Craig Manufacturing - A History
Craig Manufacturing History

History

1946: HARTLAND, NB | THE BEGINNING Woodford “Woodie” Craig opens a service station and machine repair shop that sells cars and farm machinery. A trained machinist, Woodie also made parts and bushings. Woodford “Woodie” Craig working in his service station and machine repair shop
1952 The first Craig wing is built and installed on a wheel loader. The first loader to be equipped with a snow wing
1955 Craig Manufacturing builds its first loader buckets for Frank G. Hough. Woody preparing to send off the loader buckets for Frank G. Hough
1960 Creativity and a willingness to take on any challenge... Ferry build in 1960
1976 Woodie’s son, John, joins the company on its 30th anniversary. Woody and John with two officials
1980 The 301 Series All Hydraulic Wing Assembly for wheel loaders is introduced. Hydraulics for snow wings
1985: HARTLAND, NB | THE JOHN ERA John becomes the company president. John in his presidential role.
1986 The Craig product line is expanded with the first Craig built excavator bucket. Craig enters the field of excavator buckets
1987 The name of the company is changed from Craig Machine Shop to Craig Manufacturing Ltd. A new forward-facing coat of paint.
1988 12,000 sq. ft. added. New 500-ton press brake, plate shear, plate roll, weld stations. 500-ton press brake and plate roll
1988 First computers and software for managing sales and inventory purchased. Craig employees with new digital responsibilities
1990 Hand drawn product drafting upgraded to 2D CAD software. Craig engineers at the forefront of design technology
1991 A fire destroys the paint shop on New Years Eve. Temporary facility within a week. Paint facility burnt down on New Years Eve.
1992 A 4,000 sq. ft. paint shop built featuring a down draft booth and wash bay. A new fully-featured paint booth
1995 Syspro implemented as ERP system of choice. Syspro implemented as ERP
1996 Main office and shipping/receiving expanded, doubling capacity. Expanding the Craig property
1997 Attachment delivery by Craig trucks ceases; now relies on common carriers. Craig retires the delivery truck system
1998 New plasma shape burning equipment installed. Plasma shape burning equipment
2001 Machine shop moved closer to cutting dept; now fabrication dept. Equipment closer to cutting department
2002 Microbotics division added for advanced CNC machining. Microbotics at Craig
2003 Tag trailer production stopped to focus on heavy equipment attachments. Tag trailers discontinued
2005: HARTLAND, NB | THE TRAGEDY Facility destroyed by fire. Staff rebuild immediately. The fire aftermath
2006: HARTLAND, NB | A NEW HOPE After 229 days in temporary locations, move into new 71,000 sq. ft. facility. Craig Manufacturing, circa 2005
2006 John’s son, Ben, joins the company. Ben joins Craig
2008 4 dedicated outside sales representatives added. Outside Sales Representative team
2008: CAMBRIDGE, NB | CENTRAL BRANCH New branch in Cambridge, Ontario. Central Canada branch
2012 New efficient steel cutting tables installed. Steel cutting tables
2013 New VTC machining equipment at Hartland. New VTC machine
2013: RED DEER, AB | WESTERN BRANCH New branch in Red Deer, Alberta. Western Canada branch
2014 Tarp building added at Hartland for storage. Expanding stock storage
2014: HARTLAND, NB | THE BEN ERA Ben becomes president. Ben Craig, President
2015 Service trucks purchased for Cambridge and Red Deer. Service trucks on-site
2015 25,000 sq. ft. expansion at Hartland for 30-ton attachments. Expanding Hartland facility
2016 Grand opening of new expansion. Celebrates 70 years. Hartland Facility Expansion Grand Opening
2017: BLACKFALDS, AB | WESTERN RELOCATION Construction on new location in Blackfalds, AB. Blackfalds branch beginnings
2017 Plant 15 purchased for MSVS Load Bed Project. Plant 15 for MSVS use
2018 Epicor chosen as new ERP, Syspro retired. Epicor replaces Syspro
2018 Construction completed on Blackfalds location. New Alberta building
2018: HARTLAND, NB | CONTRACT MANUFACTURING $25,000,000 contract for 845 loadbeds (MSVS). MSVS Project
2018: LAWRENCEBURG, TN | FIRST USA LOCATION Ground broken on U.S. HQ in Lawrenceburg, TN. First U.S. location
2019 New boring mill at Hartland. New boring mill
2019 First U.S. location in Lawrenceburg, TN opens. First U.S.A. location opened
2020 New Mazak machines increase capacity. New Mazak Machines
2020 First online order through Craig Portal. Craig Portal logo
2022 Machitech Plasma/Oxy Fuel system for Tennessee. Machitech Plasma/Oxy Fuel System
2024 Lincoln 'Cobot' Robotic systems added to Hartland & Tennessee. Lincoln Cobot Robotic systems
2025 5 New Mazak CNC Machines added to Hartland & Tennessee. New Mazak CNC Machine
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