In 1984, Richard Kennedy owned Midwest Specialties, a stamping facility that got its start producing water can brackets for Humvees and Jeeps. To help with some internal projects, he designed a tapping arm to increase speed and accuracy when tapping holes in the shop. As other companies visited the machine shop for various reasons, they inevitably were drawn to the homemade tapping arm: they had never seen anything like it. Word spread across the small town of Wapakoneta, Ohio, and FlexArm Inc. was born.

 

Three generations later, FlexArm still produces water can brackets, is still based in Wapakoneta and is still in the family, run by Richard’s grandson, Nick Kennedy. Kennedy is driving forward, growing the company exponentially while keeping a firm grasp of their founding principles. While the product line has grown to include assembly arms, die grinding equipment, part manipulation equipment and even FlexDrill, a line of CNC equipment, some things never change: FlexArm products are still catching the attention of machine shops and fabricators across the country. From humble beginnings to a vibrant, growing company, FlexArm has carved out a niche for itself in American manufacturing with efficient, flexible machines and a service-first culture.