MECCO Company History

The following is a brief history of the transformation of M. E. Cunningham, MECCO Machine Ltd. and TraceAbility Systems providers of direct-part marking solutions for product traceability, which is now known as MECCO Marking & Traceability.

M. E. Cunningham Company, originated in 1889 and incorporated in 1906, had over 100 years of operating experience. However, it was not until 1924, when Frank Speicher Sr. bough controlling interest, that the company became involved in the manufacturing of steel stamps and other metal marking products.

The Pittsburgh plant and office was totally destroyed by fire in March, 1936, during the St. Patrick’s Day Flood. A decision was made at that time that the company would rebuild as a metal marking manufacturer and discontinue the sundries and rubber stamp lines. Influencing this decision was an exclusive license agreement obtained by Frank Speicher for the use of patented alloy shock steel for making steel hand stamps. The trademark “SAFETY” was granted because the special heat treat of the stamps provided a very important non-spalling and non-mushrooming of the heads.

This line of products enabled M. E. Cunningham to develop an excellent reputation as a manufacturer of top quality marking tools. During the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, the Company began to design and manufacture special made-to-order marking fixtures and machines for special product applications.

In the early 1950’s, M. E. Cunningham designed a slab and bloom marker that could be operated from a distance from the product. This marker was developed in conjunction with the installation of the first computer-operated strip mill in the United States at the Jones and Laughlin Steel plant in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. After the initial machine was delivered to J & L, the equipment was displayed at the Iron and Steel Engineer’s Exposition. Interest in the 701-RCW markers increased year to year. Over 125 machines have been installed in steel mills throughout the world; many of these markers remain in production today.

In 1982, M. E. Cunningham was introduced to the new dot matrix marking technique, which had previously been used with paint or ink marking. As a result of their metal indent marking background, they decided to develop the dot-peen indent marker.

The initial efforts were to exploit and develop systems for various steel mill applications. The Model 1000 Bloom Marker was designed and built for a trial at Inland Steel. This equipment is currently installed in a steel mill in the Cleveland , Ohio area. The next marker was the Model 2000 Dot-A-Mark, designed to operate at the new Rotary Billet Forging Plant of Carpenter Steel in Reading , Pennsylvania . This robot style marker was designed to mark the side of rounds with a single line, or mark ends of either rounds or squares with two rows of up to eleven characters in each row.

With the continuing depressed operations of steel producing plants in the United States later designs of the Dot-A-Mark included commercial designs of the Model 3000, 3100 and 3200. A machine similar to the 3100 has been installed in the Norris Industries plant in California for marking the top or end section of a steel projectile. A Model 3000 Dot-A-Mark has been installed at the Alcoa Billet Mill in conjunction with a robot handling system. In every one of these installations, customers have been impressed with a low cost maintenance and particularly the excellent service life of the marking pins. Two Dot-A-Mark indent markers were built for Dominion Bridge for marking their structural and tube sections.

By 1991, the development of these dot matrix systems included the X-Y operating systems with the DM-4000 and DM-4100 machines. These units presented the design for portable machine application and the potential for adapting to manufacturing cells as well as to a wide variety of mounting procedures.

In 1987, MECCO Machine Ltd. was established to import a line of spring-loaded impact presses manufactured in Spain by Couth. MECCO continues that relationship as the exclusive distributor of all Couth products in the United States .

1992, Couth announced their new line of single pin computer-operated marking systems. MECCO Machine served as the importer of the MC-2000 systems for distribution by M. E. Cunningham. This provided an important addition to the multi-pin Dot-A-Mark systems. The sales and applications of the ME-2000 systems increased steadily and in 1994, it was decided that MECCO Machine would participate more directly with the MC-2000 sales and promotional efforts. This product line has now become an important part of the MECCO sales efforts in North America .

In 1989, M. E. Cunningham was granted a patent for indenting a bar code into the surface of an object. In 1994 Sensis Corporation introduced the technology to automatically scan and read Bumpy Bar Codes. Our companies worked together to develop markets for Bumpy Bar Code with installations at companies like John Deere, Caterpillar and Cummins Engine. In the automotive and heavy equipment industry, Bumpy Bar Codes can be used for automatic identification of engine blocks, camshafts, crankshafts, transmission housings and wheel assemblies. The three-dimensional Bumpy Bar Code is directly indented during manufacturing to assure that the bar code remains permanently embedded and to allow for easy data-collection on the product throughout its work-in-process cycle.

Recognizing the commercial opportunities available for the Bumpy Bar Codes, Sensis Corporation the efforts it would take to market, this product did not fit their core business plan as a government contractor for radar systems. In 2000 they spun-off the reader division to TraceAbility Systems (TSI), an organization started by Ray Speicher and Jim Speicher. Securing a distribution agreement with M. E. Cunningham Company, TSI created a patented indent marking package that included the SP-202 Bar Code Marker manufactured by M. E. Cunningham, and the fixed-mount and hand-held Bar Code Readers. Other direct-part marking methods were added to the product mix that included: molding and casting, laser, embossing, and engraving. Combining the marking methods with the reader, and data-collection capabilities, TSI was able to pioneer traceability solutions in harsh environments where other symbologies and technologies were unable to perform.

In 2002, a group of Pittsburgh business leaders organized as MECCO Partners LLC., made an offer to purchase TraceAbility Systems, M. E. Cunningham and MECCO Machine Ltd. Combining the long-standing reputation of M. E. Cunningham a manufacturer of high-quality marking equipment, the diversity of the MC-2000 product line of MECCO Machine Ltd., and the cutting-edge technology of Traceability Systems, this new organization doing business as MECCO Marking & Traceability plans on becoming a technology leader that will continue to provide direct-part marking solutions to meet industry needs.