Bob Chew founded Excel Hydraulics LLC, located in Clarksboro, NJ, in September, 2001.
With more than 26 years of experience in the industry, Bob Chew began his career as a machinist and mechanic with Mecha-Draulics, a hydraulic and general mechanical repair company. With a passion for service and repair, he quickly expanded his knowledge, skills and experience. Eventually, Bob moved into sales and management roles, including advancing to serve as Mecha-Draulics’ general manager and project manager. In this position, Bob envisioned building a hydraulic repair company focused on quality service and repair that employed his complicated mechanical design and parts machining kno wledge to solve customers’ problems.
In September, 2001, Bob left his position with Mecha-Draulics and started Excel Hydraulics LLC out of his garage. At its inception, his new company primarily focused on in-shop and on the road hydraulic equipment service and repair of machinery, including Fassi and other wallboard truck service. With a burgeoning customer repair and service load, Bob quickly outgrew his garage and moved Excel to its first location, next to Riehl’s towing in Clarksboro NJ.
Using his extensive knowledge and unique skills, Bob formed several new businesses over the next few years. In 2003, he moved the original shop (next to Riehl’s towing) to a new location on Route 322 in Swedesboro, NJ. In 2004, he founded a machining company in Chester, PA, dedicated to servicing local companies’ machining needs and to building parts for his existing businesses. In 2005, Bob consolidated the machine shop into the existing Excel Hydraulics operation by moving it into his most memorable location, a small corner of a cocoa bean plant in southern NJ. Then, in 2007, with this business focused on repairing hydraulic cylinders in the cocoa shop, Bob decided to create a new business line that capitalized on using in-house machining capability as a tool to streamline hydraulic cylinder repair by building the parts needed to repair hydraulic cylinders. In 2009, with the downturn in the economy, Bob bet big, expanded and moved the combined cylinder and machine shop to a new location on Route 322, while continuing to invest capital in the machinery and equipment needed to drive costs down by finishing repairs quickly and efficiently.
Through 2013, the Fassi crane repair, cylinder and machine shop businesses experienced strong year over year growth, and were quickly running out of room in their respective shop locations. With continued growth, Bob searched for a new location to get the company to the next level by bringing his businesses together under one roof. As luck would have it, Bob reconnected with Mecha-Draulic owner Pete Schlett, who expressed interest in selling his business and property in Clarksboro NJ. In 2014, Excel Hydraulics LLC purchased the assets and property of Mecha-Draulics, and moved its two businesses from their Route 322 locations to its large complex on Berkley Road in Clarksboro, NJ.
“The Mecha-Draulics purchase positioned Excel for future growth and expansion by letting us focus on efficiencies in the shop and giving us the expansion room we needed to operate. When you surround yourself with good people, anything is possible; and we have a great team at Excel Hydraulics. I am excited about the future potential for the business and look forward to all of the new challenges we will face.”
–Bob Chew, CEO Excel Hydraulics