{"id":200,"date":"2016-01-27T19:43:29","date_gmt":"2016-01-27T19:43:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zeusinc.wpengine.com\/history-of-zeus\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T08:59:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T13:59:27","slug":"history-zeus","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.zeusinc.com\/company\/history-zeus\/","title":{"rendered":"History of Zeus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Founded in 1966 and built on the principle belief that \u201cThere is no \u2018good enough\u2019 in true craftsmanship,\u201d Zeus has journeyed through decades of relentless innovation on a never-ending quest to provide solutions that enable innovation and enhance lives.<\/p>\n

As a world leader in advanced polymer solutions, Zeus is at the forefront of dynamic innovation, helping a range of industries transform ideas into reality. From aerospace and automotive applications to life-saving medical devices and more, our high-performance polymer componentry and cutting-edge catheter solutions help solve the critical needs of the future, enabling you to lead from the front.<\/p>\n

Selected Zeus Milestones<\/h3>\n

1966<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 After working for 10 years in the extrusion industry, Frank P. Tourville, Sr., founds Zeus in 1966 in Raritan, NJ. After acquiring his first extruder from Times Wire & Cable (Wallingford, Conn.), Mr. Tourville rents a facility and hires his first employee, Ray Coulombe. Together, these assets \u2013 both people and machines \u2013 form the foundation of what would become Mr. Tourville\u2019s\u00a0thriving business.<\/p>\n

1968<\/strong> \u2013 Zeus develops Sub-Lite-Wall\u2122\u00a0tubing \u2013 a tubing with super-thin walls. In conjunction with this development, Zeus manufactures PTFE 4:1 heat shrink tubing for intravenous catheters for Jelco \u2013 a division of Johnson & Johnson \u2013 and one of Zeus\u2019 first medical customers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

1972<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Mr. Tourville opens a second shift at Raritan. Zeus now has 17 employees working in production and related functions.<\/p>\n

1976<\/strong> \u2013 Mr. Tourville purchases the Raritan, NJ, plant and celebrates Zeus\u2019 10th anniversary. Bill Cook, of the Cook Group, Inc., flies from Indiana to New Jersey to pick up an urgently needed order of tubing.\u00a0 Mr. Tourville and National Sales Manager John Worley personally deliver the order to Cook at an airport; the act cements Zeus\u2019 long-standing value of commitment to its customers \u2013 including the Cook Group, Inc. Also at this time, Zeus establishes its business model of forming collaborative relationships with customers focusing on the development of custom extrusions. This approach results in Zeus\u2019 special products accounting for 70 % of sales by the 1980\u2019s.<\/p>\n

1977<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Zeus achieves Underwriters Laboratory (UL) approval for its products. Meanwhile, the Raritan plant produces automotive push-pull cables with filled abrasion-resistant tubing<\/p>\n

1981<\/strong> \u2013 Mr. Tourville visits South Carolina with the State Development Board to look at potential facilities for expansion. A short time later, Zeus announces the purchase of a facility in Orangeburg, SC. The building is an 1897 Santee \/ South Carolina Cotton Mills building on the National Registry of Historic Places. A PTFE extruder is built for the Orangeburg site, and the first ten employees are trained at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

1982<\/strong> \u2013 The Orangeburg, SC, facility opens with ten employees working a single shift. Barry Stewart serves as the first plant manager and Donald Kirby serves as the first production employee. In time, Zeus moves its headquarters to Orangeburg.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

1989<\/strong> \u2013 Executive Management and Sales offices relocate from the facility in Raritan, NJ, to Orangeburg, SC.\u00a0 Mr. Tourville becomes Chief Executive Officer, and John Worley is named President and Chief Operating Officer. Zeus also purchases a warehouse next to the Orangeburg plant and begins renovations for new Sales and Marketing offices.<\/p>\n

1991<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Zeus celebrates 25 years in business, and Mr. Tourville is awarded the Key to the City of Orangeburg. PEEK extrusion process is also developed.<\/p>\n

1994<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Zeus attends as an exhibitor at its first trade show, Medical Design & Manufacturing East in New York City.<\/p>\n

1996<\/strong> \u2013 A new facility, located in Gaston, SC, opens; and the first Zeus website launches.<\/p>\n

1999<\/strong> \u2013 A fourth facility opens in Aiken, SC, and expanded PTFE (ePTFE) process is developed.<\/p>\n

2002<\/strong> \u2013 A new Sales and Marketing building opens in Orangeburg, SC, located on Industrial Boulevard.\u00a0 Mr. Tourville is presented with DuPont\u2019s prestigious M.I. \u201cWhitey\u201d Bro Lifetime Achievement Award in Fluoropolymers, \u201cfor his contribution as a foundational pioneer to the fluoropolymer tubing market.\u201d<\/p>\n

