在1952年，John Haswell 先生還為密歇根州底特律一個大型工模具制造廠的雇員，他夢想著有屬于自己的工模具公司，最終他成立了金屬沖壓廠，也就是今天Master Craft公司的前身。。隨著機會的增長，Haswell 給予了充分利用，他的公司業(yè)務(wù)如此的繁忙以致于要推掉一些業(yè)務(wù)，這樣他買下了別的廠來開發(fā)這些機會。
　　在Haswell的地下室，其晚上與周末都忙碌在為大底特律區(qū)域的金屬沖壓公司制造鑄模，不久后，這家企業(yè)從他的地下室搬至他的車庫，并保持著持續(xù)的成長與興旺。
不用說，下面的是歷史：
　　十年內(nèi)，業(yè)務(wù)增長的如此之快，Haswell先生將生產(chǎn)從車庫搬至更大的廠區(qū)，直到搬至一個容納200多員工的生產(chǎn)廠。設(shè)備的尺寸與動力也成戲劇般地增長。Haswell的公司的客戶也從僅有的一家增長到100多家，同時，其產(chǎn)量也從10噸增長到3,000多噸，Haswell 先生一度擴張的客戶包括財富500強的福特、通用與克萊斯特。這一迅速成長的企業(yè)為汽車、卡車及工業(yè)與農(nóng)場牽引車制造了百萬的金屬沖壓件、機車滑輪與大量的組裝配件。到20世紀70年代，Haswell 先生的事業(yè)已擴張到系統(tǒng)制造與組裝，福特牽引車公司與Master Craft簽訂了協(xié)議，包括為其100輛車載反鏟挖土機制造配件與提供組裝。
　　車載反鏟挖土機系統(tǒng)是如此的成功，Haswell 先生決定嘗試開發(fā)獨一無二的生產(chǎn)線——越野叉車。Haswell 回憶起他組成技術(shù)與生產(chǎn)計劃的團隊以研發(fā)出新產(chǎn)品，經(jīng)過幾個月的研發(fā)，新的產(chǎn)品下線了。這一過程中的計劃、策略與艱苦的努力很快出了成果，當Master Craft最初代表著新福特動力叉車在1976年芝加哥的物料搬運展覽會上的出現(xiàn)，這一新產(chǎn)品被歡呼為“第一輛外觀與操作與牽引車不同的越野叉車”。最初，Master Craft的型號系列為4,000到8,000磅的舉升，那時唯一的傳動系是在福特445, 545 與 655滑道上自造的，門架與驅(qū)動軸是采購的條目，不是內(nèi)部制造。
　　到1975年，Master Craft搬至喬治亞州以更好地利用勞力的成本，小化運轉(zhuǎn)成本，同時喬治亞州也有“適合工作”的州的美名，而且，搬遷也可以很好地利用機械結(jié)構(gòu)與性能所要求的新技術(shù)優(yōu)勢。
　　1976年到來時，新系統(tǒng)的訂單源源流入Master Craft，我們開發(fā)了一種經(jīng)銷途徑——通過打造強大的代理網(wǎng)絡(luò)來贏得可觀的市場占有。
　　全天，Master Craft叉車被適用于50多個工業(yè)領(lǐng)域，銷往至少三個大洲，美國的20強越野叉車制造商中，其為前五名，占據(jù)11%的市場份額，也是北美年代最久的、最有聲譽的越野叉車制造商之一。Master Craft仍然將保持著其家族式所有的公司——象其初期一樣，我們強烈認為聲譽、與代理商的友好關(guān)系及優(yōu)質(zhì)的設(shè)備在過去及將來對我們都是很有幫助的。最后，我們的叉車已經(jīng)并將繼續(xù)一代一代的建造下去，Master Craft——當別人制造越野叉車時，我們已是知名的。

In 1952, our founder, Mr. John Haswell, was an employee for a large tool and die manufacturer in Detroit, Michigan. Mr. Haswell had dreams of owning his own tool and die company, and eventually, a metal stamping plant. An opportunity arose, and Haswell took advantage of it. His company was so busy that they were turning down jobs, so Mr. Haswell immediately bought a mill and saw to exploit this opportunity.
In his basement during both nights and weekends, Haswell built dies for metal stamping companies in the greater Detroit area. Well, it wasn’t long before this enterprise grew out of his basement and into his garage, and continued to grow and prosper.
Needless to say, the rest is history.
Within ten years, business grew so fast that Mr. Haswell moved from that garage to buildings of ever-increasing size until his company was moved to a manufacturing facility that employed over 200 employees. Equipment size and power also increased dramatically. Haswell’s company grew from just one press to over 100; during that same period, capacity was augmented from 10 to over 3,000 tons, and Mr. Haswell received hundreds of jobs for an ever-expanding client list that included Fortune 500 customers such as Ford, GM, and Chrysler. This burgeoning enterprise produced millions of metal stampings, automobile pulleys and numerous assembly components for automobiles and trucks, as well as industrial and farm tractors. By the 1970’s, Mr. Haswell’s business also expanded into system manufacture and assembly- Master Craft was given a Ford tractor company contract, which included building parts for and assembling 100 truck-mounted backhoes.
The truck-mounted backhoe systems were such a success, Mr. Haswell decided to try another idea to exploit a unique product niche: the rough terrain forklift. Haswell recalls that he assembled a team of engineers and production planners in order to develop the new products, and after several months of research and development, the new products were rolled out. The planning, strategy, and hard work involved in the process didn’t take long to pay off- at Master Craft’s initial presentation of the new Ford-powered forklift at the 1976 Material Handling Show in Chicago, the new product was hailed as “the first rough terrain forklift that didn’t look or work like a tractor.”
Initially, Master Craft’s model ranges were from 4,000-8,000 lb lifts. The only power train offered at that time was housed in the Ford 445, 545 and 655 skids. Masts and steer axles were purchased items, not manufactured in-house.
By 1975, Master Craft moved to Tifton, Georgia in order to fully exploit the cost of living, labor costs, as well as Georgia’s reputation as a “right to work” state. Furthermore, the move would take advantage of the new technology required for both machine construction and features.
As 1976 arrived, orders for the new system began to pour into Master Craft. We developed a marketing approach of building a strong dealership network in order to gain a respectable share of the market.
Today, Master Craft forklifts are used in over fifty different industry segments, and have been sold and used in at least 3 continents worldwide. Out of 20 rough terrain forklift manufacturers in the US, Master Craft is a top 5 manufacturer with 11% market share, and is one of the oldest and most reputable rough terrain forklift manufacturers in North America. Master Craft still continues to be a family owned company – as we have been from our inception. We feel strongly that our continuing pursuit of the combination of reputation, personal relationships with our dealers, and high-quality equipment have been useful to us – both in the past and in our future. Finally, as always, our lifts have been and will be built by generations to last for generations. Master Craft – while others build rough terrain forklifts, we are rough terrain forklifts.