A Brief History
The company was started in 1893 as the Feix & Goethel company, manufacturers of galvanized iron works.
Their main products were Steam, Hot Air and Water Bath Apparatuses for Home, Hospital and Sanitarium use. These include tubs, steam and hot air cabinets, electric light bath cabinets and inhalation cabinets. They received a patent (No. 685,205) on October 22, 1901, for their artificial light and heat cabinet. They were located at 413 State Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Also, in the early 1900’s they started building industrial ventilation systems and by 1923 they had their own trademark for their line of dust collection and ventilation products, the “TAIFUN” brand. These included cyclone style dust collectors from 24” to 240” in diameter. The 240” cyclone handled 50,000 CFM of air. They designed, built and installed the complete systems, from standard and custom machine hoods, ductwork, heavy duty blowers and dust collectors. They also had a line of ventilation products including fans and roof ventilators, for a complete industrial ventilation solution. Their dust collection systems were used in wood working, foundries, aluminum smelters, furriers, automobile accessories, creameries, shoe makers, metal polishing, rope and twine factories. At one point nearly every Hemp Mill in Wisconsin was equipped with our dust collecting system. They also pioneered in wet type dust eliminators that were used after the cyclone dust collector, and even canvas bag type dust eliminators for sand blast rooms. The larger fabric style fine dust and lint collectors were patented in 1916. They had a complete line of spray booths, pneumatic conveying systems and drying ovens. At the time we were a one stop shop for anything needed for the industrial processes and the factory ventilation systems. We even included sky lights that opened to provide ventilation and day lighting to the factories, and fire doors for safety. We completed dust collection systems throughout the Midwest United States and Canada. It was at that time we developed the blast gate for controlling and closing industrial ventilation systems. These first blast gates were made from cast iron with a galvanized slide. The shop and offices were located at 827-829-831 31st Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
About that time A. E. Winkler joined the company. He was an accountant, laid off from Pabst Brewing during the time of prohibition. He became a valuable sales person for the company, specializing in the manufacturing and sales of the Blast Gates. He later left the company but retained the Blast Gate business, starting A. E. Winkler and Sons, Inc. This was the start of the Winkler Blast Gate which we currently sell in North and South America, Europe and Asia.
The company has moved to several locations in the metro Milwaukee area, as we continued to grow in size and capabilities. In the early 2000’s, we were again joined with Winkler Mechanical, bringing back the blast gates and ball joints. Along with small part fabrications. Today Winkler Blast Gates is a division of AGI.
Today we are located in a 180,000 square foot facility on Milwaukee’s North side, with seven overhead bridge cranes with capacities to 35 tons. Although we no longer install systems, we continue to manufacture large air pollution control systems, complete industrial dust and fume collection duct systems, spiral duct and fittings and commercial ductwork systems. We can also complete structural steel fabrications and heavy steal weldments. We can fabricate and weld any type of mild and stainless steels, aluminum and red metals. We have a complete pipe fitting and welding shop and have ASME R and PP stamps.