Under the 42 year ownership of Emil Kondra, Ellcon-National has grown from a small company started in a garage in 1910, to a large flourishing company soon to be celebrating almost 100 years of service to the Railcar industry.
Ellcon is known worldwide for its high quality
AAR approved brake products for freight, locomotive & transit applications. Over its long history, Ellcon-National has built a loyal customer base by providing exceptional service and building products focused on their needs. Today, Ellcon-National is a world leader in the
manufacture of AAR approved Hand Brakes, Truck Mounted Brakes, Empty Load Devices and Slack Adjusters. It continues its proud tradition of building high quality railcar products designed for long-life and minimum maintenance.
Located in two modern facilities totalling 400,000 sq.ft in Greenville, South Carolina, Ellcon-National uses innovative manufacturing processes to build railcar products that far exceed
AAR quality standards.
Founded in
New York City as a manufacturer of transit car products, Ellcon grew, diversified and finally merged with National Brake in 1959 to become Ellcon-National. The newly formed company now under the leadership of Emil Kondra moved to
Totowa, New Jersey in 1966 where ever increasing demands of its new and expanding product lines dictated further expansion of its facilities.
In 1989 under the leadership of Doug Kondra, the President of Ellcon-National, the company identified
Greenville, South Carolina as the ideal location to make its new home. Greenville offered an impressive track record for economic development, industrial growth, skilled labor, and wonderful quality of life for Ellcon's employees.
Doug Kondra notes with pride that 90 employees representing almost 72% of the company at that time, decided to relocate.
A new 153,000 sq. ft plant and administrative headquarters was completed in August 1991. Rapid growth of Ellcon-National's product lines dictated the addition of another 100,000 sq. ft in 1992. In 1997, a second modern 155,000 sq. ft facility was constructed. Today, with the two Ellcon-National plants on a 50 acre tract of land separated from each other by Ellcon Drive, there is still ample room for further expansion.
Summed up, this is what Emil P. Kondra, chairman of the board of Ellcon-National had to say -
"Make good products that are needed, change with the times and above all, invest in R&D"
Ellcon's commitment to high quality products, service and testing is strengthened by its 8000 sq. ft. R&D facility supporting both engineering & research departments. This facility allows for extensive in-house
AAR testing, ongoing testing for development of upgrades and research into product longevity.
The Ellcon-National research department works closely with engineering and field service personnel, so the company can quickly modify or develop new products to meet customer demands.
Using the latest machining equipment and testing facilities, and innovative manufacturing processes, Ellcon-National is able to assure its products have a long life and adhere to quality standards that far surpass those specified by the
AAR.
Ellcon continues to make investments in state-of-the-art 3D modeling and CAD-CAM systems, new machining and robotic technologies. These "hard" investments coupled with MRP and inventory management 
software, allow Ellcon-National to keep track of orders and part movements, forecasts markets and incorporate customer needs into the central planning process. All this translates into lower cost, higher quality manufacture and the faster development of new products.
One of Ellcon-National's greatest strengths is its nationwide representation of sales and service personnel and its outstanding support of its customers. With its focus confined to the few products in which it is a world leader and its relatively small size (350 employees), Ellcon-National is able to respond far quicker to customer emergencies and needs than any of its competitors. With a focus on the customer continuing as its central passion, and with a new dedication to include the needs of international AAR markets, Ellcon-National is ready to serve the global Railcar industry into the 21st Century and beyond.
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