Reliable Rubber celebrates 80th anniversary

NORTH BERGEN, N.J.—Times have certainly changed in the 80 years Reliable Rubber & Plastic Machinery Co. has been in business, but the family leading it has been a steady constant during the ebbs and flows of the business.

Thomas and Joseph Liccardo III, both vice presidents and principals with the firm, represent the third generation of Reliable's rich heritage, which was founded in 1935 by their grandfather—Herman Single. A welder and machinist by trade, Single started the business out of his garage repairing rubber industry equipment for shops along the East Coast.

Tom Liccardo said there were times when a customer couldn't afford a repair job, so Single would take something as a trade-in allowance, which is how he began accumulating machinery and eventually branching out into sales.

“Back then business was very simple compared to what it is today,” said Tom Liccardo, who focuses on the sales and marketing side while his brother, Joe, runs the engineering and manufacturing end. “Eventually (my grandfather) started to accumulate and establish himself with used rubber machinery and inventory that he would sell with a warranty.”

Single's daughter Helga became involved with the business when she was in high school and is still the firm's president. Helga eventually married Tom and Joe Liccardo's father, Joseph Liccardo, who joined the business as well.

Tom Liccardo said while he doesn't have any children, his brother does, making it possible for a fourth generation to come through Reliable's ranks.

Today the company occupies more than 250,000 square feet of manufacturing, warehousing and machine shop operations at two facilities in North Bergen—one is the machine shop and the other is used for heavy assembly. The firm employs about 35.

Reliable hasn't expanded physically in the last 10 years, but Tom Liccardo said it has made investments to upgrade its technology. He said business for 2015 looks strong and anticipates the same for 2016.

“We saw people try foreign-made equipment on one or two occasions, but after some bad experiences they realized the added value of buying made in the USA,” he said. “We've also seen an upswing. If I had foreign competition, whatever their experience was they'd rather put a preference on made in America.”

The firm manufactures and remanufactures rubber and plastics processing equipment. Reliable also will rebuild customer machines and provide replacement parts. Some of the machines it deals in include two-roll mills, internal mixers, extruders, calenders and hydraulic molding presses.

Reliable's services go beyond providing machines, as the industry has experienced more consolidation. Tom Liccardo said customers look to Reliable essentially to act as their maintenance department too.

“The way we've survived is a lot of people have relied on us as back up support,” he said. “Companies used to have a whole maintenance department with a dozen or so people in it; now it's down to two or three people.”

Some of Reliable's customers date back at least 75 years and include both small rubber shops and worldwide international corporations. Regardless, the family touch is always present.

“We take things a little more close to the vest, a little more personal, than most people,” Tom Liccardo said. “We like the relationships we've established. We were brought up on the motto that you should treat people like you want to be treated.”