LECO Corporation, founded in 1936 by Carl Schultz and George Krasl, operates its comprehensive analytical instrumentation research and development, and manufacturing from its worldwide headquarters located in St. Joseph, Michigan

St. Joseph, Michigan

St. Joseph is a city in the US state of Michigan. It was incorporated as a village in 1834 and as a city in 1891. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 8,789. It lies on the shore of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the St. Joseph River, about east-northeast of Chicago. It is the county...

. Following strict ISO 9000

ISO 9000

The ISO 9000 family of standards relates to quality management systems and is designed to help organizations ensure they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders . The standards are published by ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, and available through National...

 standards LECO develops and manufactures elemental measurement and molecular Time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Time-of-flight mass spectrometry is a method of mass spectrometry in which an ion's mass-to-charge ratio is determined via a time measurement. Ions are accelerated by an electric field of known strength. This acceleration results in an ion having the same kinetic energy as any other ion that has...

 instrumentation. The LECO trademark is an acronym of the original name, Laboratory Equipment Corporation.

LECO is the research leader in many fields of analytical chemistry including protein measurement in foods, sulfur in coal emissions, glow discharge emission in metals, multi-dimensional gas chromatograph mass spectrometry, environmental monitoring, air quality, Metabolomics

Metabolomics

Metabolomics is the scientific study of chemical processes involving metabolites. Specifically, metabolomics is the "systematic study of the unique chemical fingerprints that specific cellular processes leave behind", the study of their small-molecule metabolite profiles...

, and diverse medical and pharmaceutical applications. LECO has been a manufacturer and distributor of metallographic

Metallography

Metallography is the study of the physical structure and components of metals, typically using microscopy.Ceramic and polymeric materials may also be prepared using metallographic techniques, hence the terms ceramography, plastography and, collectively, materialography.-Preparing metallographic...

 equipment since the 1970s, and makes ceramic

Ceramic

A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...

 products for the foundry

Foundry

A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...

industry. LECO Corporation has a world-wide presence with sales subsidiaries spanning the globe.