Our History

Ortman Miller Machine Company was founded by Nelson Ortman, Alva Ortman, Harold Ortman, Carl Speichert, and Carter Miller in 1945. The company started by machining parts for other companies. A few years after being formed, they designed a round cylinder referred to as the Series 101 which was sold through a network of distributors across the United States. In the early 50’s, there was a falling out with Carter Miller and he left the company. It should be noted that the name “Miller” was never dropped from the company’s name when Carter Miller departed.

In the early 1950’s, Miller Fluid Power designed a square head tie rod type cylinder that conformed to JIC specifications (Joint Industry Conference). Prior to that time, most cylinders had cast heads and were non-tie rod type cylinders. In the mid to late 50’s Ortman Miller Machine Company moved to Nineteen 143rd Street, Hammond, and began to produce a square head tie rod type cylinder. At that time, they were known as the TH, 4K, and 4L. With the advent of these new product lines, their sales began to grow. From mid 1950 through 1965, they made four additions to the plant, including a second story in the office. This brought the total square footage to 70,000 square feet. In the late 1950’s, Miller Fluid Power decided to go to a direct sales force, and drop their distributors.

In March 2015, Lambertville NJ based Lehigh Fluid Power, Inc. acquired the assets of Ortman Fluid Power from Quincy Compressor LLC and incorporated the product line as a wholly owned subsidiary of Lehigh Fluid Power. Lehigh made the decison to keep Ortman in Quincy IL and moved the company to its current location at 1400 N. 30th Street.