When K.A. Swanstrom founded Penn Engineering & Manufacturing Corp. in 1942, he did so with a revolutionary new product: a self-clinching fastener that provides load-carrying threads in metal sheets too thin to be tapped.

At first, Swanstrom produced the fastener with four machines in a Doylestown, PA, garage. However, this simple operation soon gave way to a modern facility in Danboro, PA, because manufacturers and engineers alike recognized the fastener’s load-carrying benefit.