Our History. Our Story.

1972

After building portable crushing, washing and conveying equipment for his dad’s gravel pits, Neil Schmidgall establishes Superior Machinery in Minnesota.

1974

At 20 MPH, Neil and Linda drive their International tractor to retrieve conveyor idler manufacturing equipment purchased in Kansas.

1975

After a terrible winter, which includes the “Great Winter Storm” that buried the region under 20-foot snowdrifts, we build our first indoor warehouse.

1976

Concrete Minnesota acquires Schmidgall Sand & Gravel, which allows Neil and Linda to dedicate 100% of their time to manufacturing.

1982

A paint line is constructed using materials purchased from recently bankrupt Arctic Cat, an American manufacturer of all-terrain vehicles.

1986

Neil leases equipment and space to employees to start their own business as suppliers to Superior and others.

1990

Superior’s first professionally-trained design engineer joins the growing company

1991

A dedicated facility for conveyors and portable plants debuts moving final assembly indoors for the first time.

1994

Neil sells 30% of his ownership in Superior to employees creating an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).

Superior earns its first patent for development of the FD Series conveyor axle, which reduces conveyor setup time to seconds.

1996

A King Air C90 Beechcraft airplane is purchased to allow quicker responses to customers’ service needs.

1997

After years of research and development, the first TeleStacker® Conveyor debuts. It earns international attention and connects Superior to the world.

1998

After fire destroys the previous system, a new conveyor parts paint area comes online. The new system includes fiber-optic controls, powder coat painting and infrared curing.

1999

Superior is acquired by publicly-traded Astec Industries of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

2000

Plans for facility expansion and production supplies start after the decision to add conveyor pulleys to the product portfolio.

2003

On route from Chicago to Morris, a small plane carrying two young Superior engineers and a pilot crashes in Northeast Iowa. All men onboard passed away.

2004

A group of employees and local community investors purchase ownership of Superior back from Astec Industries.

2007

To better serve rapidly growing markets in the Southwest United States and Latin America, Superior expands manufacturing to Prescott Valley, Arizona.

Conveyor wing pulley market is disrupted when Superior unveils first-ever V-shaped wing pulley.

More History

2008

To better serve stationary plant markets in the Southeast United States, Loganville, Georgia-based Fesco Systems is acquired

2008

Diversity of products and markets is the goal when Superior acquires neighboring hometown manufacturer Westmor Industries

2010

In-house weld training center launches to instruct and certify current and new employees in the latest welding technologies.

2012

Five years after Apple’s revolutionary new phone, Superior creates the first iPhone App to quickly calculate conveyor-related equations.

2012

Management team sets 2020 Vision to be more relevant in bulk material processing and handling industries. Vision known as Rock Face to Load Out®.

2013

First time Superior exhibits at bauma. It’s the world’s largest trade show and conducted every three years in Munich, Germany.

2013

30,000 square feet of old space is demolished and 60,000 new square feet are added to the components plant in Minnesota. Capacity increases 60%.

2014

GreyStone, Inc. is the first acquisition to meet the Rock Face to Load Out vision. GreyStone manufactures wet processing equipment in Nebraska.

2014

 Childhood buddies and industry veterans John Garrison and Jason Adams are the first two industry veterans to join evolving Superior.

2015

Several acquisitions add experience, manufacturing and intellectual property for crushing and screening equipment. Included are Clemro Western, MFE Manufacturing, Parcan Group and FLSmidth’s Raptor cone assets.

2015

Founder Neil Schmidgall is inducted into Pit & Quarry Hall of Fame.

2015

Four models of Superior’s new Patriot® Cone Crusher are available. They’re the first new American-manufactured cones in at least a generation.

2017

Rock Face to Load Out Vision is unveiled to attendees of CONEXPO-CON/AGG. Superior shows the largest new product display in the exhibition’s history.

2018

Formation of new European branch with office in Northern Ireland.

2020

Fully integrated partnership with AMPCO Minerals improves responsiveness, reliability and quality of North American supply chain.

2020

Along with the arrival of COVID-19 in America, Superior’s groundbreaking application-specific idler bearing seals launch at CONEXPO-CON/AGG.

2023

Acquisition of CEMCO, Inc. – a VSI crushing manufacturer in New Mexico – adds 150,000 sq ft of manufacturing to footprint.

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