Our History

1953 – 1960

Burke E. Porter Machinery Company was founded in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA in 1953 and started to produce high quality, high durability machinery—their first product was a sanding machine for the wood furniture industry. BEPCO first entered the automotive industry in 1955, producing auto-rollers to test vehicles. In 1956, BEPCO started producing custom machinery for the growing foam board processing industry.

1975 – 1980

By the mid-1970s, BEPCO was producing large-scale foam processing lines, vehicle brake testing equipment, and vehicle wheel alignment machines—they began exporting their machines world-wide in 1977.

1988 – 1989

BEPCO started to expand quickly by the end of the 1980s—they moved into the Korean Automotive Market in 1988 and the European Automotive market in 1989.

1994 – 1995

By 1994, BEPCO had developed the first, modern roll and brake testing machine, which integrated AC motor technology and replaced older hydraulic machinery methods. BEPCO’s innovative technology facilitated end of line (EOL) testing of all vehicles through newly accepted OBDII communication protocols, and subsequently supported testing of many onboard computer systems while simulating driving conditions. BEPCO entered the Chinese market in 1995. Throughout the 1990s, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) began purchasing BEPCO dynamometers to meet new, emerging standards.

1997 – 2003

Between 1997 and 2003, BEPCO focused on global expansion—they opened their South American office in 1997, moved into India in 2002, and opened a manufacturing facility in Wuxi, China in 2003. Additionally, it was during this time that BEPCO added servo-hydraulic capabilities.

2004 – 2010

BEPCO continued to expand throughout the first decade of the new millennium: they entered the wheel and tire assembly business, entered the wind turbine dynamometer testing business, tripled their manufacturing space in Wuxi, China, began offering Global Contract Manufacturing to other machinery and mechanism providers, and acquired XL Machine Company.

2014 – 2017

Growth continued in 2015 when BEPCO acquired Universal Balancing, EPIC, CIMAT, Korvis, and Kleinknecht to round out their powertrain and balancing portfolio. BEPCO has since continued its exponential growth and formed Burke Porter Group to lead its family of intelligent machinery manufacturers.