Company History
1965
Stiles Machinery Inc. was founded in Grand Rapids, Michigan as a division of Web Stiles, Inc. Back then, Mr. Stiles' parts inventory and showroom were in the rear of his station wagon.
1975
Peter Kleinschmidt purchased the company on behalf of the Lohmann International Trading Group based in London, UK. and later took over the company as President in a management buy-out in partnership with David Rothwell, then Executive Vice President. The two partners made strategic investments to enhance Stiles Parts and Service capabilities focusing on specific customer needs.
1990
Stiles Education was founded. It was the first training center in the industry to be accredited by IACET.
1992
Stiles merged Holzma U.S. into Stiles Machinery.
2006
Stiles launched the Solid Wood Technologies division as a direct response to customers who required advanced machinery solutions in addition to their traditional panel processing needs.
2009
Weeke North America was established as a joint venture between Stiles and Weeke Maschinenbau of the Homag Group AG. Located in Southern Germany, the Homag Group is the world’s largest maker of manufacturing machinery. Located in Grand Rapids, MI, Stiles’ Weeke North America’s 30,000 square foot operation utilizes locally sourced parts to produce machines to order, maintains almost no inventory while still offering short delivery times.
2014
Two market leaders join forces.
The HOMAG Group AG increased its shareholding in Stiles to 100 percent, intensifying the successful partnership that has been in place for over 30 years.
After 52 years in the industry, Peter Kleinschmidt retired as President. He sees the HOMAG Group as the ideal partner to build on his life’s achievement and continue the customer focused growth strategies for the future. Peter Kleinschmidt remains on the Board of Directors.
Christian Vollmers succeeds Mr. Kleinschmidt as president of Stiles.