Mr. EJ Diver founded the business that has now grown to become Diver Consolidated Industries (DCI) in 1932.
EJ Diver & Staff commenced operating in a small factory in the inner Melbourne suburb of Carlton. The company's early beginnings were in press tool making and metal stamping activities, and it was in 1948 that Mr. Diver commenced supplying products to Holden, for the 48-215 (FX) Holden. This was to become the start of a long and successful business relationship with the Australian Automotive Industry.
As the business grew, so did the need to acquire more space and so began DCI's first relocation, from Carlton to Preston, in 1964. It was at this time that Mr. Diver's son, Ted, became more actively involved in the running of the firm. Increased business activity and the blossoming relationship with the automotive industry necessitated the first of DCI's major expansions in 1974 when land and a building were purchased in the (then) Melbourne outer suburb of West Heidelberg.
In 1980, in direct response to the needs of the automotive industry, DCI invested in its first cold heading machines for the manufacture of steel fasteners. DCI's fastener business grew so quickly that in 1989 the fastener operations were relocated into their own plant in Thomastown.
Meanwhile, at West Heidelberg, DCI's Metal Stamping Division also continued to expand its manufacturing activities which now included component assemblies and robotic MIG welding. Once again growth saw DCI relocate its Head Office, Stores/Distribution and the Metal Stamping Division from West Heidelberg to Reservoir in 1994.
Today DCI still operates two divisions, the Metal Stamping Division in Reservoir and the new Thermal and Acoustic Products Division in Thomastown, having ceased fastener manufacturing in 2005. DCI offers a broad range of products and services that include complicated assemblies such as instrument panel cross car beams, door, deck-lid and lift-gate hinges, heat shields, acoustic shields, structural body members, handbrake assemblies, and even flat washers, welch plugs and wheel weights.