NIBA History

NIBA-The Belting Association was organized in 1927 as the American Leather Belting Association (ALBA). The group was open to "any active or retired manufacturer of flat leather belting." In 1954, ALBA changed its name to the National Industrial Leather Association (NILA), expanding its membership to include manufacturers of textile and packing leathers. In 1976, it changed its name again, becoming the National Industrial Belting Association, expanding into the realm of rubber and reinforced belting manufacture and distribution. This growth reflects the organization's flexibility and response to technological change. In 2001, the association's name evolved to NIBA-The Belting Association to more accurately represent the global nature of the belting industry.

Developed for textile mills in the early 19th century, leather belting was combined with high-speed shafting in the 1840s to transmit water and steam power to machinery in a variety of factory settings. By the end of the nineteenth century, leather belting had been widely adopted for power transmission and was a major industry itself.

After World War I, two new technologies began to displace leather belting: First was the rubber V-belt, which had been developed for automotive applications. It became common in industrial settings as improvements in its construction were introduced through the 1920s. Second, and more important, was the fractional-horsepower electric motor. These new motors were efficient enough that each piece of machinery could have its own power source, eliminating the need for line shafting and leather belts. Moreover, machines that had their own motors could be easily re-arranged to create more efficient workflow. This combination of V-belts and fractional-horsepower motors proved to be too much for the leather belting industry, and sales began to decline steeply during the 1920s.

Alarmed leather belting manufacturers set up an organization to deal with the problem. On October 20, 1927, thirteen industry representatives met, drew up a constitution and by-laws and elected officers. They organized a general meeting of the trade in December, at the Hotel Ambassador in New York City. Those who attended represented over eighty percent of the leather belting manufacturing capacity in the United States. The attendees approved the new constitution and bylaws, and called for increased cooperation to meet competition.

The ALBA replaced two previous organizations, the National Association of Leather Belting Manufacturers and the Leather Belting Exchange which were disbanded with many members joining ALBA. The simultaneous dissolution of the older organizations and the founding of ALBA, has led to some confusion as to the age of the present-day organization. Although there was considerable continuity in membership between the old and new associations, ALBA was clearly intended as a new organization, and its founding represents the origins of NIBA.

In the years immediately following the formation of the ALBA, the primary focus of the association was combating the decline of the use of leather belting by industry. The ALBA commissioned engineering studies to support the continued use of leather, advertised the benefits of leather belting in industry publications, and set industry standards for quality and pricing. However, the industry's share of the power transmission business continued to decline as sales of rubber V-belts increased.

Despite the efforts of the association, manufactures and distributors of leather belting continued to view one another with suspicion, focusing on competing with other another and ignoring the threat of V-belts and direct-drives. The general prosperity of the late 1920s also led to a focus on price-cutting designed to steal customers from competing firms.

The onset of the Great Depression motivated businessmen to seek alternative solutions. By early 1933, ALBA's members were ready for cooperation with their fellow manufacturers. At the 1933 General Meeting, ALBA met jointly with Mechanical Power Engineering Associates (MPEA). MPEA's objective was selling power transmission equipment on the basis of rational engineering practice. This appeared crucial for ALBA members, as they needed to counter sales of small electric motors which were linked to machinery by rubber V-belts. The electrical industry was successful in promoting the advantages of their motors; in addition to direct sales, they commissioned engineering studies and encouraged the widespread publication of test results favorable to electric power in engineering and management journals.

Of equal concern to ALBA members was that machinery manufacturers would become the primary suppliers of motors, as the electrical industry easily persuading machinery makers to incorporate electric motors at the factory. Since leather belting distributors normally sold line shafts and motors as well, built-in motors would cut out the distributors as middlemen and repair service suppliers.

All was not gloom and doom, however. ALBA members were encouraged by MPEA studies that showed that belting systems were competitive with V-belt systems, when they used properly engineered subsystems, such as low-friction bearings, sorter shafts, and properly sized belts. In particular, group drives based on line shafts and leather belts were actually more economical than individual motors in most applications. This welcome news provided ammunition that ALBA members could use in their sales campaigns.

ALBA's own expert, Robert W. Drake, prepared a series of reports demonstrating the economic advantages of leather belting. Drawing on the work done by the MPEA, he put together a series of pamphlets on the design and costing of leather belting installations. ALBA members set up local clubs where information on how to use these new engineering studies to sell drives was distributed. Over twenty clubs were established by mid-1933.

At the June, 1933 General Meeting members discussed ALBA participation under the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA). This allowed ALBA to set up an industrial organization that would allow for cooperation normally forbidden by anti-trust laws. A questionnaire, sent to members showed that most would cooperate in an attempt to set prices; thus the members voted to set up an voluntary association under the NIRA to regulate their industry. It passed unanimously.

