the eastern company, founded in 1858, is a manufacturer of custom-engineered industrial hardware, security products and metal castings. we operates in the u.s., canada, mexico, taiwan and china. the diversity of our capabilities and products enables us to respond to the changing requirements of a broad array of markets. our industrial hardware group manufactures an extensive selection of latches, locks and other security hardware used throughout the transportation and industrial sector of the economy. for more than 100 years, eberhard has been an industry leader setting the standard for high-quality hardware for a variety of applications, especially in the transportation industry. in addition, this group includes our composite panel technologies division. our security products group delivers solutions that safeguard property and control access. the illinois lock company/ccl security products division produces custom-engineered locks for a variety of original equipment manufacturers and