The first 50 years of what was once called the Chicago metropolitan area’s Tool & Die Institute accurately reflect the history of America’s manufacturing industry from 1925 to 1975.
Beginning with eight industry leaders and their companies in 1925, the Association had several name changes and leadership personnel adjustments over the years. However, the original mission of the Association set up by the early leaders remained the same throughout the first 50 years into the second 50 years, which was:
First, to promote the business interests of the members, and
Second, to improve the social and industrial relationships of the members and to foster the exchange of courtesies.
Now known as the “Technology & Manufacturing Association,” TMA continues to pursue its original mission. The Association is honored to have a unique link between its first 50 years and its second – Paul M. Heinze.
The first official Chairman of the Association Board, Max P. Heinze’s grandson, Paul M. Heinze, is now 83 years old and has been involved with the Association since the 1960s when he was learning the family business.
Mr. Heinze, who now advises companies considering the sale of their interests, as he experienced with M.P. Heinze Machine Company in his late 30s, recently shared memories with TMA News of his grandfather and his accomplishments when the younger Heinze served as Chairman of the Association Board during the Association’s 50th Anniversary year.
“My grandfather was a pillar of a man. He came to work in a threepiece suit, with a watch bob in his vest pocket, dressed to the nines as was the custom in those days,” Heinze said. “He set the example of quality, reliability, accountability, sustainability, and predictability. All those things were emblematic in his presence.”
“Was my grandfather ever warm and fuzzy? No.”
Indeed, Max P. Heinze was a stern personality, Paul recalls.
“I remember vividly my grandfather sitting in his office, which was a pleasant office of decent size, and he was behind a big desk, sitting in his big chair. In those days, they had intercom systems. I remember the few times I was there; he was always on the intercom. I think he had a real enjoyment of pressing all the buttons at one time and calling in people that he wanted to see immediately,” Heinze said.
“He pushed down the keys, and he would yell into the intercom system. As a youngster, it took me back,” Paul said, chuckling.
Paul Heinze’s childhood memories of his grandfather line up with his TMA archive photos.
Max P. Heinze was not among the first eight persons who participated in the organization’s inaugural meeting on August 29, 1925. Still, he joined within the first month, and his peers unanimously elected him as the Association’s leader in September 1925. He served as board chairman for six years.
Paul Heinze’s father, George M. Heinze, and Paul’s uncle, Howard, eventually assumed leadership of M.P. Heinze Machine Company from Max P. Heinze, stirring a natural interest within Paul Heinze’s third generation of manufacturers.
After graduating from college in 1965, Paul M. Heinze became involved in the family business. His recollection of the pride and patriotism demonstrated by metalworking professionals during that era is vivid.
“As I was entering the industry, tool and die makers came to work with white shirts and ties.
“Even though building a machine or machine tool posed a potential hazard, they rolled up their sleeves and loosened their ties while working. But when they left at the end of the day, that suit coat and tie went back on. They walked out with an unmistakable stance,” he said.
It was the craftsman toolmaker who brought things together as the designers had imagined long before computers were available.
“Sometimes the dimensions didn’t add up; the tolerances had no bearing or were unattainable. And it was up to the tool maker, the journeyman machinist, the craftsman, the skilled person to go through the operations and make them work because there was a portion that was unproven and that made the difference in the mind and the heart,” Heinze said.
“Among all the people who were in the industry and still are in the industry, many of the owners carry that same accountability, whether it’s quiet or loud. Like my grandfather’s methods, they carry accountability forward. They think, ‘We’re doing the right thing in the right way,’ and that makes all the difference,” he said. “There was a pride factor among tool makers, coupled with patriotism, that was solid.”
Heinze’s commitment to the industry and the Association led to his involvement in the Board and, subsequently, its Executive Committee.
In 1975, Heinze followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and became Chairman of the Association Board at age 33.
Heinze said he is especially proud of two projects he had a key part in initiating during his one-year term: the first Annual Prayer Breakfast and the first Association Directory.
The directory was an especially challenging undertaking, as it involved working with only typewriters and printing presses, with no computers available.
However, Heinze did say he would have liked to have successfully expanded the Association’s services to the Rockford, Peoria, Racine, and Milwaukee markets during his tenure.
“But it was almost like the Mafia then, where there were territories and districts,” Heinze said. “It is good to see that Rockford is now opening its doors to the Association. Hopefully, more areas will do the same.”
As for the future, Heinze said, associations like TMA will remain crucial to the industry despite technological advances such as computers, CNCs, the web, and artificial intelligence.
“Will there be a place for associations in the future? Yes, without hesitation, yes – associations will remain crucial,” he said.
There are two main reasons, Heinze said: What TMA is teaching now is giving the business owner of the future a snapshot of what their shop floor could be like. Those who learn skills at TMA develop a sense of camaraderie among those who complete their studies. “The owners of the future are here now,” Heinze said.
As far as manufacturing is concerned, the Association makes a crucial contribution to the industry, which works to improve modern lifestyles, appliances, and a wide range of products that humans rely on, from medical equipment to entertainment, sports, and related goods.
“I don’t think we can envision how sophisticated many of these products will become, so the students will take with them as they have learned at TMA and on their jobs, and they will take the steps forward when necessary,” Heinze said.
The visionary he is and always has been, Paul Heinze looks to the future – even another 50 years.
Personally, the Heinze legacy is being carried on through his son, Mark P. Heinze, who owns several manufacturing companies and is a 2025 member of the Technology & Manufacturing Association.
TMA will be just as necessary in the years to come as it is now, he said.
“To be successful, and in tune with their times, whoever is here at the 150th Anniversary will look back and say, ‘Well, maybe they predicted fairly well where there’s a need, a desire or commitment. That’s what made America strong.
“We’re kind of giving a taste of patriotism. Getting a taste of what being patriotic means. If it instills in itself and roots itself in the generations that are here and now, Yippee!” Heinze said, smiling. “We’re the better for it because there’s nothing like a strong America.”
And indeed, the same is true for the 100-year-old TMA, whose purpose has been since 1925 and likely will be until 2075:
First, to promote the business interests of the members, and
Second, to improve the social and industrial relationships of the members and to foster the exchange of courtesies.
First published in the 2025 Commemorative Issue of the TMA News Bulletin, Summer Edition. Written by Fran Eaton, TMA News Editor.