In the early 70s, as work gloves were transforming into required PPE, most manufacturers were focused on producing gloves that provided cut protection to workers and improving their ability to do a job quickly and efficiently. Visionary marketer, Bill Casselman, saw the opportunity for a new approach – developing gloves for Controlled Environments where protecting the product is also important.

In 1975, he established QRP® Gloves – short for Quality, Reliability, Performance – in Santa Cruz, CA, and pioneered a new category of highly specialized products. Based on his earlier sales experience, Casselman understood the requirements of organizations like NASA, along with other aerospace and military customers, for specialty gloves to handle delicate components or chemicals. As the tech industry took off, he saw the growing need for anti-static or static dissipative gloves. And, as the industry was rapidly expanding, the need for gloves that protect products, parts and processes grew exponentially along with new performance standards.

By the late 70s, QRP® introduced the first stable, electrostatic discharge (ESD) latex finger cot to the market, the Qualatex® XC. Many more product breakthroughs followed which included “market firsts” such as an improved static dissipative finger cot and a nitrile finger cot, thermal clean handling gloves and specialty gloves to handle solvents found in labs.

During the 1980s two of Bill’s children, Laurie and Duncan Casselman, got involved with the family business as QRP® continued to serve emerging industries and niche markets requiring critical standards for use in Controlled Environments. As an active member of the Center of MicroElectronics at the University of Arizona and with a growing number of electronic maquiladoras nearby, QRP® relocated to Tucson, AZ in 1992.

QRP® established a manufacturing subsidiary in Vietnam in the early 2000s, developing a state-of-the-art polymer dipping facility that met the needs of customers worldwide. Additional key personnel joined the company, including Fred Guidi and others who embraced the QRP® vision of quality and performance-driven products along with a passion for providing an exceptional customer experience.

Throughout these growth years, QRP® was also an active member of several standard-setting industry organizations and instrumental in developing the intellectual property for testing and performance standards that are still in use today.

As PIP® was expanding its own Controlled Environment product portfolio, QRP® was the type of company that commanded attention. In 2019, a deal was struck for QRP® to join the PIP global family as a key brand leader in gloves and finger cots for the CE market.