History
1984: Hans Wolf starts a rep company called Marshall Wolf Associates. His first product line is part of the United Electric Controls electronic line.
1985: Marshall Wolf Associates becomes a consultant rep for Dickson Co. and Omron.
1986: Hans also becomes a rep for ABB and Keyence. The business has outgrown their home, Hans and Kathy buy an old office building on Main Street.
1987: The focus shifts to distribution and Marshall Wolf Automation is incorporated.
1989: Hans and Kathy outgrow the current office building and purchase an old house that they convert into an office.
1990: They build a 5,000 square foot, two story warehouse behind the office building.
1989: Hans and Kathy outgrow the current office building and purchase an old house that they convert into an office.
1990: They build a 5,000 square foot, two story warehouse behind the office building.
1994: Once again, the business has outgrown the building. Hans and Kathy purchase the building next door from Century 21 and begin renovations. To the right, is our 1997 newsletter!
1995: Sales and Marketing staff are moved into the new building while Accounting, Purchasing and Warehousing remain in the original office.
1996: Our area code changes from 708 to 847. Back in these days it is a major deal to reprint letterhead, business cards and line cards!
1995: Sales and Marketing staff are moved into the new building while Accounting, Purchasing and Warehousing remain in the original office.
1996: Our area code changes from 708 to 847. Back in these days it is a major deal to reprint letterhead, business cards and line cards!
2004: www.WolfAutomation.com enters the e-commerce world! It is very exciting to see our first web orders placed online.
2008: The accounting and sales systems are completely overhauled and converted to Microsoft Navision.
2008: The accounting and sales systems are completely overhauled and converted to Microsoft Navision.
2009: We introduce our new logo and look, we switch our corporate colors from black, red and silver to green and black.
2009: Hans and Kathy’s three children (Christina, Karin and Jonathan) become equal shareholders in the business.
2012: The Sales and Marketing building is completely renovated to maximize space and streamline operations. Marshall Wolf Automation organizes into three focus groups; outside sales, web advertising and a system integration and engineering division.
2013: The lower level of our original office building is overhauled and now houses our Purchasing and Inventory Management team.
2013: The lower level of our original office building is overhauled and now houses our Purchasing and Inventory Management team.
2014: Our conference room gets a makeover and we continue to improve our internal systems, including an upgrade to Microsoft Navision.
2015: Our website is undergoing a complete change and will integrate with our Navision ERP system. We expand our Outside Sales, Customer Service and Inside Sales departments.
2016: Our new website is released, including full integration with our ERP system. Our new site offers our customers an extremely user-friendly experience.
2017: We continue to expand with new product lines. Our systems integration division doubles their space!
2016: Our new website is released, including full integration with our ERP system. Our new site offers our customers an extremely user-friendly experience.
2017: We continue to expand with new product lines. Our systems integration division doubles their space!
2018: Our founder, CEO, beloved mentor and friend, Hans Wolf, passes away. We all pull together to get through and make him proud. A new website is released in September.
2020: We start our ERP integration at the beginning of the year and in March most of our team goes remote due to the unfolding pandemic. We were still able to go live in October 2020 with our new ERP system!
2021: Our offices reopen in July and we are better prepared for remote work when needed. The difficult decision is made to close our UL508 panel shop which then allows us to consolidate and expand our warehouse plus invest in additional stock to offset the longer lead times we are experiencing. We are also working on a brand new design/front end of the website.
2020: We start our ERP integration at the beginning of the year and in March most of our team goes remote due to the unfolding pandemic. We were still able to go live in October 2020 with our new ERP system!
2021: Our offices reopen in July and we are better prepared for remote work when needed. The difficult decision is made to close our UL508 panel shop which then allows us to consolidate and expand our warehouse plus invest in additional stock to offset the longer lead times we are experiencing. We are also working on a brand new design/front end of the website.
2022: Our warehouse, accounting and purchasing departments are relocated to a larger facility with room to grow! We sell our original building (923 South Main Street) and change our mailing and shipping address: 210 Dowdle Street, Suite 1, Algonquin, IL 60102.
