| Cole Carbide was founded in 1936 in Warren, Michigan by Oren S. Cole and is now in its fourth generation of operation by the Cole family. Cole’s long history of excellence started with a vision of quality, innovation and distribution.
After schooling in Detroit, founder Oren S. Cole worked in sales for General Electric when they acquired the patent rights for carbide from Krupp of Germany, and then became a very successful salesman of carbide tools. He also had a vision.
When the war years offered many manufacturing opportunities, Oren founded Cole Carbide both as a manufacturer and distributor.
Cole was one of the first to offer carbide cutting tools in the U.S. as an alternative to high speed steel.
- After the war, son Donald Cole managed the primarily automotive business with Ford and GM, continually growing the business.
- Larry Cole joined in 1959, working up through the organization while helping diversify business with government contracts, with Pratt & Whitney and with Black and Decker.
- In the seventies, an alliance was formed to sell into the oil and gas industry through Cole Specialties (now Cole Oil Gas & Water).
- In the eighties and nineties, Donald and Larry Cole were innovators in new product development and just-in-time delivery service.
- John Cole joined Cole in the eighties with an engineering interest and plans to diversify into world markets. This was accomplished, along with key alliances with industry heavyweights.
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