It was 1959 and the Midwest building boom had come to Litchfield, Minnesota. That’s when Arvid Reinke opened a shop to supply rafter sockets to local builders. Then, a nearby farmer asked Arvid if he could help enclose his tractor, and Custom Products began its journey to become a premier manufacturer of cabs and protective systems for everything from giant cranes to landscaping lawn mowers.
On a drizzly July morning, the AEM Manufacturing Express paid a visit to the company, still family owned and operated by the founder’s son, Randy Reinke.
Reinke explained that these days, the company has expanded from its original agricultural focus to serving around 100 companies across multiple industry categories. Certain operators of machines may not immediately realize they’re piloting Custom Products equipment, but the component made right here in Litchfield is arguably the most important of all: the cabs that keep the operators safe.
“It’s really their office,” Reinke says of the cabs, adding that comfort is a vital consideration, alongside function, as they design their product line. Reinke notes, for example, that a second generator for a cab may keep air conditioning operating in a desert environment even if one system fails.
During a tour of the Litchfield facility, Reinke explained that modern cabs are engineered with a safety focus—especially when it comes to potential rollovers. Custom Products has a state of the art on-site hydraulic testing facility that accurately evaluates how much real-word pressure their cabs can handle. That testing capacity is part of a decades-long innovation program that also includes solid modeling design software, robotic welding for some functions and—since 1995—the “5-Star Engineering Apprentice Program” that invests in local students entering the engineering disciplines.
Outside the plant, a light early-morning rain was no impediment to the Custom Products day crew engaging with the Manufacturing Express festivities. Burgers and brats piled high as shop workers paused from their usual routines to be celebrated as the men and women of the Litchfield equipment manufacturing community.
Tucked away on the shore of Lake Ripley, Custom Products’ impact is felt nationwide. Tens of thousands of cabs and protective enclosures roll out every year for industries such as construction, agriculture, utility, mining, forestry, and more. Safety always comes first at Custom Products– and every product that leaves the plant here in Litchfield is making work safer for American equipment operators.
At Custom Products, safety always comes first.
