What does it take to turn a $2,000 investment and a passion for building into a 50-year legacy?
In this video, we sit down with the Streckert family to tell the story of Creative Automation. It’s a journey that began with the sale of a beloved airplane (the "Beauty and the Beast"), a single-car garage, and a vision to build machines that solve real-world problems.
From the early days of painting machinery in the cold until the fumes became too much, to the evolution of complex electrical programming and high-end robotics, one thing has remained constant: our commitment to integrity and our customers.
💡 About Creative Automation:
For five decades, we have focused on providing exactly what the customer needs. While the technology has changed, our focus on providing a livelihood for our employees and quality solutions for our clients has never wavered.
We have a rich history in automated material handling and processing equipment for the wood and related industries. This is how it all started.
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Transcript:
0:05: I've been interested in aviation all my life and have been a pilot.
0:10: I went to aircraft mechanics school, so I have an aircraft mechanic's license.
0:15: That was an airplane that he liked a lot.
0:18: His family used to call it Beauty and the Beast.
0:21: And they weren't sure which one was the beast and which one was the beauty.
0:24: And I started building things when I was real young.
0:28: I decided I wanted to own a machinery building business.
0:32: So I sold the airplane and I got $4500 for it and took $2000 to start Creative Automation.
0:40: That was a sacrifice for him, and that he wanted to start a business.
0:44: When I was about 4 years old, my dad came home and some drawings rolled under, rolled up underneath his arm and he said something like I'm gonna start my own business.
0:56: The first machine was built in a single-car garage, but that was for conveying veneer.
1:03: Yeah, it was a veneer, veneer transfer, and he made several of those throughout the early years, and we've had orders ever since.
1:11: To start with, he was doing everything.
1:13: Sometimes he had to haul machinery out of the building to assemble it and test it.
1:17: I even painted. I would in the winter, it was cold and the ventilation wasn't so good in there, so I would paint till I got kind of dizzy because of the fumes, and then I'd go outside and sober up, and then I'd go back in and paint.
1:33: So that's the way that worked.
1:36: And at some point, vendors started to come to visit him.
1:39: Well, his office was our TV room in our house, and he entered the Streckert household by coming in through the kitchen.
1:48: So there I would be, the vendors walking in and I might, my hair might be in rollers and the kids' toys were scattered all over the place, and we were just having a normal morning.
1:57: The garage wasn't, it wasn't really the ideal place anymore.
2:02: We built the first part here in ‘74.
2:06: There's been a big evolution over the last 50 years.
2:10: The types of equipment that we're building is similar, but the complexity is off the charts compared to the early years.
2:19: There's a lot more automation now.
2:22: It's gotten a lot more complicated than it used to be. The mechanical was the hardest part.
2:28: Now it's the electrical and programming.
2:31: We still have the same ideals that we had when we started, and it's going to continue.
2:37: Well, growing up in a family business and seeing my father and grandfather you know, working on projects and hearing them talk about it, I've grown up kind of imbibing the values of just doing what you say you're going to do, and integrity, being upfront with people, being upfront with the customer.
3:03: This company over the last 50 years has been about the Streckert family, but it's really been about everybody's family and providing a living, and good benefits, and a life that is for all of us.
3:19: It hasn't all been easy, but we've retained our focus.
3:24: And that focus on the customer and providing a good product.
3:27: Our philosophy is we're gonna provide exactly what the customer needs.
3:32: From what I've seen has not changed a bit in 50 years.
3:35: It's the same today as it was when Tom started the company.
3:40: I've always said we sell ideas and we just happen to have a machine shop to implement those ideas.
3:46: So that's what we're selling and that's the most important part of this business.
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