What Richards-Wilcox does

Richards-Wilcox, Inc. is a privately-owned American industrial manufacturer founded in 1880 and headquartered at 600 South Lake Street, Aurora, Illinois. The company operates three wholly-owned divisions under separate brand identities: Aurora Storage (shelving and storage solutions including the Aurora Quik-Lok® easy-assembly system, Aurora Mobile modular systems, Wood-Tek™ wood-clad shelving, and Times-2™ Rotary Cabinets); Richards-Wilcox Conveyor (overhead enclosed track and flexible conveyor systems branded Safe-Rail®, Zig-Zag®, Twin-Trak®, Paintline™ and OveR-Way™, with Richards-Wilcox credited as the originator of the overhead enclosed track conveyor approximately 100 years ago); and RW Hardware (forged specialty door hardware and accessories for slide, swing, and slide-fold doors serving zoos, aquariums, barns, stables, historic buildings, and commercial, industrial, and residential settings).

The company sells primarily through direct channels via its three product-brand websites (aurorastorage.com, rwconveyor.com, rwhardware.com) and reports 11-50 employees. Revenue is generated through hardware sales of specialty products engineered for durability and adaptability, with pricing not publicly disclosed. Customer segmentation is horizontal, spanning museums, libraries, zoos, aquariums, agricultural facilities, healthcare, universities, offices, and industrial manufacturers. The company holds registered trademarks for all major proprietary product lines and emphasizes American manufacturing heritage and 140+ years of continuous operation as core brand pillars. No external investors, parent company, or recent funding events are identified in available records, and the company has not disclosed revenue figures.

Name

Richards-Wilcox

Legal name

Richards-Wilcox, Inc.

Website

https://richardswilcox.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1880

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Richards-Wilcox, Inc. is a privately-owned Aurora, Illinois manufacturer founded in 1880 operating three divisions: Aurora Storage shelving systems, Richards-Wilcox Conveyor (inventor of the overhead enclosed track conveyor), and RW Hardware forged door hardware for industrial, agricultural, and institutional customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Aurora

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Hardware Sales: Sale of specialty hardware and door accessories for slide, swing, and slide-fold doors

Distribution channels1 record

Core offering

Richards-Wilcox is a privately-owned American manufacturer that produces specialty hardware and door accessories for slide, swing, and slide-fold doors; commercial/industrial storage shelving systems (Aurora Quik-Lok®, Aurora Mobile, Wood-Tek™, Times-2™ Rotary Cabinet); and overhead enclosed track conveyor systems (Safe-Rail®, Zig-Zag®, Twin-Trak®, Paintline™, OveR-Way™). The company operates three product divisions — Aurora Storage, Richards-Wilcox Conveyor, and RW Hardware — and serves commercial, industrial, institutional, agricultural, and residential customers across the United States.

Product overview

Richards-Wilcox is a privately-owned American manufacturer founded in 1880, offering three distinct product divisions under a unified company: Aurora Storage (shelving and storage solutions including Aurora Quik-Lok, Aurora Mobile, Wood-Tek, and Times-2 Rotary Cabinet), Richards-Wilcox Conveyor (conveyor systems including Safe-Rail, Zig-Zag, Twin-Trak, Paintline, and OveR-Way), and RW Hardware (specialty door hardware and accessories). The products serve diverse sectors including museums, hospitals, universities, zoos, aquariums, offices, and industrial facilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Aurora Storage: Storage solutions provider offering Aurora Quik-Lok Shelving, Aurora Mobile, Wood-Tek wood-clad shelving, and Times-2 Rotary Cabinet for libraries, businesses, museums and more
• Richards-Wilcox Conveyor
• RW Hardware

