Made In
Richmond, IN
About Ahaus Tool and Engineering: Over 79 Years of Exceeding Customer Expectations
For over 79 years, Ahaus Tool and Engineering has been offering customers high-quality solutions to challenging manufacturing, tooling and automation equipment needs. Located in Richmond, Indiana, Ahaus works with customers through conceptual design, engineering, service and support to meet their specific requirements.
At Ahaus, we are proud of our reputation for building quality, future-leaning projects that meet or exceed customer expectations. More than that – we are proud of our reputation for developing team members, from apprentices to managers. We understand that people are our most valuable resource and we act upon that belief, from empowering employees to further their education to creating an environment that promotes teamwork and personal improvement.
Have you ever wondered what it's like to work at Ahaus Tool and Engineering?
To have the best team experience, we need the best team members. Our nearly 100 employees range in experience from high school co-op students to over 40 years in the manufacturing industry spanning three generations.
- We offer great wages in the region and a supportive, family first work environment that you won't find anywhere else.
- In addition to a full benefits package, Ahaus is well known for flexible start times Monday through Friday, first shift, generous paid time off, paid holidays, employee recognition and incentives, volunteer and outreach events, tuition reimbursement, employee breakfasts and barbeques, pitch-ins, summer games, company outings, shared hobbies, and many other perks. It's precisely why Ahaus enjoys a reputation as a place people want to be.
- Our people love their hobbies; from building cars, tractors, firearms, and robots to marksmanship and trap shooting, axe throwing, winemaking, cycling, restoring old furniture, music, and the arts. We have a team of diversely talented, skilled tradespeople. We are looking for a few more.
- Our people stay for 40+ years because our leaders are humble, transparent, and kind.
Apprentices
Good employees are the backbone of any successful company. But finding dedicated workers who are ethical, well trained and efficient can be a challenge. There’s a growing myth that an employer should wait for potential employees with the right education and experience to come along, as opposed to training and developing the right individuals to meet the needs of the company.
That’s why we have the Ahaus Apprenticeship program, which we’ve been offering for more than 40 years. Our apprenticeship program is a nationally accredited education program for toolmakers and CNC machinists. Our goal is to hire several individuals each year specifically to be trained in these professions. Our apprentices receive on-the-job training as well as formal education; we partner with Purdue University College of Technology and Ivy Tech Community College.
Our Culture
Vision
Purpose
Turn innovative ideas into reality so that people reach new possibilities.
- Be respectful.
- Be reliable.
- Be collaborative.
- Be better.
Work/Home Balance
As told by two of our team members:
“I would say the most life changing experience for me about working at Ahaus is how family oriented the company is. We regularly do things together outside of the work environment which adds to the sense of family for me. I also would say I have learned an awful lot about how a good business operates while at Ahaus which has helped me to start my own family business at home.”
“When I came to Ahaus, I learned that anything can be fixed or repaired if it doesn’t work. If it can be built, it can be taken apart, assessed, repaired and put back together. If I don’t know how to do it, somebody else here knows and they teach me. This totally changed how I see things at work and home now.”
Our Community
We Believe in Richmond
It’s simple: Ahaus believes in the greater Richmond area. We believe that the places where our team members live should be vibrant communities, and we want to support efforts that promote creativity, teamwork, innovation, and education.
Ahaus’s nationally recognized apprenticeship program is a highlight of the company’s connections to the educational community. Past President and current Chairman of the Board Rick Ahaus continues his work in education through Every Child Can Read, the Third Grade Reading Academy, and K-Ready literacy programs. Current President Kevin Ahaus has devoted countless hours to manufacturing education and higher education through Ivy Tech Community College, where he currently serves as the statewide Foundation Chairman. Vice President Jeff Sheridan is the current chair of the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Club of Wayne County. Ahaus sponsored three youth robotics teams in 2016, as an effort to encourage teamwork, creative problem solving, and STEM skills for young people in our region. Other team members are board members and volunteers in local schools and various other not-for-profit organizations, including the United Way, the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, and Richmond Civic Theatre.
We also provide financial support and remain active in local business organizations, including the Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development Corporation and Ivy Tech Community College. Ivy Tech recognized our generous donation by naming its Machine Tool Lab after Ahaus Tool and Engineering.
To honor all of our customers who have battled cancer or have watched as a loved one battled the disease, we make an annual donation to the Indiana University Cancer Research Center. The center’s mission is to advance the understanding, prevention and treatment of cancer throughout Indiana and the world with patient-centered care, acceleration of promising science and collaborative educational programs.
Our History
Ahaus' History of Custom Machining Services
For more than 75 years, Ahaus Tool and Engineering has been offering customers high-quality solutions to challenging manufacturing, tooling and automation equipment needs. Ahaus Tool and Engineering works with customers through conceptual design, engineering, service and support to meet their specific requirements. The company offers a broad range of custom products and services categorized as: automation equipment; workholding solutions / workholding fixtures; machining services / machining fixtures; heat exchanger equipment; and power generation equipment.
Operating out of his red two-car garage, William Ahaus and his son, Irvin, started the firm as Ahaus Tool Company in November of 1946. During the 1950s and ‘60s, research and development was integrated into the company’s services and remains an invaluable part of the business today.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Ahaus introduced NC and CNC milling technology to the shop floor and the company began manufacturing core builder, radiator assembly and heat exchanger equipment. With Ahaus’s unique engineering capabilities and abilities to meet close tolerance requirements, the company has achieved many notable accomplishments such as the development of special equipment and the process to attach plastic tanks to an aluminum radiator assembly for the Ford Motor Company. This achievement expanded Ahaus’s opportunities to engineer, design and build heat exchanger equipment for a variety of manufacturers throughout the world.
To broaden its opportunities, especially in the design and build sector, Ahaus Tool and Engineering purchased land and constructed a new facility in Richmond’s Eastern Industrial Park where the company resides today. Following further land purchases and new additions to the facility, the plant increased in size from its original 18,000 sq. ft. in 1979 to its present size of 74,000 sq. ft. The continued growth in the design and build sector prompted the development of an engineering department, which was initiated in 1983 and remains an instrumental element to Ahaus’s success.
Along with the expansion of computerized machining services and CNC milling equipment, Ahaus has ventured into new opportunities over the last 20 years, including alternative energy source research. An example of Ahaus work in this area was the manufacture of components for nuclear fusion research with the goal of using sea water as the fuel to generate electricity.
With such engineering capabilities, Ahaus will continue to be a leader in developing the best custom machining solutions for manufacturing, tooling and automation equipment needs.
Our News
Modern Workholding Solutions: The Foundation of Smarter Manufacturing
From Concept to Commissioning: How Ahaus Delivers Custom Engineering Excellence Every Step of the Way
Beyond Seeing: Why Machine Vision Is Becoming the Brain of Smart Manufacturing
Precision Required: Why Automation Is Essential in Medical Device Manufacturing
Rick Ahaus
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