About Alkon
Alkon was originally incorporated in 1953 as a pneumatic cylinder company in Hawthorne, NJ and later in Wayne, NJ. The company started manufacturing an air-power / hydraulic-controlled drill unit and later released a cylinder product line. The company name was derived from abbreviating the founder’s name, Al Konviser.
Alkon introduced a pneumatic valve line in 1964, which was the A Series valve with a lapped spool design for industrial applications. This innovation was followed by the release of a flow control, needle and check valve line known as the J Series valves. These products were patented under US patents US3421547A and US3441249A.
In the late 70’s, the sprite series and P series valves were developed for the industrial market. The company also transitioned from being owned by Imperial Eastman to private, family and employee ownership. It was at this time the Winter family became involved, who remains the majority shareholders today.
Alkon developed and released the first all brass AQ push-to-connect fittings for the industrial market in 1981, which redirected the company to its current course as a fitting design and manufacturing powerhouse. This led to the development of the first all brass fitting for the DOT industry in 1990.
Alkon divested from the original cylinder business in 1985 through a sale to Pillar Motion Controls.
Alkon started operations in a new location in Fremont, OH in 1991 and fully relocated product from New Jersey by 1999.
We expanded our valve line offering through the acquisition of ISI Fluid Power in 2001. At this same time, we recognized that there was a need for a valve that could withstand the harsh environments of the DOT industry and developed the TransDOT series valves.
In 2012, Alkon acquired a majority ownership in Star Hydraulics. Star is a high-quality manufacturer of hydraulic pumps and cylinders.
Throughout the years, Alkon maintained some level of production in Mexico through partnerships. In 2013, we fully acquired what is now Alkon Products, S.A de C.V. This facility primarily supports fitting and valve product for their domestic market and down into South America as well some products for Alkon in the US.
Our latest fitting, the PAQ composite line, was patented in 2016 with production following a year or so later. This product expanded the fitting line by offering a composite fitting that combined the benefits of all brass push-to-connect fitting with weight savings of composite.
In 2017, Alkon acquired Allenair and relocated production from New York to the Fremont, OH facility. This allowed us to expand our industrial product offering by adding Allenair’s high quality cylinder and valve product lines.
We fully acquired Star Hydraulics at the end of 2020. This allowed us to fully utilize the production capabilities across the two companies and streamline product flow to shared customer bases.
In August of 2022, Alkon acquired Airman Products located in Brighton, MI. This expanded the DOT valve offering as well as the manufacturing footprint. Airman had been a strong competitor of Alkon’s for many years through their strong positioning in the market by offering a high quality valve product line.
Today, Alkon continues to operate our facilities in Fremont, OH, Chicago, IL, Brighton, MI and Mexico City, MX. Our vertically integrated manufacturing approach across these faculties allows us to maintain strict control over manufacturing and quality, keeping our customer’s equipment running with less down time. We take pride in our dedication to engineering products that will last the life of our customer’s equipment. We truly believe that our products are Engineered to Perform and Made to Last!