Wood’s Powr-Grip Inc. Celebrates 50 Years Of Service

Laurel, MT - Wood’s Powr-Grip is rising in prominence in the metal construction industry as a leading manufacturer of hand-held vacuum cups, below-the-hook vacuum lifters and vacuum mounting cups that are used to handle metal products – including single-skin and insulated metal panels - on the jobsite and in manufacturing facilities. While the company and its products may be relatively new to many people in this industry, Wood’s Powr-Grip is actually celebrating its 50^th anniversary in 2014.

	Howard Wood

Keith Wood, son of Howard, took over leadership of the company in the early '80s with his wife Faye.

In 1946, Howard Wood opened Wood’s Auto Electric, an automotive, electric and small engine repair shop in Wolf Point, Montana. After years of dissatisfaction with the accepted method of holding small engine valves during the lapping process, in the early 1960s Howard designed and built the first Wood’s Powr-Grip Valve Grinder. The tool consisted of a small, spring-action vacuum pump mounted in a wooden handle, opposite a rubber suction cup which attached to the flat surface of an engine valve.

The first of these tools he built for his own use and for his friends’, but soon the demand for the unique little tool became great enough to make it available to the general public. As the popularity of the Powr-Grip Valve Grinder grew, a glazier friend suggested that he develop a vacuum cup for handling glass, built around a larger version of the same type of vacuum pump.

Wood's Powr-Grip operates from a facility in Laurel, Montana, offering a variety of hand-held vacuum cups and below-the-hook lifters.

Following a period of trial and error, Howard developed a 4-inch [10 cm], a 6-inch [15 cm], and finally an 8-inch [20 cm] diameter vacuum cup before the glass industry took note of his invention. The first Powr-Grip vacuum cups consisted of a handmade steel handle attached to a molded rubber vacuum pad, with a spring-action vacuum pump mounted in the handle. These cups were unique in that a red-line vacuum indicator on the pump warned the user if vacuum loss occurred, and in that a check ball allowed lost vacuum to be restored without breaking the cup’s grip. Neither of these features, the trademarks of today’s Powr-Grip vacuum cups, were available anywhere else in the world at that time.

With support from friends, Howard began manufacturing vacuum cups for glass handling in 1963, incorporated the business in 1964, and obtained a patent for his design in March of 1966. The cups were first introduced to the American market by traveling salesmen calling on individual glass shops. As popularity of his vacuum cups grew, they began to appear in the catalogs of national and international suppliers of glass handling equipment.

	Wood's Powr-Grip is currently led (from left) by Brad Wood, Bryan Wood and Barry Wood, sons of Keith and Faye.

In the late ‘60s, Howard developed a battery-powered, sealed foam vacuum lifter for use with overhead cranes and hoists. Capable of handling loads to 600 lbs. [270 kg], this design was the first of many below-the-hook vacuum lifters to be developed. Over time, a wide variety of manual, AC, DC and air-powered vacuum lifters were designed and built to accommodate an ever-growing market.

Howard died in Wolf Point on January 28, 1983 at the age of 73. While maintaining many of Howard’s founding principles and ideals, in 1990 the company moved from Wolf Point to a larger facility in Laurel, Montana. Now in a third generation of family management, the company has continued to expand its product line and market area, and currently employs more than 100 people. Today, Wood’s Powr-Grip vacuum cups and below-the-hook vacuum lifters can be found in nearly every country in the world and have become standard tools in the glass industry.

The Wood's Powr-Grip team in 2014. Click image to enlarge.

After fifty years, Howard Wood’s invention and the company he created are still going strong. Wood’s Powr-Grip now manufactures a variety of hand-held vacuum cups and below-the-hook lifters for handling glass, stone and metal. Still the “Original and Trusted Name in Vacuum Lifting Equipment”, the company remains committed to supplying safe, quality products. With both eyes on the future, Wood’s Powr-Grip looks forward to serving its markets for the next 50 years.

About Wood's Powr-Grip

Wood's Powr-Grip Inc. designs, manufactures and distributes tools and equipment that improve efficiency, enhance safety, and lower costs for the industries that it serves. The company offers a full line of hand-held vacuum cups, below-the-hook vacuum lifters and vacuum mounting cups that make material handling and equipment mounting easier. The products are used to lift, hold and position a variety of smooth, nonporous materials such as insulated metal panels, glass, plastics, engine valves, sheet metal, solid surfacing, laminates, stone slabs and appliances. Powr-Grip products are individually tested before being shipped from the production facility, in order to ensure quality and promote safety for the user.

Wood's Powr-Grip's headquarters are located in Laurel, MT, and its vacuum cups and equipment products are distributed internationally in nearly 50 countries through an extensive network of dealers and distributors. For more information, visit www.wpg.com.