In January of 1998, in order to provide to our customers the highest value and best services around, we divided our operation into three completely separate entities. Machinery Maintenance, Inc. will remain as our machine shop, On Site Repair Services, Inc. will handle all “field” services and Valley Fabrication, Inc. will become our steel fabrication facility. We feel this reorganization will allow us to contain costs as well as provide even better service to our customers in the future.
Where it all began...
Illinois Valley Millwright Services, Inc.
Machinery Maintenance, Inc., then known as Illinois Valley Millwright Services, Inc., was established in April 1973. Although its beginnings were small (a single truck, one welder, two men, and tools stored in garages and basements all over Peru, Illinois) the need for the services provided were great. Originally Illinois Valley Millwright Service was just that – millwrights installing and maintaining production equipment for local industry. The company grew quickly because of its insistence on quality and the high degree of dedication to service that accompanied every job. We continue to strive for these very same goals today. After all, you are only as good as your last job. In our business, reputation is not everything, but the only thing.
The Shops
During the mid-1970’s, the construction industry began to show early signs of fading. Some timely changes were made and we diversified by adding a machine shop and fabricating shop aimed solely at providing “job shop” maintenance support for local industry. This diversification, along with some very capable and experienced people, kept Illinois Valley Millwright’s reputation for excellence intact and also provided independence from the volatile construction industry. Repair and maintenance continued to be the keywords for success and growth throughout the 70’s and early 80’s.
The Expansion
In 1984, we embarked upon our greatest challenge to date, the expansion of our machine shop and fabricating facilities. In addition to the 15,000 square foot facility on 5th Street in Peru, Illinois, a new fabricating shop was completed at a site north of LaSalle, Illinois on Route 351.
This shop expanded our fabrication work space to 20,000 square feet. The new building was designed to be extremely versatile and capable of accepting larger and more diverse equipment. The existing machine shop was enlarged to fill the area left by the fabricating shop, again enlarging Machinery Maintenance, Inc. machining capacities and services.
In 1992, Machinery Maintenance, Inc. built a 5,000 square foot storeroom and a 2,500 square foot paint booth to better organize our equipment ultimately providing a better work environment. Construction was completed in July of 1993 on a 25,000 square foot machine shop on the LaSalle, Illinois site. This two story structure was designed to expand our machining capabilities and house a larger variety of machine tools to keep pace with our diverse customer base.
Dividing the Operations
Room for Expansion
In 1998, we purchased a 6,000 square foot building to house our field service group. The building, located at 340 N. 30th Road has it’s own storeroom, office and fabrication shop areas. With over 2 acres of storage lot, we have plenty of room for expansion to continue to grow our diverse equipment set.
In 1999, we expanded Valley Fabrication, Inc.‘s capabilities by adding a 6,250 square foot work space in addition to the current facilities. This bay will house raw materials and saws to streamline our front-end processing while also opening up a larger fabricating area within the original shop.
In 2001, we completed construction on a 6,750 square foot storage facility at 2977 East 350th Road, LaSalle, Illinois. This additional space will be utilized for rolling stock storage as well as jigs, fixtures and customer inventoried parts and equipment.