About Us

Welcome To **ICE**

We are manufacturers’ representatives. What is a manufacturers’ representative? To quote the Manufacturers’ Agents National Association (MANA), “Manufacturers’ representatives are called by many names, but the best way to define this type of firm is to think of it as an outsourced provider of field sales services to multiple manufacturers of complementary products.” AT ICE, we see ourselves as more than just “outsourced providers of field sales to multiple manufacturers.” We see ourselves as “company” salesmen and women, for each of the manufacturers that we represent.

Our History

Founded by Jerry Kaplan in 1967, J.K. Industrial Sales, Inc. as it was then called, was a manufacturers’ representative firm covering the NY metropolitan area. At that time, the firm’s primary product lines were semi-tubular rivets, blind rivets and stamped products. Through hard work, persistence and dogged determination, Jerry built the firm customer by customer. He used the technical expertise he learned as a company man at Judson L. Thomson Mfg. Co. along with his famous sense of humor, that he learned in the old neighborhood of Brownsville, Brooklyn, to grow the firm’s sales to over $2,000, 000.00 annually. In the early 70’s the firm’s name was changed to J.K. Fasteners, Inc. and Harriet Kaplan, Jerry’s wife became president of the firm. Soon thereafter, Harriet and Jerry added more lines to the firm’s portfolio. They added riveting machines and replacement parts, drawn metal products and springs. As the years passed, Jerry developed a reputation as the predominant expert on riveting in the New York metropolitan area earning him the nickname “Mr. Rivet.” There was no rivet application that Jerry couldn’t engineer or troubleshoot.

In 1997, Harry Kaplan, Jerry’s son, joined the business. Harry, an attorney, saw an opportunity to take J.K. Fasteners to the next level by modernizing existing procedures and protocols at the firm. The firm’s territory was expanded to include the entire Mid-Atlantic Region and lines were added that were synergistic with the existing fastener lines. Wire protection and wire connection components and their corresponding applicator systems were added which proved to be high growth lines for the father and son sales team.

In 2005, the firm took on its current name, Industrial Components & Engineering, LLC. (known by the acronym ICE) so as to better reflect the broad product offering that the firm was now involved with. J.K. Fasteners, now ICE, was evolving beyond fastener products and applicators, focusing more on high-tech electrical products and applications.