White Systems, Inc. - History

White was founded in 1946 in a loft in Newark, New Jersey by Mort Weiss, Hugo Weiss and Stephen Speckhart.  The Company began by manufacturing items ranging from can openers and tie racks to vending machines.  During the 1950’s and 1960’s, the business was primarily concentrated in the field of garment storage conveyors for dry cleaners, laundries and garment manufacturers.  White became the world leader in garment conveyor systems.

In the early 1970’s, the Company diversified into the office, automotive, and industrial markets.  At first, the only product for these markets was the horizontal carousel which was an outgrowth of the dry cleaning conveyor.

Rapid growth began in 1975.  Vertical carousels were introduced in the late 1970’s, followed by moveable aisle storage systems, and in the early 1980’s by automated insertion and extraction devices (robots) and software.

The Systems Division now located in Kenilworth, NJ was founded in 1980.  This division designs, develops and produces integrated hardware/software systems to monitor and control White products.

Our dramatic growth has been entirely internally generated and has moved the Company into a position of leadership in automated storage and retrieval systems for factories, warehouses and offices.

In January, 1987, a major reorganization took place: White Conveyors (garment handling systems) was spun off and White Machine (industrial hardware), White Tool (manufacturing), White Office (office systems), and White Systems, (software and systems) were combined into one company.

In 1993, White Storage & Retrieval Systems was acquired by Pinnacle Automation of This merger resulted in even greater opportunities for employees of White within the Pinnacle Automation family of companies.  Pinnacle was composed of four other independently operated companies:  Alvey, Inc. which produces palletizers and conveyors; McHugh, Freeman and Associates, located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which is a software company specializing in warehouse management systems; Busse, Inc. located in Randolph, Wisconsin, which manufactures bulk palletizers and depalletizers; and The Buschman Company, located in Cincinnati, Ohio, which manufactures conveyors and horizontal carousels.

In the year 2000, Pinnacle Automation was acquired by FKI plc and formed FKI Logistex. FKI plc is UK-based major international engineering group which commands world-leading positions in its specialized business areas of Material Handling, Hardware and Engineering, employing over 16,000 people in 27countries in 22 principle subsidiaries world-wide.

In December of 2005 White Systems, Inc. management and Management Capital, LLC completed the successful buyout of its Kenilworth manufacturing division from FKI Logistex Manufacturing Systems. The new organizational structure allows for an increased focus on innovative material handling technologies as well as strategic growth plans for optimizing the market potential.