Products and services

• Aurora Quik-Lok® Shelving Easy-to-assemble shelving system from the Aurora Storage division, designed for versatile storage applications across libraries, businesses, museums, and other institutions.
• Aurora Mobile Storage Versatile mobile storage solution from the Aurora Storage division that enables flexible space utilization and reconfigurable layouts.
• Wood-Tek™ Wood-Clad Shelving Elegant wood-clad shelving system from the Aurora Storage division combining aesthetic design with functional storage.
• Times-2™ Rotary Cabinet Unique rotary cabinet from the Aurora Storage division providing compact, rotating storage that maximizes footprint.
• Safe-Rail® Conveyor System Flexible overhead enclosed track conveyor system from the Richards-Wilcox Conveyor division, designed for adaptability and integration with evolving factory floorplans and technology.
• Zig-Zag® Conveyor System Flexible conveyor system from the Richards-Wilcox Conveyor division engineered for adaptability and integration with factory technology and floorplan evolution.
• Twin-Trak® Conveyor System Dual-track conveyor system from the Richards-Wilcox Conveyor division designed for adaptability in manufacturing and industrial environments.
• Paintline™ Conveyor System Specialized conveyor system from the Richards-Wilcox Conveyor division designed for paint line applications in industrial settings.
• OveR-Way™ Conveyor System Overhead conveyor system from the Richards-Wilcox Conveyor division providing material handling capability for factory evolution.
• RW Hardware — Specialty Door Hardware & Accessories Specialty hardware and door accessories for slide, swing, and slide-fold doors from the RW Hardware division, used in zoos, aquariums, barns, stables, contemporary and historic buildings, and commercial, industrial, and residential settings.

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature9 records

Scale indicators4 records

Direct peers

• Hytrol Conveyor Company: Direct peer to Richards-Wilcox Conveyor — Hytrol designs and manufactures material handling conveyors for industrial and distribution customers, competing for the same factory and warehouse modernization budgets that Safe-Rail and OveR-Way systems target.
• Montel: Direct peer in mobile and high-density industrial storage — Montel serves similar institutional and commercial storage use cases (libraries, museums, healthcare) with comparable mobile shelving systems to Aurora Storage.
• Hager Companies: Direct peer to RW Hardware — Hager manufactures commercial and architectural door hardware distributed to the same institutional and commercial channels, with overlapping product categories in hinges, locks, and door accessories.
• Kardex Group: Direct peer in industrial storage and retrieval — Kardex produces automated storage systems, carousels, and high-density shelving, overlapping directly with Aurora Storage's rotary cabinets and mobile storage solutions across commercial and institutional buyers.
• Spacesaver Corporation: Direct peer to the Aurora Storage division — Spacesaver manufactures high-density mobile shelving and storage systems for libraries, museums, healthcare, and government, directly competing with Aurora Quik-Lok, Aurora Mobile, and Times-2 Rotary Cabinet in the same institutional storage RFPs.
• Hafele America: Direct peer to RW Hardware — Hafele supplies architectural and specialty door hardware across commercial, residential, and institutional settings, overlapping with RW Hardware's specialty hardware and door accessory portfolio.
• Pacline Conveyors: Direct peer in overhead enclosed track and power-and-free conveyors — Pacline competes head-to-head with Richards-Wilcox's overhead conveyor line in automotive, manufacturing, and finishing applications.

Broad incumbents

• ASSA ABLOY: Broad incumbent in door and access hardware — ASSA ABLOY is a global leader in locks, hinges, and door accessories, serving many of the same commercial, industrial, and historic-building buyers as RW Hardware but at vastly greater scale and breadth.
• Daifuku: Broad incumbent in material handling — Daifuku offers overhead conveyors, sortation, and integrated intralogistics systems that compete with Richards-Wilcox Conveyor, particularly on Industry 4.0 factory automation projects.
• TGW Systems: Broad incumbent in conveyor and warehouse material handling — TGW provides conveyor systems and integrated fulfillment solutions that overlap with Richards-Wilcox Conveyor's manufacturing and distribution-customer footprint.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/RichardsWilcoxConveyor

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Richards-Wilcox