- Company goes public; sells 275,000 shares over the counter at $11.50 per share.
- Shareholders approve Universal merger with Dover Corporation of New York City, NY.
- MEA production expands; awarded IBM contract to assembly thick film substrate for a new phase of computers.
- First & second overseas offices open to market products to Germany and central Europe.
- Sale of a Sequencer and a Dual Head VCD inserter to Standard Telephone and Cable Party Ltd. opens Australian market.
- 72-station mixed DIP machine shipped to Hughes Aircraft, Fullerton, CA; establishing our long-standing relationship within the aviation market.
- Man-U-Sert and Mod-U-Sert machines introduced at NEPCON/East trade show in Philadelphia, PA.
- Record hiring of 433 employees brings headcount to over 800.
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Landmark moment in 1972: Universal “goes public.”
Universal graduates from numerical control (N/C) to computer control (C/C) with this Variable Center Distance (VCD) Axial Component Inserter, shipped to Western Electric in Oklahoma.
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MEA, Administration, Marketing, and Finance move into new headquarters named “UIC Kirkwood North”.
Quadrasert VCD released in 1972 featuring automatic board handling.
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PIN insertion machines become the latest PC board assembly product line produced by Universal.
Picture shows a Sequencer, Dual-head and Single-head VCD Axial Inserters, directed by an automation control unit.
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Manusert machine, introduced at the NEPCON East show, is a manual assembly machine that inserts & clinches, for rapid manual insertion with lead cutting and clinching capabilities.
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A couple additional points in history:
- Hybrid Printing and Assembly Systems introduced. Screen printing on thick substrates and assembly of chip components prepare Universal’s entry into Surface Mount Technology.
- Universal purchased a 40,000 square foot facility on 9.8 acres in the Kirkwood Industrial Park which will become known as “Kirkwood North”, and will serve as our corporate headquarters for many years.
- The 1970s were marked by the energy crisis and led to high inflation throughout much of the world ; U.S. manufacturing industries began to decline as a result.
- The vacuum tube, was largely supplanted by semiconductor components as the fundamental technology of the industry