About Star Hydraulics & Pneumatics, LLC.

What’s New at Star

In early March, Star exhibited at the Con/AG-IFPE show in Las Vegas. At that show, Star introduced new 4-way valve “direct-mount” designs for our pumps to provide a more compact, cleaner looking 4-way valve design while keeping costs down. We also introduced a new line of air-powered hydraulic pumps as well as a line of electric-powered hydraulic pumps. We are excited about these new product lines and will be making them available to purchase very soon.

OUR MISSION

Star is well known in the hydraulics industry for providing robust standard and custom pumps, cylinders and lift jacks. Our mission is to build on that legacy by providing additional hydraulic and pneumatic pumps, cylinders, jacks and accessories. We are committed to investing in new equipment, Lean manufacturing techniques, cost containment, quality improvements and reduced lead-times. We work towards these goals each day through the use of our ISO9001 procedures, continuous improvement culture and employee training programs.

COMPANY HISTORY

The Star Jack company was founded in 1947 by Frank Jakoubek to design and manufacture hydraulic lift jacks. Over the years, hydraulic pumps, cylinders, swivels and related items were added to the product line. As a result of these new products, the company became Star Hydraulics. Frank sold the company to Jack Tindall in 1969. The Tindall family added more products, equipment and expanded the manufacturing facility.

After Jack’s passing, the company was sold to Alkon Corp. in November 2012 with Brian Althoff becoming the new president. Star has made significant investments in new equipment, Lean manufacturing, shorter lead-times, improving product/process quality and growth. In 2016, Star began manufacturing and shipping pneumatic cylinders for the truck market. In 2017, Star’s parent company purchased A.K. Allen Company and Star began producing 4″ and 5″ Allenair cylinders. As the same time, Star acquired Allen Avionics. The Allen Avionics electronic filtering and delay products have now become a separate division within Star. Allen Avionics continues to have its own identity and website at www. Allenavionics.com. In 2018, Star acquired PTC Engineering in Cuba City Wisconsin and relocated the business to the facility in River Grove, Illinois. This acquisition provided Star with many new CNC lathes and mills as well as allowed us to start making parts for the commercial refrigeration market. After 70 years in business, we look forward to adding to this great history.

COMMITMENT TO QUALITY

Since Star’s early days, our products have been designed to not only work in some of the most rugged environments, but to continue working for years and years. When Alkon purchased Star, we expanded on our commitment to quality by implementing ISO9001 through NSF. We are currently certified to the most recent version, ISO9001:2015. With our use of 5S and various other Lean techniques, we have improved set-up times, our process documentation, reduced waste, kept costs in check and made a multitude of process, quality and cost improvements. Star continues to invest in operator training and quality improvement projects.

Our company continues to improve and change, and the 3 minute video above gives you a good idea of our products, personnel, equipment and facility. It was put together by Manufacturing Marvels and is a short, well done video intended to give you a good look at who we are and what we do.