Intrupa Facts:
The Beginning:
In 1957, with anticipation of a civil servant position in the US government, Hans Anger left Germany with his wife and three (3) children and headed to the land of opportunity. Upon arrival in New York, Hans Sr. learned that his U.S. sponsor, a State Supreme Court Justice, had died suddenly. Hans found himself without work in a strange land.
After receiving some advice, the Anger family headed to Chicago where Hans found immediate employment at Lift Parts Mfg. Co. (LPM). This is where he incubated the idea of starting his own business...making parts for electric-powered forklifts. After leaving LPM and while holding several jobs, INTRUPA was begun in the family apartment.
Beginning with a handful of manufactured parts to sell, Hans traveled around the Midwest in a VW bus, visiting dealers and camping out at the state parks to save lodging costs. No overnight success, it took two years before he could afford to move the business out of the apartment and rent a small store. From there, through continued hard work and a growing product offering, the business grew each year.
The Growth
Setting the standard through pioneering the same day order / same day ship concept in the material handling industry, INTRUPA has grown to become world's largest independent manufacturer and wholesale distributor of replacement parts and accessories for material handling equipment.
By the early mid-1980's, the company was looking for new ways to spread its wings, and opened it's first international operation located in Missasagua, Ontario Canada to service it's growing Canadian customer base.
In 1991, INTRUPA purchased Lift Parts Manufacturing Company (LPM), a Chicago based company with heavy concentration on replacement parts for internal combustion lift trucks, and the company that gave Hans his first job.
By 1997, INTRUPA opened it's Western Regional distribution center in Reno, Nevada to enhance the level of service provided to customers in the states of California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico.
Recognizing the needs of customers south of the boarder and the difficulties in moving product cross-boarder, INTRUPA opened a full-service sales and distribution center in Mexico, City to better service it's Mexican customer base.
In 1999, INTRUPA expanded it's operations into Europe with the purchase of two regional wholesale distributors, LIPA B.V. located in Cuijk, the Netherlands, and Handling Components, located in Leighton Buzzard and Warrington, the U.K.
More recently, INTRUPA opened the first of it's planned South American Sales and Distribution centers in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
And while the business has grown considerably, it is still firmly grounded by the principals of it's founder to take and order, ship an order, with the best customer service.
Continuing with its focus on "quality" and "best in class" practices, INTRUPA completed IS0 9001 / 2000 certification at another one of its facilities, the Reno Distribution Center, in November 2001
Intrupa Today
Today, Intrupa has grown from one sales and distribution center located in downtown Chicago into a world-wide operation with 8 locations. Each location carries a broad range of material handling parts and accessories that are most critical to region they service.
Yet even as the company accomplishes its 41st anniversary, the INTRUPA philosophy is no different than the one set by Hans Anger at the turn of the century: Deliver… exceptional service, selection, quality and value.