Edge-Sweets Company History

Building on this concept, Frank formed The Frank Edge Company in 1887 to produce saw blades for the booming furniture industry in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Martin Sweets a physicist, started in business for himself manufacturing electrical equipment. In 1956 received a request from General Electric Co. to design and produce machinery to process polyurethane foam.

The first 70 years of the company were spent supplying blades and equipment to the bustling furniture manufacturers.

In 1953, Edge Saw was formed to manufacture the first saw for cutting flexible "foam rubber."

By 1957, the manufacture of foam cutting equipment was the main activity for Edge Saw and growth of the company kept pace with the fast growth of foam production in the U.S.

In 1971, Edge Conveyor was formed to supply specialized conveyors essential to economical foam production. With the advent of Edge Conveyor, the company expanded its production facilities and its engineering capabilities and offered the foam industry high volume production cutting lines to supplement foam fabrication on individual units.

In 1973, Edge purchased North American Urethanes (NAU), a company with several years experience in the engineering and manufacture of urethane metering and dispensing equipment. With the acquisition of NAU, Edge Industries became the only machinery company in the industry capable of supplying equipment for the production, processing, and cutting of soft or rigid foam. The acquisition of NAU's Machinery Division added foam and elastomer dispensers to the product line and gave Edge the ability to provide "wet end" systems for flexible and rigid foam.

Martin Sweets was purchased by Sievert GMBH and formed Polymer Technology International (PTI) which included; Viking (PTI), Zaco Europa B.V., and PTI Martin Sweets Company.

In 1985, Edge-Sweets Company was formed as Edge merged with Martin Sweets Company of Louisville, Kentucky, a company who similarly specialized in the manufacture of machinery and equipment for processing and cutting of polyurethane foam products and other cellular and noncellular plastics.

Edge-Sweets Company was inducted into the Polyurethane Foam Association (PFA) Hall of Fame, for its contributions to the Polyurethane Industry.

Edge-Sweets Company, today referred to as ESCO, resides in a 70,000+ square foot facility in Grand Rapids, Michigan and offers the combined products and knowledge of both cutting and dispensing equipment, along with a unique ability to custom engineer systems.