Fairchild Industries was incorporated in 1961 under the name McClure Associates, Inc., developing automotive-based products. Remember vinyl seat covers? That was a Fairchild product. The company’s growth began when Joel C Schauer (the future GM of Fairchild Industries) first brought in a case of standard seals to the Arlington Heights location. At that time, there wasn't a warehouse or storage space, so Joel’s personal office became the foundation for what is now Fairchild Industries.
Over the past 50 plus years, Fairchild has significantly evolved as a result of commitment to innovation, providing outstanding customer service, product quality and growing customers who seek “a boutique experience.” The company’s success has come from targeting these customers who value Fairchild’s hands on approach and direct contact with representatives.
Several of these customers are fortune 500 companies including Case New Holland. In the late 1980’s Case began a supplier rationalization project in order to better manage their supply base. Since Fairchild was already a proven Case supplier, they asked Fairchild to be their lead rubber supplier consolidator. Taking on this project led to many benefits including developing a wider array of rubber manufacturing techniques and worldwide manufacturing support base. This enabled the company to become active in diverse industries including Specialty Vehicle, Agricultural, Military, Construction, and rail.
In order to continue developing a client base, Fairchild engaged in defining and refining its quality program. In result, the company has been gained numerous customer appreciation awards for quality, ISO 9001:2000, ISO 9000:2008 and now ISO 9001:2008 certification. Quality put Fairchild on the map and the acquisition of a 25,000 sq. ft. location in 1999 positioned Fairchild to grow further in rubber production, assembly work and JIT warehousing.
In the early 1990’s an automotive parts retailer looked to Fairchild to develop primary weatherstripping seals for vehicles. By pursuing this opportunity, Fairchild has transformed into a leading supplier of weatherstripping products to restoration, crash and Tier one automotive markets. Each new automotive catalog either doubles or triples products offered and stocked at the company’s location.
As mentioned above specialization in rubber products, affinity towards customers and finding innovative solutions to customer’s specialized needs has led Fairchild to growth and success. After all these years, the secret to the company’s success is having the “innovation and drive to deliver” quality products to make the relationships with all clients last.
– Joel C Schauer (GM of Fairchild Industries)
Fairchild Industries’ primary customers include: OEM, tier 1, tier 2, tier 3, and restoration and crash market distributors. Fairchild stocks thousands of skus and frequently develops additional automotive parts, covering a wider range of vehicles. The automotive catalog is primarily dedicated to belt weatherstrips, window channels, door seals, vent window seals, and window seals.
Fairchild develops custom parts, not limited to those found in the catalog, including: cross-member bushings, polyurethane bushings, engine mounts, shift boots, fender flares, heater hoses, latex seals, and more. In-house automotive engineers specialize in reverse-engineering products to ensure a specific, high-quality fit, while striving to improve upon the current OEM (original equipment manufacturer) parts.
Seals and weatherstripping are essential to preventing, noise, dust, water and other natural elements from entering vehicles. They often differ in the specific type of rubber they’re made out of, how they’re attached to the vehicle and where they fit. They offer:
molded and extruded rubber and plastic components
Fairchild Industries combines material expertise, engineering design, cutting edge software and warehousing to supply extruded and molded rubber, plastic and elastomer products for their customers worldwide. From Automotive, Agricultural and Industrial OEMs, to Tier 1s and aftermarket companies they serve the entire supply chain in need of their rubber and plastic expertise. From custom seals and hoses to gaskets and grommets, Fairchild Industries provides precision engineering, global manufacturing, and quality assurance to tailor solutions to meet their customers’ precise needs in a timely manner.
technologically advanced
Fairchild does rubber, plastic and distribution the modern way. They save their clients time and effort on their everything from quotes to part design, prototyping and simulation through their state-of-the-art Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, CAD Design and 3D Printing.
growth oriented
Fairchild’s approach to growth is simple: find ways to add value to their customers through mutual education and product line expansion. It hasn’t failed them in 50 years.
service focused
Family owned business can’t survive in today’s marketplace without unparalleled service. Everyone at Fairchild from sales and operations to customer service, engineering and marketing is equipped to answer your questions.