ABOUT US

OUR HISTORY

Alard Engineering’s origins date back to 1967 when Alard Machine Products was founded by Raymond Nelson and Donald Gerber. After Raymond's retirement in 1979, Donald continued on and partnered with Gregg Thompson in 1984. Three years later, Gregg acquired full ownership of Alard Machine Products in 1987. With just 1 employee, 7 machines, and a mission statement, Gregg Thompson led AMP through its growth to over 100 machines, 130+ employees, before his retirement and sale of Alard to Heinz Engineering in 2022.

Heinz Engineering's origins date back to 1975, when founder John Heinz opened a modest machine shop in Hawthorne, CA and named it Heinz Engineering. Within two decades, John was joined by his son Roger Heinz, who eventually took over scaling the business from three employees to 18.

Capitalizing on a vibrant Southern California aerospace and defense climate throughout the 1960s and into the 1980’s, both Alard Machine Products and Heinz Engineering continued to expand their customer base, revenues and capabilities, transforming initially from a small basic machining and build-to-print manufacturer to more complex machining, mechanical and electro-mechanical assemblies, and the manufacture of larger aerostructures.

In September 2020, Heinz was acquired by The Afranie Group, LLC (“TAG”)”. In December of 2022, TAG acquired Alard Machine Products, forming Alard Engineering through the merger of Heinz Engineering and Alard Machine Products. By leveraging TAG’s industry expertise, the merger between Alard and Heinz will enhance its commitment to its customers, expand into more complex machining capabilities and become a leading aerospace and defense supplier.