Our story begins in 1965 with the opening of Quality Machine & Associates (QMA). The new business, wholly owned and operated by Don Henthorn, quickly gained a reputation as the premier manufacturer specializing in precision machine work and servicing customers like Rocketdyne, Rockwell and Hughes Aircraft. In 1979, QMA began development on its newest project—a hydraulic tubing bender designed for muffler shops. They settled on the brand name BendPak (originally hyphenated as “Bend-Pak”), and a legend was born. Today, BendPak is the world’s leading producer of automotive lifts, pipe benders, air compressors and shop equipment, with a worldwide commitment to never settle. The BendPak brand is globally recognized as a badge of quality. That’s because for the past 50 years, we’ve been pioneering service equipment technology, marketing and training programs, as well as operational and supply systems that are now considered the standard for the entire industry.
We realized all the way back in the mid-1960s that you’re either the best in the business or you’re well on your way to going out of business. Second place simply isn’t an option
The Benchmark of Quality™
No one in the industry has a more sophisticated or comprehensive research and quality control program. In fact, our competition looks to us for inspiration, innovation and ingenuity for their own products. Their best ideas always seem to begin at BendPak. As writer Charles Caleb Colton famously wrote, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” So while you may find designs, materials or features in our competitors’ models that appear to be remarkably similar, don’t be fooled. BendPak pioneered and engineered most of those concepts right here in California.
BendPak has been building automotive service equipment the right way longer than anyone else, always with the best materials and components. From top to bottom, no lifting system has better quality, durability or longevity engineered into it than a BendPak.
Innovation makes the world go ’round
As they say, “Innovate or disintegrate.” If we keep up the way we do business, BendPak is going to be here for a very, very long time. In early 2010, Managing Automation Magazine honored BendPak with the prestigious Progressive Manufacturing 100 Award, placing BendPak on the short list of innovative manufacturing companies, alongside organizations like Cisco, Pepsi, Northrop Grumman, General Motors, Siemens, IBM and Xerox Corp.
Most impressively, BendPak was the only automotive lift manufacturer to receive the PM100.
A brand is born
In 1997, BendPak introduced a new line of equipment under a new name: Ranger Products™. Ranger has since come to be associated with our wheel service and other shop equipment products. This distinction helped us grow, and it gave a new identity to both our company and our customers’ shops. Our visibility rose drastically with the expansion of Ranger’s offerings, and we often refer to our company using both names, as BendPak / Ranger.
2017: A year of change
All of us at BendPak will remember 2017 as the year we turned a backyard 70,000 sq. ft. excavated dirt patch into a massive shipping warehouse. The new facility allows us to speed up the distribution of thousands of pieces of equipment, parts and components. Not to mention, we’re expanding again in 2018-19! Adding two massive buildings in as many years further cements the legacy of BendPak as a proud California institution. We’re just as proud that expanding means more local jobs and career opportunities across multiple levels in our company.
