THE TEST OF TIME

MAC® Celebrates Its 90th Anniversary By Looking Back, and Looking Ahead

May, 2018

Since our founding in a small facility in Long Island City, New York, in 1928, Magnetic Analysis Corp. has grown to become a recognized global leader in nondestructive testing. At that time, most inspection consisted of “sampling” techniques, which essentially destroyed part of the bar in the process. Nondestructive testing appeared to be a very attractive idea, as it would allow use of the product after testing.

Translating the NDT concept into a viable tester required six years of research and development, leading to the first successful electromagnetic test for cracks in steel bars, conducted in an operating mill in 1934.

This was the first step in a path that led our company towards the continual development of NDT technologies and applications that were—and continue to be—designed to meet the high-quality standards of our customers.

Today, operating on an international scale, we help metal manufacturers around the world meet demanding specifications that require multiple technologies, including Eddy Current, Ultrasonic and newly developed Phased Array Ultrasonic and AC Flux Leakage, along with material handling, remote access approval and monitoring.

As we approach the milestone of our 90th year in business, we look forward to serving you in the years ahead, yet also reflect on significant events that have shaped our organization…the breakthroughs and advancements that have made us what we are today. For other details about our company history, read more at About Us.

1934

MAC’s first nondestructive tester used two coils and a galvanometer. It applied an electric AC field to the bar and measured changes in permeability. Housed in a wooden box, this strange new scientific development met with considerable skepticism from early customers. But MAC believed so strongly in the tester that we offered the equipment on a lease basis so the customer would not have to make a capital investment.

With this incentive, Union Drawn Steel became the first company to install a MAC electromagnetic tester, and MAC’s concept of an operating lease for nondestructive test equipment became a successful part of MAC’s marketing program—one which remains to this day.

1947

Throughout the 1930’s and 1940’s, the use of NDT expanded in the U.S. steel industry, spurred particularly by the demands of World War II. MAC continued its research and, in 1947, introduced a line of electromagnetic comparators to inspect grade and hardness, which supplemented the company’s basic crack detector testers.

1953

MAC introduces the first commercial Eddy Current Tester in the United States, a major advancement in NDT Technology. This new technology measured the material’s conductivity instead of permeability, providing more reliable inspection for short surface defects of a greater range of test products including copper, stainless steel and other non-ferrous metals.

1959

The introduction of the world’s first Rotary Spinning Probe Eddy Current Tester enables MAC to provide an innovative solution to the problem of detecting long, continuous defects in wire and rod. The company’s expertise in rotary techniques has continued to expand since then, and now includes high-speed multiple test channels and ultrasonic technology.

1967

In a major advance, MAC unveiled the first ERIC™ Eddy Current Tester. The ERIC used solid-state electronics and featured phase gating, which allowed much greater selectivity in differentiating between test signals from defects and those from other sources. Further refinements added pulsed Eddy Current technique that enabled greater power to be applied and increased the size of materials that could be inspected.

1989

MAC introduces its own line of Echomac® Ultrasonic Rotary Testers for tube and bar, followed by the addition of the FD-1 and more advanced ultrasonic electronics.

1992

MAC’s ERIC V fully computerized Eddy Current Tester makes its debut at the tube show in Düsseldorf, Germany, and immediately establishes a new benchmark for the industry. With its real-time, full-color graphic display and sophisticated control of test parameters, the ERIC V brought NDT testing to a whole new level.

TODAY

Building on its reputation for technological breakthroughs, MAC operates on a worldwide scale as metal manufacturers around the globe seek to meet higher specifications. With the support of its subsidiaries and field engineering network, the company successfully serves customers throughout Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, South America, India, Korea, China and Australia, helping them to find the best solutions for their challenging NDT requirements.