Since 1886, Penberthy has been an innovative manufacturer of high-quality products for companies in the process industry. The Penberthy Injector Company was organized in 1886. The president of the company, S. Olin Johnson was at that time the general manager of the Detroit Knitting & Corset Works, located at the corner of Seventh and Abbott Streets in Detroit, Michigan. The inventor of the original Penberthy injector was one William Penberthy of Leadville, Colorado, who, on his way back east, stopped at the exposition at Chicago, held during that year, where he saw an exhibit of an automatic restarting injector which so interested him that he devised what he thought was an improvement. This injector was brought to the attention of Mr. Johnson, a test was made which proved fairly satisfactory and a patent was applied for and granted. Mr. Johnson set aside in the building of the corset works a room about 20 x 30 and installed therein a tool lathe and two brass lathes and began the manufacture of the injector which was at the time of the organization of the company called "Penberthy."