Located in Niles, Michigan, Grotnes has a rich heritage acquired through partnerships, acquisitions and hard work. Originally Founded in 1898, in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A as “Charles Grotnes Machine Works” (later known as Grotnes Metalforming Systems, or GMS), Mr. Grotnes invented a machine that could stretch and shape metal rings. The Grotnes machine, which came to be known as the expander, allowed rings to be fabricated from simple cylindrical blanks that were expanded to size while setting the desired shape. Grotnes also developed other technologies such as shrinking and rotary rollforming for the cold forming of metal.
In this long history of metalforming, Grotnes developed and has provided Closing Tools for pails, plastic buckets and other ridged packaging containers for decades. Our team is ready to help you decide on the solution that best fits your needs.