About Us
Engineering-based solutions provider with over 50 years of manufacturing and design experience
Our Company
Gemstar® Custom Hard Cases is an engineering-based solutions provider with over 50 years of manufacturing experience and protective packaging knowledge. We are a family-owned business supported internally by long-term employees, and we have a firm history rooted in custom, made-to-order-manufacturing and the dedication of a customer-centric organization.
Mission Statement
To provide “purpose built, designed from the inside out” custom industrial cases that are durable, engineered solutions. Utilizing the processes of injection molding, rotational molding, thermoforming, cold-form bending, and secondary fabrication, our products are produced to the highest standards of quality and are made in the USA by Gemstar people.
Values
- Customer Focus: Convenient, hassle-free customer service with top quality and industry-leading guarantee
- Respect: A culture of integrity and humility. Treating others as we wish to be treated ourselves
- Stability: Reliability for our customers and our people through growth and investment in people and equipment
- Honesty: Be authentic, genuine, and transparent in our interactions with each other and our customers
- Curiosity: Seeking new, innovative, and diverse perspectives in a culture of continuous improvement
- Teamwork: We all have a passion to win – but in the end we win or lose together
- Stewardship: Supporting our industry, our local communities, and the environment
1964
Our founder, Jim Weinel, a NASA lamination materials engineer, purchased two vacuum formers and leased a small manufacturing space in St. Louis Park, MN. The first products manufactured were custom parts components for signs, packaging, and consumer and industrial products.
1968
An electrical fire ravaged our plant, destroying equipment, raw materials, and finished products. This would have been the end, but Jim and his team started rebuilding, determined to reestablish and expand.
1972
The first official case line, Karry Kases, debuted, branded as thermoformed cases for industry. Company sales hit $1,000,000 for the first time, and, soon after, company headquarters and manufacturing moved to Cannon Falls, MN. Along with the relocation was a move to significantly vertically integrate to reduce reliance on external suppliers and increase our ability to supply custom manufacturing solutions for our growing customer base.
1986
The Karry Kase line was originally a standard line of products. This line of, later branded as VersaProTM , also provided a good platform to accommodation customization for specific customers. Over time, more and more customers sought a custom solution, and custom cases soon outsold the standard cases. In order to provide a more rugged and robust case platform to meet additional custom needs, rotational molding was added to our manufacturing capabilities. This new double-walled product platform was later branded as our StrongholdTM line.
1997
As custom case sales grew, Gemstar invested in injection molding equipment. This additional manufacturing capability led to the creation a new line of light-weight, airtight cases, which became our SentinelTM line.
2013
To this point, the majority of our product performance validation was outsourced to local test labs. With more and more custom solutions going through the shop, there was an increased request from customers for us to assist in formal product testing. In support of our continued effort to vertically integrate our capabilities and to increase speed-to-market for not only our expanding lines of cases but also for our customer-specific case designs, we developed our own in-house test lab. Our equipment allows us to test to a wide variety of industry standards for materials and reusable packaging performance.
Guaranteed for Life.
Gemstar® Custom Hard Cases offers the highest quality and lifetime guarantee. No matter the environment or application, we stand behind all of our case products. Gemstar is able to offer this warranty because we work with premium materials, use the best process for your application, and help you through design to manufacture to assure the best overall solution
Start Your Career at Gemstar.
Gemstar® Custom Hard Cases is an industry leader in the industrial plastic cases market. We proudly offer a competitive salary structure with a wide array of benefits including medical and dental insurance, paid vacation, and more.
Let’s talk about your custom project.
Contact us to discuss the ways in which we can support your custom case project.