Kays Engineering, Inc. opened its doors for business December 1, 1980 in Marshall, Missouri. Founded by Ed Kays, the company began as a small welding and repair shop, with Ed as the sole full-time employee along with three additional part-time employees.
The company quickly progressed into a designer and builder of custom machinery for the automotive industry. The increase in business helped the company expand to more than 30 employees spread over four buildings.
Kays Engineering entered a new market in 1994 with the acquisition of DeHoff, a manufacturer of deep hole drilling machines, located in Cranston, Rhode Island. The DeHoff manufacturing operation was moved to the Marshall facility in 1996.
To accommodate the new product line, the company relocated to a new 50,000 square foot building in the Marshall-Saline Industrial Park.
Another deep hole drilling machine manufacturer, Eldorado, was purchased in 2002 and relocated to Marshall from their original Milford, Connecticut location. This acquisition further diversified the Kays Engineering product lineup, and established the company as a major player in the deep hole drilling industry.
Today, over 60 employees design, engineer and manufacture the DeHoff and Eldorado machines. All machines are built-to-order in our Marshall plant. We’re proud that our machines, which are known for their precision and reliability, are used worldwide by customers in the automotive, aerospace, medical, firearms, and petrochemical industries.
