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Rieke’s History

We are 100 years young!

Rieke was founded in 1921 by Theodore W. “TW” Rieke, a tool and die maker that through his perseverance and engineering talent, innovated a new steel drum closure approach that revolutionized the steel drum industry.

Interestingly, he used both process and product design know how to solve his then prospective customers’ needs. The steel drum closure product line developed by TW Rieke in 1921 allowed Rieke to grow to a more than $400 million designer and manufacturer of engineered dispensers and closures for the Industrial, Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, Food & Beverage, and Pharmaceutical & Nutraceutical end markets today.

1920s to 1970s

Foundational Years

Shortly after the formation of Rieke in 1921, Mr. Rieke located its main production facility in Auburn, Indiana. This site, although vastly expanded today, continues to be Rieke’s largest production facility globally. Rieke began producing drum and pail closures, which are more commonly known under the VISEGRIP® product lines today.  In the 1950’s, Rieke continued to innovate for drum and pail applications, including the development of the Flexspout® product line, and even completed its first acquisition, a small company called Multi-Meter Corporation, which was a manufacturer of faucets, pumps, and drum accessories. In 1971, Rieke de Mexico was formed in a new facility dedicated to serving Central and South American countries.

1978

Acquired by Masco Corporation

In 1978, Masco Corporation, a publicly-traded large manufacturer of home improvement and diversified industrial products, founded by Alex Manoogian acquired Rieke. As part of the larger Masco, Rieke now had the platform for continued internal expansion and global growth.  Rieke continued to launch new products, including its PPN series of nylon drum flanges and the PDF series of replaceable plastic flanges for plastic drums, expanding beyond its traditional metal-based product lines.

1988

Rieke Catalyzes the Formation of TriMas

Through a complex transaction between Masco Corporation and then Masco Industries, Rieke and several other industrial companies were spun-off to form TriMas Corporation, which represented the third major Masco spin-off company. The second was Masco Industries, later named MascoTech and then Metaldyne. This was an important step in Rieke’s history as TriMas focused on acquisitions along with internal innovation to grow its companies.
 
TriMas ultimately went public, listed on the NYSE as "TRS". Masco sold most of its TriMas holdings, making Masco-Tech its largest single shareholder.
 

1990 to 2009

Growth through Acquisitions and Plant Expansions

In 1996, Rieke acquired two businesses, Englass Ltd. and Stolz GmbH. Stolz GmbH allowed Rieke to offer industrial closure systems for the under 55-gallon drum market and to further penetrate Europe, while Englass Ltd. focused on high value dispensing systems. Rieke acquired Gruppo Tov (Italy) in 1998, which manufactured products similar to Rieke’s VISEGRIP® that is used for dry and liquid product containment. In 2009, Rieke acquired Continental AFA, adding to its dispensing product lines.
 
In addition to continuing to invest in organic growth and new product development, Rieke launched new plants in Hamilton, Indiana, and Hangzhou, China.  Rieke launched new key product lines in Airless dispensing, allowing Rieke to supply into dermatological applications in the pharmaceutical end market.
 

2010 to 2015

Expansion into New End Markets through Acquisitions

Rieke leveraged its competency in dispenser and closure innovation for Industrial and Pharmaceutical end markets, to penetrate the Food & Beverage and Beauty & Personal Care end markets through a few key acquisitions. In 2011, Rieke acquired Innovative Molding, a producer of rigid caps for food, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical end markets. In 2012, Rieke acquired Arminak & Associates, a producer of cosmetic, personal care and household dispensers and closures. In 2014, Rieke acquired Lion Holdings, manufacturer of highly engineered dispensing solutions headquartered in India.
 
During this period, Rieke opened its second location in China, specifically in Haining, where it has more than 150,000 square feet of a production facility today.

2015 to 2020

Commitment Growth through Innovation and Acquisitions

In 2015, Rieke launched a new Global Innovation Center just outside of New Delhi, India to coordinate with engineering and testing capability in Auburn, Indiana, and Leicester, United Kingdom. In 2017, Rieke launched a new state-of-the-art facility in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, moving production from a smaller facility in Mexico City. In 2018, Rieke, by partnering with Amazon, developed its first e-commerce sprayer pump, which ultimately led to a launching a new line of e-commerce dispensers. 
 
In 2019, Rieke acquired Plastic Srl, a manufacturer of single and multi-body caps and closures which allowed Rieke to enter the Home Care end market. Later that year, Rieke acquired Taplast S.p.A, a designer and manufacturer of dispensers, closures and containers for the Beauty and Personal Care, and Food end markets. In 2020, through TriMas’ Packaging group, Rieke supported the acquisition of Rapak®, a designer and manufacturer of bag-in-box product lines and related filling equipment used primarily in dairy, soda, smoothie and wine applications. Rieke also acquired Affaba & Ferrari™, a designer and manufacturer of precision caps and closures for food & beverage and industrial product applications.

Today

Rieke Today

TriMas' Packaging, currently comprised of the Rieke®, Affaba & Ferrari™, Taplast™, Plastic Srl, and Rapak® brand names, is now approximately 65% of TriMas' total sales. Additionally, TriMas remains committed to growing its Packaging group, including Rieke, through innovation and acquisitions.
Suffice to say, 100 years later, the Rieke team continues to follow the standards set by TW Rieke to be passionate about utilizing both process and product design innovation to provide product solutions to our customers.