Parker Chemical Company &

Amchem Products

Begun in approximately 1914 in Detroit to supply manufacturing chemicals to the fairly new Ford Motor Company auto assembly operation, this company grew into and remained the largest company in the world in the field of chemical pretreatments for painted metal parts.

In 1987, the company was sold to Henkel Corporation of Düsseldorf, Germany, where it has been incorporated into this very large, integrated supplier of various metal finishing chemicals, products, and services, and remains the premier supplier of this type of product today worldwide.

The author worked for the company from 1968 to 2003, initially as a chemist at the old headquarters at 2177 East Milwaukee Avenue, Detroit, MI, a facility which was torn down to make way for the current GM Assembly plant sometimes called the "Poletown" plant near Hamtramck.

As the page is developed, there will be much history of the company and the products it developed which are enjoyed to this day, unknown by the public.

There will also be information about Amchem products of Ambler, Pennsylvania, Parker Chemical's largest and most formidable competitor, with which it merged in 1987.  Both companies had a proud and competitive history in the specialized world of chemical pretreatments, which consisted of products commonly known as iron phosphates, zinc phosphates, manganese phosphates, chromic-acid based products, and many others.

This will be a reverential view of these two companies and their legacies.

Written by Joseph Topping (jct2tx@yahoo.com), with initial work in April 2007.  Last update on April 04, 2007.