The ALBA actively cooperated in establish regulatory policies that favored the industry. The association helped draw up the "Code of Fair Competition for the Leather Industry." As a result, wages and prices stabilized, and conditions improved. Even so, leather belting's share of new construction declined - ALBA was unable to counter the sales campaign run by the V-belt and electric motor manufacturers. The industry survived because, due to the Depression, many firms retained their old machinery, preserving the replacement market for leather belts and repair parts.

The boom in new construction fueled by World War II restored the fortunes of many ALBA members. Due to shortages of rubber and copper, leather belting was able to enjoy a large market share during the war.

The expansion of ALBA to include manufacturers of leather packing materials in 1944, as a response to competition from rubber O-rings which rendered obsolete many traditional applications of leather seals.Textile leather manufacturers, also concerned about growing competition from new man-made products, joined in 1948.

During and after the war, ALBA concentrated on three activities: First, they attempted to establish industry-wide size and performance standards for leather products. Second, they commissioned engineering studies of leather products. And lastly, publishing handbooks and sponsoring lectures and meetings.

By the early 1950s, the efforts of ALBA appeared to be paying off. With the coming of the Korean War in 1950, sales increased markedly. The packing division was particularly successful - sales more than doubled during the Korean War, and continued at near-wartime levels through the late 1950s.

The textile leather division was also able to maintain sales levels. Leather belting, on the other hand, continued its long decline. After peaking in 1941, total sales of leather belts dropped almost every year thereafter. By the late 1950s, sales were one-third what they had been in the early 1940s.

The inclusion of the textile leather and packing groups led ALBA to change its name in 1954 to the National Industrial Leather Association (NILA). The NILA continued to concentrate on education and the dissemination of engineering data. Despite the best efforts of the NILA, sales of industrial leather products declined largely due to the availability of competing products. Rubber manufacturers introduced new formulations, including a variety of synthetic and fabric-reinforced products. These new products allowed them to compete with leather in new markets, including textile machinery parts and high-pressure packing materials. Leather product makers, limited by the unchanging composition of their raw material, were unable to compete. Sales decline all through the 1960s.

By the early 1970s, it had become clear to NILA's leadership that leather was a declining industry. The leather belting division, expanded to include producers of synthetic belting. The belting division quickly became the most active within the association, and in 1976, the leather products manufacturers became a part of the newly created National Industrial Belting Association (NIBA).

Including rubber and synthetic belting revitalized the organization. The 1976 name change also led to a change in the primary focus of the association. As leather became a smaller and smaller part of the association's concern. The association increasingly concentrated on providing information to its members about business conditions, changes in labor and environmental law, and management. These changes were reflected in the nature of annual meetings. Speakers were increasingly drawn from universities, government agencies and consulting firms.

During the 1980s, the association initiated an effort to resolve conflicts between manufacturers of belting materials and their distributors. NIBA surveyed its members about problems they had experienced and also initiated a program at the 1982 national meeting called "conference booths," where distributors could meet with senior manufacturer's representatives. These measures helped to reduce conflict within the organization. Communications were improved by the increasingly professional appearance of NIBA's newsletter, the Belt Line.

NIBA experienced continued growth in the late 1980s, especially in attendance at national meetings. NIBA changed its state of incorporation from New York to Illinois. NIBA also became more active in the area of education. The association established a scholarship program for students in college industrial distribution programs, awarding the first scholarship in 1990.

For its members, the association began to videotape its technical seminars and offer them for sale. It also commissioned the preparation of training videos.These materials supplement traditional engineering handbooks and instruction manuals.

One major change in written materials published by NIBA during the 1980s and early 1990s was a marked increase in the number of publications that addressed business issues. In particular, NIBA began to publish and distribute information on government regulations and changes in workplace-related laws. Belt Line carried more articles related to business practices and government regulation, rather than technological or sales related matters, reflecting members' increased concern with these issues.

In 1994, NIBA changed its management contract again and NIBA now makes its headquarters in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha, Wisconsin. In 2001 NIBA changed its name to NIBA-The Belting Association to reflect the increasingly global nature of our association and of the belting marketplace.

NIBA products have evolved into current media as new training aids are developed. The NIBA web site came on line in 1999 with a Members Only section featuring technical resources, belting formulas, past Belt Lines, and much more. NIBA takes its show on the road with training seminars in various parts of the United States, bringing current belting training to our members.

Photos on this page are courtesy of the Hagley Museum and Library.