Company History
Our Founding
Industrial Insulations was founded in 1951 by Dick Strauss. At the time Dick was a district sales manager for Owens-Corning Fiberglass. In 1951, Fiberglass was only a few years old and Owens-Corning was looking for new uses and new markets. They even considered using it for wallpaper.
One idea they had was to make returnable insulated cartons for shipping frozen food. At this point, the entrepreneur in Dick raised its head and he saw an opportunity to make some money. He founded a little company to make insulated cartons and he called it Safepac Corporation.
Fiberglass and Aerospace
Returnable cartons did not get returned and refrigerated trucks rail cars made insulated cartons uneconomical. Soon Safepac had look for other markets. Having the capability to fabricate fiberglass insulation, they looked at industries which used fiberglass.
Southern California has a large aerospace industry. Safepac developed several products for use in aircraft. This is a molded flexible insulation for aircraft ducting called Safeflex. Although Safeflex is long gone now, we still supply some insulation for aircraft use.
Safepac soon became a supplier to the appliance OEMs and began to grow. Dick and his staff soon moved from the pool hall to larger quarters and in order to make deliveries bought a truck.
Leadership Changes
Jerry Malone, a Johns Manville salesman, joined the business as a co-owner in 1967. By that time we were no longer making cartons so we decided to change our name from Safepac to Industrial Insulations which more accurately described our business. Richard Strauss retired in 1982 and Jerry Malone remained as the sole owner and President. In late 1987 Jerry Malone passed away unexpectedly, and his wife, Barbara Malone became owner and President. The Company continued to manufacture and distribute insulation products.
Terry Grill, daughter of Jerry and Barbara Malone joined the Company in 1988 as a vice president and was promoted to President in 1993. Barbara Malone retired from day to day operations in April of 1996, but continues to serve as Chairman of the Company. Over the years our leadership has changed but our commitment to customer support, quality and service has never varied.
As suppliers of parts to assembly lines we must always remember that if a part does not arrive on time and made correctly, the line may have to shut down. If the line shuts down hundreds of workers must be sent home and the OEM loses production. If you want to supply an OEM, you must always have the right parts at the right place at the right time. We have never shut a line down.
We have always been quick to respond to customer needs. We are convinced that our success so far is due to our customer focus and dedication.
Our Mission
Industrial Insulations provides innovative thermal and acoustical solutions customized in design and delivery, building long term supplier and customer partnerships. We focus on constant financial and teamwork improvement through open book management. We are committed to safety and honesty in all we do.
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