Marshall Manufacturing

In 1951 Lawrence Gagner founded Marshall Manufacturing Company and worked by himself in a rented space on Marshall Street in northeast Minneapolis. The location of the space in combination with the “Screw Machine” services provided, invoked the name “Marshall Screw Products.” In 1956 the company moved to 4,000 square feet of rented space at the Griggs Midway Building in St. Paul.  Initially, Marshall specialized in short-run turning work, and in 1958 the company expanded into general machining work. By the mid-1960s, Marshall acquired two smaller companies and began supplying metal and plastic machined components to the pneumatic, hydraulic and meat-processing industries.  Marshall’s business growth necessitated the construction of a new building in 1970 and formed a new name: “Marshall Manufacturing Company.” In February of 1979, John Timmersman bought Marshall and added CNC turning and CNC milling to accommodate a broader customer base which included liquid filtration, automotive, and military component manufacturing. In 1993 Marshall remodeled the shop for cellular manufacturing. The remodel initiated the reorganization of management into streamlined, problem solving, self-managed teams. The immediate result of the restructure included the creation of a safety program and procedural documentation. Spring of 1996 marked the beginning of Marshall’s journey toward the implementation of ISO-9001, which was achieved the following year.