About Us

Like many of the great successes in industry, Oil-Rite’s story began with an entrepreneur with vision and a work ethic. Frank J. Lyden founded the business in 1933 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with a drafting table and manual machinery in a building the size of a garage. The flagship product was the constant level lubricator, which uses only gravity and no moving parts to replenish oil in a bearing housing. The product line expanded as customers challenged Mr. Lyden to bring his expertise to bear on related equipment for liquid level monitoring, flow control, and dispensing. The manufacturing process grew over the years in size and sophistication to support customers’ expectations for precision parts and short lead times. Today, the constant level oiler is still a marquee product for the company. Oil-Rite is equally well-known for its precise dispensing line of PurgeX pumps. PurgeX provides repeatable output of oil or grease under all kinds of conditions. It is next-gen lubrication equipment that addresses the ever-growing demand for automation and environmental responsibility.