About Butler Manufacturing™

For over 120 years, the name Butler Manufacturing has been synonymous with building and construction innovation. We pioneered the start of the global metal building industry in 1901 when we challenged the status quo.

Today, we are an extremely versatile and experienced multi-million dollar company focused on providing high-quality commercial and industrial metal building systems that continue to break the mold.

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The Butler Difference

We create buildings that do more. From proven building quality to leading design services, we are known for providing better building solutions.

The Butler Builder® Network

We know that a successful building project is about more than the result. With the Butler Builder Network, we deliver quality buildings, constructed efficiently with a team that has your best interests in mind. You work directly with a proven expert throughout the entire project, so we can mitigate challenges and collaborate with you on solutions.

Take pride in your work. It’s an old-fashioned value, but it’s at the heart of what we do. That’s why we don’t let just anyone construct a Butler building.

Industry-Leading Design Capabilities

We offer modern and flexible design options for all of our metal building systems. Using advanced construction technologies and industry expertise, we create better answers for building design requirements through new products, new technology, and customized building designs.

Proven Building Quality

The difference is in the details, from the Scrubolt™ fasteners to the roof clips. Butler building components are designed for strength, durability, longevity and sustainability. We’re so confident in what we build, we offer the industry’s leading warranties.

Built-In Lifetime Savings

Up to 90 percent of a building’s total cost is incurred after construction, so the decisions made during the building design phase will have a major impact on your annual operating costs. Focusing on options that offer energy efficiency and long life spans will help you minimize your total cost of ownership. Our building assemblies are tested and proven to be more energy-efficient than industry standards, and our buildings are engineered and built to last with virtually no upkeep.

Single Point of Contact on Multisite Projects

Whether you’re building multiple projects across North America or around the world, you’ll have a single point of contact who removes project limitations with a collaborative approach.

Research and Development That Create Innovations

We constantly push the boundaries to find better answers to building challenges. Our innovations help you build better, through more flexible and durable building systems and technology that streamline the building process.

Nearly 120 Years of Expertise

No one has been in this business as long as we have. We pioneered the metal building industry in 1901 and have continued to modernize it with major product and process innovations. With this solid foundation, we can handle any building challenge.

Associations and Certifications

U.S. Green Building Council (member)
Metal Building Manufacturers Association (founding and current member)
International Accreditation Service (accreditation demonstrating our organization operates at the highest level of ethical, legal and technical standards)
FM-approved (signifying our products and services will perform as expected to support property loss prevention)
UL-registered

Built By Hand, Backed By Experience

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

It all started with a stock tank. Friends Emanuel Norquist and Charles Butler met in Clay Center, Kansas, as Emanuel was working to build durable preassembled tanks from copper-bearing galvanized steel that wouldn’t rust or leak. Butler, a risk-taker, saw enormous untapped sales potential with this project. This was the start of Butler Manufacturing Company.

THE FIRST BUTLER® BUILDING

In 1909, Emanuel needed a garage to protect his Metz automobile. His brother Victor assembled corrugated galvanized-steel culvert sheets bolted to an all-steel framework to create a sturdy, lasting garage. By 1910, the first Butler® building was sold to corporate secretary Fred Rufi, which was used in central Kansas City for more than 45 years. When Butler introduced a sturdy two-car version, the market response was immediate: Butler Manufacturing Company was in the building business for good

THE GREAT GRAIN BIN ADVENTURE

The popularity of steel bins continued to grow. The U.S. Department of Agriculture sent a call out for bids on 30,666 steel bins—an order 1.5 times more than the number produced by the entire industry in 1938. Butler took on the challenge and, against phenomenal odds, refurbished an abandoned plant in Galesburg, Illinois, supplied it with machinery, staffed it, and mass-produced 14,500 steel bins in 59 days, plus another 6,000 in just 15 days.

RIGID FRAME INNOVATIONS

Brothers Wilbur Larkin (Butler Farm Equipment Division) and Kenneth Larkin (civil engineer at Burns & McDonnell in Kansas City) worked together to shape an industry with a quality pre-engineered building design that provided more usable interior space, looked better, used less steel, and could be fabricated and erected faster and with fewer people. By 1940, Butler Manufacturing Company had a complete line of rigid frame buildings ready for the market.

EXPANDING OPPORTUNITIES

While embracing the technological advances of a newly opened research center and still savoring the 50th-anniversary celebration, Butler began to feel the strains of growth. To maintain a competitive edge, Butler developed a plan to shift leadership into a product-line organization, putting quality management close to a product and its particular customers. Five product divisions were formed. Manufacturing buildings for commercial, industrial, institutional, and rural use continues to be the strength of the company.

MAKING INDUSTRY HISTORY

Butler extends the long-term value of buildings by making them virtually weathertight—an innovation in the industry. Totally waterproof double-lock roof seams with expansion and contraction provision and insulated purlins not only added to the durability of the structure, but also aid in energy conservation. Butler also came out with new building systems that defied traditional ideas about pre-engineering, such as Multistory, Long Span, and the distinct look of the Landmark™ structural system. Today's Butler Manufacturing is all about flexibility and options.

A NEW BEGINNING

On April 27, 2004, Butler Manufacturing was acquired by BlueScope Steel Limited of Melbourne, Australia. BlueScope Steel is a flat-steel products company, with a manufacturing and marketing reach that spans Australia, Asia, and North America, focused on developing markets for its downstream coated and painted steel products (such as COLORBOND^® and ZINCALUME^® steel) and developing complete steel solutions for its customers.

With the acquisition of Butler Manufacturing Company, BlueScope Steel is now the leader in pre-engineered buildings in North America and China and is No. 1 in premium steel building products in China.

FOCUSED ON THE FUTURE

At Butler Manufacturing, you can trust that we will always challenge the status quo to do and be best.

Our team actively seeks out ways to advance and grow alongside the ever-changing steel industry. We are dedicated to innovating and investing in new technologies that streamline the building process and create more effective and efficient solutions for our clients for centuries to come.

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