The First Year – 1969
All companies have a great success story; allow us to proudly share ours. All-Fill Inc. is a family owned and operated that has thrived over the course of three generations of Edginton’s.
Since the very beginning of 1969 some employees have come and gone, others are still employed to this day. The industry has changed and All-Fill was eager to adapt along the way. There were tough times, there were always great times. No matter the business, the key to success is hard work and determination. Never was this truer than in the very beginning, the early years in which the first employees laid the structural foundation and required a work ethic for long-term success and growth. At All-Fill, we have a great story to tell, enjoy following the history of our company throughout this blog series and we will get back to work so that we can continue writing future chapters.
June 1969
RICHARD A. EDGINTON WAS EMPLOYED AS A MANUFACTURING MANAGER AT DIEHL MATEER COMPANY DURING THE EARLY PART OF 69′.
By the middle of the calendar year DMC was sold to The Berwind Company. Richard, mostly referred to as Dick by co-workers, was uncertain about the future of the business after DMC was acquired by Berwind Company, and after a few disagreements with what would soon be his former boss, he decided to branch off and start his own business. With the opportunity to do it his way at the forefront of his decision, Dick founded All-Fill Inc. located in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.
August 1969
ALONG WITH DICK, ALL-FILL WAS FOUNDED BY BOB DIEGEL AND JACK ULLBERG. DICK SERVED AS THE PRESIDENT, JACK AS CHIEF ENGINEER AND BOB AS MANUFACTURING MANAGER.
Originally, All-Fill had 4,000 square feet to work out of along Route 3 in Newtown Square, but soon this expanded to 6,000 sq. ft. as soon as the co-lessee found a new location. Contrary to his former position at Mateer turned Berwind as the manufacturing manager, Dick recognized that he had to use his sales abilities to get a young, unproven All-Fill off the ground. All-Fill started with six (6) full time employees who Dick had promised higher wages and a better opportunity. All that was missing were the sales.
Fall 1969
IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE INCEPTION OF ALL-FILL, DICK USED GREAT RELATIONSHIPS FROM HIS DMC DAYS TO CONVINCE OTHER KEY EMPLOYEES TO FOLLOW HIM TO ALL-FILL.
Given the fact that All-Fill was a new name within the industry, they had to first rely on steady OEM sales. On August 26th, 1969, Prodo-Pack (Production Packaging), a manufacturer of Vertical Form Fill and Seal bag machines (Bag Filling Machine) based out of Passaic, NJ was All-Fill’s very first customer. The model B-101 auger filling machine was mounted upon a Prodo Pack VFFS and sold for $1775.00.
Production Packaging was a good DMC customer and Dick’s influence, and workmanship swung the business in All-Fill’s direction. The initial sale was exciting for sure, but the real work was just about to begin. Dick was in essence a one-man band outside of the building as the other five (5) employees served important tasks inside All-Fill such as book-keeping, manual machinists and assemblers. Dick played the role of salesman, serviceman, install technician and part time engineer. By all accounts of the early days, Dick drove everywhere in his late model station wagon with an auger filling machine strapped down sideways in the back.
From that point forward until the end of 1969, qty-13 auger filling machines were sold totaling $28,259.00 in total revenue. OEMs were a major part of All-Fill’s early success and without this core group of industry partners All-Fill would have struggled to survive.
At this time All-Fill provided Model B Auger Fillers, Twin Head Auger Filler, Table Models, and an immediate rush of spare parts to make the first half year of business an overwhelming success. The standard machine product offerings were quite basic, but All-Fill always sought challenging applications that competitors did not want to get involved with. Perhaps this same attitude is what paved the way for today’s All-Fill, which is undoubtedly the industry leader for custom filling and checkweighing applications, in addition to VFFS bagging machines (recently added to All-Fill’s product line-up in 2011 and branded as Avatar VFFS). Dick was never intimidated and his head on approach to obtaining sales was crucial for cash flow in the first year.
At the time of this blog entry, Dick Edginton is 83 years old and has been enjoying retirement from All-Fill Inc. and Auger Fabrication since 1997. He resides in Ocean City, NJ with his wife Rita, a former All-Fill employee and living saint! One of the original five (5) employees, Nick Belvick is still employed by All-Fill Inc. and heads the quality control/inspection department.
