Shuttleworth Europe

General information

Shuttleworth Foods began in 1938 when Charles Shuttleworth, a tomato farmer, started his canning operation in Warren, Indiana. In 1952, Charles, along with his 13-year old son, Jim, developed the "Can Un-scrambler" to assist in the process of canning tomatoes. Proceeding his father's death in 1961, Jim Shuttleworth purchased the machinery portion of the business and relocated operations to Huntington, Indiana and in May 1962, Shuttleworth Machinery Corporation was born.

By 1965, Shuttleworth Machinery Corporation was manufacturing not only its can un-scrambler product but also had developed a high-speed, hydraulic case packer named the "Futurmatic" which placed bottles or cans into cases. This new product soon experienced explosive growth with the company licensing the case packer not only in the US but also in Australia, England and Holland. And in 1969, Shuttleworth moved operations to its present building at 10 Commercial Road in Huntington.

Quite the entrepreneur, Shuttleworth sought to find a solution for feeding products gently into the case packer. His world-renowned and patented "Slip-Torque®" conveyor was developed in 1972, enabling products to be moved by friction between the rollers and the product being conveyed. And, in 1974, Shuttleworth Incorporated was created and a joint venture partnership in Japan began with the formation of Taiko-Shuttleworth. The demand for European sales and manufacturing soon grew with an office opening in Belgium in 1979. Not soon after, Shuttleworth opened an office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Due to the economic downturn in the electronics market, the Japanese joint venture was dissolved in 1996.

In 2002, Shuttleworth introduced its "Easy Clean" conveyor designed for the food and healthcare market. This stainless steel conveyor includes minimal horizontal frame surfaces where contaminants can collect and allows for easy wash down. Shuttleworth's innovative "Star Roller" was then created in 2003 specifically for the paper handling industry to eliminate creeping or shingling of the bottom layers of paper when stacked or accumulated on the Slip-Torque conveyor.

Jim's entrepreneurial insights and tremendous leadership helped catapult Shuttleworth Incorporated as a premier provider of proven product handling solutions. In 2003, Jim Shuttleworth died unexpectedly in a single-plane crash. His widow, Carol Shuttleworth, was appointed President and CEO by the Board of Directors, a position which she held until selling the company to Pro Mach Incorporated in 2011.

Pro Mach is a leading provider of integrated packaging products and solutions for food, beverage, household goods, pharmaceutical, and other diverse consumer and industrial companies. Pro Mach provides equipment, training, installation, and parts in primary packaging, end-of-line packaging, and identification and tracking. Pro Mach is headquartered in Covington, Kentucky, with manufacturing facilities and offices throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Southeast Asia.