In 1947, Stroba was founded by Max Stark, Harry Rosenberg, and Sal Baldi with their mustering out pay from World War II. The company began in lower Manhattan as a general machine shop. The next few years showed growth in redesigning, automating, and rebuilding metal spinning lathes. In 1951, components for photo enlargers and viewfinders for reflex cameras were manufactured, followed by components for television antennas.
Stroba began making and stocking standard instrument components for the first catalog of precision mechanical components for PIC Design in 1957. To meet the needs of the computer industry, the company manufactured base plates and other components. When a customer moved to Joplin, Miss., Stroba was asked to open a machine shop there to support production requirements. A new business, Astro Instrument, came from this request, and the demand for precision machined components for the computer industry caused the company to grow during the 1960s.
In the early 1970s, Allied Devices started as a manufacturer and distributor of standard precision components. Their first catalog was published with the help of Rowland Schwenker, a former employee of PIC Design. As the company struggled for its place in the market, Alfour Machine came on board, a vendor of screws, shafts, and other parts, and was renamed ADCO Devices.
Harry Rosenberg and Rowland Schwenker retired in the early 1980s, and the business was sold. The new owners, Mark Hopkinson and Key Bartow, retained Sal Baldi as vice president of manufacturing. In the next decade, Allied Devices added more speed reducers and worm-gear pitches to its product line, made miniature racks and preload assemblies used for computer hard disk drives, and also added linear bearings, ladder chains and sprockets, timing belts and pulleys, and a small range of metric parts. It acquired Absolute Precision and CNC Manufacturing, and formed a state-of-the-art precision milling and turning shop.
Long term contracts for military programs in the early 1990s led to manufacturing components and assemblies for the commercial aerospace market. Other highlights include the introduction of the AccuStar Phillips head shoulder screw, distribution relationships in Europe and Israel, and the design and development of prototypes for a new gearbox for improved efficiency and life expectancy.