WACO was founded by Albert J. Wahlbeck's engineering firm in 1918 after Wahlbeck had been working for Malmstens Mekaniska Verkstad and Falkenbergs Nya Fabriker as a woodworking machinery designer for some years.

In 1920, the first factory buildings owned by WACO was built due to the previously rented premises was too small for manufacturing.

After the expansion the business was slow and in 1921 they sold only 3 machines. By 1924 the manufacturing started to take off and with a production of over 50 machines that year they saw a future as a business. In the 1930s the name Maskinfabriken WACO was changed to just WACO. By 1937 the WACO brand was a household name among the industrial woodworking businesses in Sweden, Norway and Denmark and in 1938 WACO expanded its premises and almost doubling the staff. Further expansions took place in 1945-1946 and 1952.

There was a great fire in the factory in 1958 but they kept the production going by renting space in other factories in the off-hours. In 1959 the new factory was completed and it was expanded in 1967 to a 6000 m² (64584 ft²) production space with a modern machine shop including one of the first numeric controlled lathes in Sweden by Köpings Mekansika Verkstad.

In 1979, WACO acquires the woodworking machines department of Jonsereds AB and becomes Waco Jonsereds AB.

Name translation

• Maskinfabriken translates to "Machinery factory"

Information Sources

• WACO 1918-1968 Booklet by WACO, 1968.
• Hallandsposten archive, article by Anders Holmer, 19 mars, 2015.