dust collector. In 1956, Thomas Reinauer invented the pulse jet dust collector. The idea for the pulse jet dust collector actually came to Tom in a dream. He jumped out of bed, wrote down his idea, and the next day started working to bring the dream to life. This was a huge development for the filtration market and a major contributor to the growth of the Company. The design (with no moving parts) quickly replaced older designs and became a world-wide standard. This was about the time that the Company expanded overseas. In October 1957, Pulverizing Machinery GmbH was founded in Cologne, West Germany.  

The Company was again sold in 1961, this time to the Slick Corporation. In the sixties, the growth of the filtration business outpaced the pulverizing business and the Company changed its name to MikroPul. The name MikroPul was derived from the abbreviated telefax address used by the Company. With the growth of the business, the Company again expanded. Additional facilities in Summit were rented and a number of international subsidiaries were established during this time period.  

In 1968, it was time to expand again and a new administration building was constructed in Summit, NJ.  At that time, it was judged one of the most outstanding concrete structures erected in New Jersey and received a Merit Award from the Americas Concrete Institute.  

The Company's international operations grew and its size reduction technologies continued to grow in popularity throughout the world. The Company's Mikro brand products became known throughout the world and established licensee arrangements with other established companies through out the world.  

The organization's research and development group continued to produce innovative products in size reduction that today are widely imitated and copied.  

One of our early researchers, William "Doc" Sheldon had the distinction of working for Thomas Edison in his West Orange, New Jersey laboratories until Edison's death. It was at that time that Doc Sheldon joined Pulverizing Machinery and was the patent holder for the Mikro-Atomizer® Pulverizer. The Mikro-Atomize® Pulverizer was the first impact pulverizer with an integral dynamic classifier. It dominated the PVC grinding market and many of those early machines remain in operation today.  

Another of our early product innovators, Bob Duyckinck, was the patent holder on the Mikro-ACM® Air Classifying Mills, the most efficient line of fine-grinding mills available on the market today.  

The Company changed ownership a few more times before being acquired by the Hosokawa Micron Group in 1985. 

The Hosokawa Micron Group had a long time reciprocal licensee arrangement with the Company and the acquisition of the Company was a natural and familiar acquisition for the Hosokawa Micron Group.  

The history of all of the members of the Hosokawa Micron Group is as colorful and innovative as Hosokawa Micron Powder Systems. For example, Hosokawa Alpine in Augsburg, Germany has a 100-year history of product development and innovation that is unsurpassed in the world. The Group's parent Company, Hosokawa Micron Corporation, was established in 1916 and remains the leading powder technology company in Japan today.  

Our customers benefit from our global expertise and application experience. We're confident that we're the best in the business and we thank you for your continued confidence in our technologies, products and services.