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(812) 867-3496
About Us
Norman Tool is a provider of abrasion wear test equipment, button and keypad testing equipment, testing services, and the calibration and repair services for those machines. We have a selection of products that can suit your testing needs or we can customize our products if need be.
Norman Tool, Inc. has provided abrasion wear test equipment and button contact test equipment to a wide variety of industries since 1964. Norman Tool started as a precision machine shop in 1945 under the name of the Bishop Norman Company, later becoming Norman Tool and Stamping Company and eventually Norman Tool, Inc.. Precision machining was the service being sold, but good design and development, and analytical problem solving became an apparent extra set of skills that were available for offer.
With contacts in the plastics and electronics industries, our quality workmanship, attention to detail, and problem solving skills was key to having been presented an opportunity to enter the precision test instrument industry. There was a clear and growing need for testing and test equipment. Many abrasion wear application needs were recognized including ink, paint, surface testing, membrane switch testing, button testing, and keypad testing. Every surface that is touched by human fingers or otherwise, is abraded. These surfaces should be tested to ensure the failures due to abrasion occurs beyond the expected life of the product.
Norman Tool began to fill this need with the development of the RCA Abrasion Wear Tester in the 1960’s, and then, the contact and finger pressing testers. Since then, many manufacturers have adopted our abrasion wear testers, button and contact testers, as well as our test methods developed by ASTM and many individual companies. Companies such as General Electric, Motorola, General Motors, Chrysler, Lexmark, Apple, Amazon, Garmin, and many others have adopted their own test methods with great success. If the parts are made locally at a single plant, across the globe, or at multiple facilities, our calibrated testers are correlated to give results for the best surface quality control available.
In 2016, we became the exclusive United States distributor for INNOWEP testing equipment, which expands and builds on our reputation for providing high quality and innovative industrial test equipment.
The long standing values and core beliefs that created Norman Tool’s foundation has stood the test of time. Quality test equipment and attention to accuracy and precision has allowed Norman Tool a long lasting well known reputation as a world leader in the abrasion wear and contact testing industries.
Leadership
The customer base is Norman Tool’s leadership. It is the customer’s needs that drive our goals. Today, we believe this need involves new product development, a continued mission toward customer service, and serving our valued industries. This will be key to holding the status of a premier test equipment provider. We will always strive to maintain our core beliefs of serving our customers. To do this we will maintain a foundation of quality people in every position, make decisions using our ethical values, and make our products by obtaining as much knowledge as we can about the needs of those we serve. With this, we will assure that our service will always be valued by our customers.
Mission Statement
Norman Tool, Inc. has a mission to serve every customer that reaches out to us with “Integrity, Competence, and Fast and Friendly” service. Together with our customers, we expect to continue to improve the capabilities and products in the industries that we serve.
History of RCA Name
RCA stands for Radio Corporation of America. RCA is the company that originally determined the need and the application for the RCA tester. RCA developed the original RCA Abrader design and came to Norman Tool, then known as Norman Tool and Stamping Company, to perfect the design and turn it into a working tester. The tester was first used on television knobs for RCA. Norman Tool was given the rights to market our trademarked name of RCA Abrasion Wear Tester. Because of the ability to abrasion test small lettering and to abrade non-flat surfaces, the RCA Tester found its way into the electronics industry on keypads and buttons of all types as well as many other products. The RCA tester has provided a quantitative statistical method of comparing abrasion resistance levels on a variety of coatings and surfaces.