2005<\/strong> \u2013 Zeus opens its first international location in Letterkenny, Ireland, giving the company a total of nine facilities at six sites and with over 1000 employees. Also during this time, the Aiken, SC, facility expands, and the Corporate Machine and Fabrication Shop doubles in size. Zeus\u2019 Oracle-based ERP system is established.<\/p>\n

2009<\/strong> \u2013 Zeus attains AS9100 certification enabling the company to increase its presence in the aerospace and related industries.<\/p>\n

2010<\/strong> \u2013 Zeus achieves ISO Class 7 certification for its entire biomaterials facility.<\/p>\n

2012<\/strong> \u2013 Zeus\u2019s Corporate Machine Shop receives AS9100:ISO9001 certification.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

2013<\/strong> \u2013 A new facility opens in Branchburg, NJ, replacing the original plant in Raritan.<\/p>\n

2015<\/strong> \u2013 Zeus launches its free Virtual Sample Locker service, an online portal where registered members can order samples quickly with expedited shipping. FluoroPEELZ\u2122 peelable heat shrink, the most significant improvement for catheter construction in years, launches, and Zeus begins coating fiber optics. The Letterkenny, Ireland, facility also expands.<\/p>\n

2016<\/strong> \u2013 Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) monofilament is introduced as a replacement for metal braiding in catheter construction. The Letterkenny, Ireland, facility achieves TS16949 automotive certification.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

2017<\/strong> \u2013 Zeus launches the StreamLiner\u2122 series of extruded PTFE catheter liners, the thinnest in the market. Featuring an impressive array of thin-wall and minimal ID\/OD catheter liner options, these liners represent a new class of precision components that bring strength and flexibility for more advanced catheter designs.<\/p>\n

2018<\/strong> \u2013 Zeus announces a $76 million expansion that is expected to create an additional 350 jobs over the next several years. Soon thereafter, Zeus acquires Chattanooga-based MWC Technologies, LLC, adding polyimide manufacturing to the product portfolio that Zeus has been developing for the past 5 decades.<\/p>\n

2019<\/strong> \u2013 Zeus introduces Tie Layer, an adhesion aid for catheter construction that enhances jacket-to-liner bond strength. A new polyimide family of products is released, as well as Low-Temp Dual-Shrink\u2122, FEP 2:1 heat shrink, and high-ratio FluoroPEELZ\u2122 peelable heat shrink. Zeus opens a new, state-of-the-art facility in Columbia, SC, and acquires new manufacturing and office space to bolster operations in Tennessee.<\/p>\n

2020<\/strong> \u2013 StreamLiner\u2122 Over-The-Wire (OTW) launches, bridging the gap between film-cast and free-extruded liner technologies, empowering design engineers to develop new and improved catheter solutions.<\/p>\n

2021<\/strong> \u2013 The polyimide family of products expands with the introduction of braid and coil reinforced polyimide tubing. Zeus acquires CathX Medical, a leading provider of catheter design and manufacturing services in San Jose, California. By integrating CathX capabilities, Zeus now offers end-to-end catheter solutions from components to completed assemblies.<\/p>\n

2022<\/strong> \u2013 Zeus introduces PTFE Sub-Lite-Wall\u2122 multi-lumen tubing, an industry first, helping simplify the construction of steerable catheters. In response to rising demand, Zeus invests significantly in expanding the San Jose, CA, facility, greatly increasing its catheter design and manufacturing capacity.<\/p>\n

2023<\/strong> \u2013 The Arden Hills, Minnesota, facility opens, further expanding catheter design and manufacturing operations. Zeus launches Absorv\u2122 XSE oriented bioabsorbable tubing, enabling next-generation bioresorbable scaffolds (BRS) for a wider variety of procedures.<\/p>\n

2024<\/strong> \u2013 Zeus enters a bold new chapter under the stewardship of EQT, a leading private equity firm, with newly appointed CEO Paddy O\u2019Brien at the helm. This transition marks a pivotal moment in the company\u2019s history, pairing EQT\u2019s strategic investment and global perspective with Zeus\u2019 innovation-driven culture to expand capabilities, accelerate growth, and unlock new opportunities.<\/p>\n

2025<\/strong> \u2013 StreamLiner\u2122 NG, the company\u2019s first-ever film-cast PTFE catheter liner, is unveiled, delivering next-level flexibility, mechanical performance, and reliability \u2013 reinforcing Zeus\u2019 leadership in catheter component innovation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Founded in 1966 and built on the principle belief that \u201cThere is no \u2018good enough\u2019 in true craftsmanship,\u201d Zeus has journeyed through decades of relentless innovation on a never-ending quest to provide solutions that enable innovation and enhance lives. As a world leader in advanced polymer solutions, Zeus is at the forefront of dynamic innovation,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"parent":25,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-200","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/200\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/25"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.zeusinc.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}