The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History
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MOTCH CORP. - The Encyclopedia of Cleveland HistoryThe MOTCH CORP., formerly Oerlikon-Motch, is one of the nation's leading designers and builders of special turning and grinding machines. The firm originated in Cleveland in Sept. 1904 when brothers Stanley and Edwin R. Motch and Geo. Merryweather formed the Motch & Merryweather tool manufacturers. Starting with 6 employees at its offices at 711 Lakeside Ave., the company originally represented 5 machine-tool builders in Ohio and eastern Michigan. In 1924, the firm acquired and remodeled a plant on E. 70th St. for machine rebuilding. By World War II, Motch & Merryweather gained an international reputation for quality rebuilt machine tools and the company began manufacturing machine tools. In 1948, the company built a plant specifically designed for its rebuilding business on E. 222nd St. in Euclid, and in the next ten years, the firm consolidated all its manufacturing and engineering operations to its Euclid plant. In a postwar period of expansion, Motch & Merryweather acquired machine-tool and cutting-tool companies nationwide, and its distributorship represented over 50 machine-tool builders nationally. In 1968, Motch & Merryweather became a publicly owned company. Its record growth brought Motch & Merryweather to the attention of Oerlikon-Buehrle, a Swiss firm which owned some of Europe's most prestigious machine-tool operations. Oerlikon-Buehrle entered the U.S. market in 1979 by acquiring Motch & Merryweather, which continued under local management as a subsidiary, renamed the Oerlikon-Motch Corp. It had 1,500 employees nationwide, including 500 in Cleveland, before phasing out its distributorship division in 1988-89. Late in 1989, Oerlikon sold off Motch to Pittler, GmbH. As an independent subsidiary of this German toolbuilder, the Motch Corp. in 1995 employed 90 at its E. 222nd St. plant. By 2004, the Motch Corp., then a division of DeVlieg Bullard II, Inc., had moved its operations to 1900 Case Parkway in Twinsburg.
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