STOCK America® was started in 1975 by Hermann Rudolf Stock, owner of the German-based Hermann Stock Maschinenfabrik (HSM) and the inventor of the original STOCK rotary batch sterilizers.
Our initial focus in the 70’s and early 80’s was introducing the U.S. food industry to the technological advantages of end over end (E-O-E) rotation and full water immersion processing inherent in the ‘Rotomat’ batch retort. These types of retorts had found favor in European and Asian markets decades earlier due to the flexibility of the equipment, radical reductions in process times and the increased quality of end products. This was a novel approach compared to the simple steam retorts that dominated the U.S. market.
STOCK America continued to grow and expand our U.S. based competencies through the 1990’s and into the 21st century. We invested in our own control engineering capacity and developed our “award winning” ICON control system, which received FDA acceptance in 1994.
In 2006, STOCK America broke ground on a new assembly and testing facility for the U.S. located in Raleigh, N.C.
In 2010, DFT Technology GmbH in Neumünster, Germany licensed the exclusive North America manufacture of their trademark STOCK Immersion retorts to STOCK America Inc. Domestic U.S. retort manufacturing began at our facility in Raleigh, NC and the product was evolved to fit the requirements of the North American market.
In 2011, STOCK America became the exclusive provider of the control systems and process validation services for new microwave sterilization systems working with Food Chain Safety, Microwave Materials Technologies and Washington State University.
In 2012, STOCK America entered into an exclusive thermal processing partnership with TechniCAL. As the industry’s leading independent “Process Authority”, TechniCAL’s Web enabled “Process Cloud” allows customers to store all pertinent process information on secure off-site storage as well as upload deviations for Thermal Process Authorities to review.
In 2013, STOCK America became the exclusive distributor of ACB HYDROLOCK Continuous and Pilot Sterilizers for the USA along with territory rights in Canada.
In 2017, we moved into our new facility in Garner, NC, which will allow us to expand and improve our capabilities to refurbish, design build, fabricate, assemble and perform final testing for most of the equipment we provide to our customers. It will also bring all of our operations under one roof and provide potential additional capacity for adding material handling equipment assembly and testing.
In 2019, STOCK America was acquired by ProMach to fill a strategic role in expanding ProMach’s capabilities for the in-container sterilization market. ProMach specializes in providing single source solutions for the packaging and processing markets worldwide. STOCK is now able to expand beyond just retort rooms and offer customers entire integrated lines of equipment in collaboration with over 30 ProMach Businesses. Through the transition, STOCK has maintained it’s facility, leadership team, and business strategy, and we are excited about rapid growth opportunities as a part of ProMach.
Our Mission
At STOCK, our mission is to provide our customers application specific, innovative sterilization solutions while maintaining the highest level of operational standards in safety, service, and reliability.