Conair was founded in 1956 by small-town entrepreneur John Reib. He was one of the first in the plastics industry to recognize the need to automate the material handling process and worked on ways to increase yields for injection molders and extruders everywhere.
The company was soon the dominant name in the auxiliaries market and remained that way when the company was bought by GWH Holdings Company in 1986. At that time Conair consisted of a plant and headquarters in Franklin, Pennsylvania and the Jetro division in Bay City Michigan. At Franklin, Conair manufactured bulk systems, material handling and conditioning equipment, water equipment, and reclaim systems while Jetro manufactured pelletizers, granulators and robots.
Conair was also expanding globally by joining forces with Churchill, UK manufacturer of liquid temperature control units. Later, Churchill evolved into Conair Europe. To serve the far east, Conair Pacific was formed in Singapore. More recently, Conair Mexicana was formed to serve Mexico, Central America, and South America.
After GWH formed The Conair Group in 1986, Martin, Inc., robotics manufacturer in Agawam, Massachusetts, was acquired. Further acquisitions included Gatto Machinery, downstream equipment manufacturer, and Wor-Tex, granulator manufacturer, in 1988. Then, in 1989, Tempro was formed from the ground up in the Chicago area to manufacture the best liquid temperature controllers ever built.