February 2026: Dan Duffield, the much liked and highly regarded EVP at MAC Engineering, has retired after 41 years with the battery machine manufacturer.

Dan, just 20, and fresh from Ferris State University in Michigan with a degree in technical drafting and tool design, began his career with MAC just three weeks after graduating.

Despite an open admission of his time spent at the state college — “two years of partying but I did spend two weekends in the library” — he showed a precocious talent in terms of under- standing how MAC’s machines worked and were designed.

Just after a year of starting in the mechanical and engineering department his talent was recognised and he made his first visits to MAC clients, such as East Penn and Crown Battery as a field service engineer. These were to create friendships that have lasted to the present day.

These trips also allowed him to prove his worth — within a short time he knew all the intricacies of MAC’s product range of COS machines, pasters, ovens and the like. By the time he was 21 he was being sent on field assignments internationally, first to Austria and later all around the world.

“Things have changed a lot since the 1980s,” Dan recalls. “When I started there were around 140 to 150 different plants in the US, now we’re left with a couple of dozen. It’s a similar story to be found across Europe. The march of consolidation has been relentless.”

Since that first trip to Europe, Dan reckons he has visited at least 50 different countries, some such as China, Canada and Mexico, countless times. And that’s not to forget visiting 46 out of the 50 US states and all 10 Canadian provinces.

“A lifetime in lead batteries has also meant watching an industry change with the times…”

Some of his trips can only be called adventures. They include driving next to Tiananmen Square at the start of the demonstrations in 1989, open-air dining in South Africa where he was told not to worry about the lions and wild animals circling nearby, or a manic driver in China speeding around icy mountain roads with a 200 foot drop one side and cars coming at him on the other. “The train we had been taken off had been blocked by snow — I was highly dubious we would get through by car but that wasn’t to do with the weather,” he says. “But we did.”

One of the most hair-raising was in Honduras. After being collected at the airport he found a gun under his seat in the car. “You’ll need that to shoot at anyone if they come for us. Your life could depend on it,” his driver said. “Do you know how to use a gun?” Dan didn’t. But he immediately decided: “I’ll learn how to use this helluva thing in seconds.”

Dan looks back on the bulk of his travel years with real affection. “Sometimes it was the place itself that appealed. Sometimes it was the people. Many, many times it was both.”

Despite such a fulfilling career, Dan, now 62, had told himself he would retire at 60 but Doug Bornas, president of the firm, asked if he would work part-time for the last year. He steps down leaving many good friends from the industry.

“There are countless people that I’ll miss, so to name a couple is unfair to the others,” he says. “When pressed he said, Mike Fraley from Crown, Ron Miksiewicz and all the gang at East Penn, not to mention the guys at Concorde, Surrette and Sorfin have been great to know and to work with and for. There are, of course, so many more.”

There’s almost an unlimited amount of anecdotes to recount in Dan’s packed life. “I suppose it’s funny looking back but I remember the first day for Doug (Bornas) with us as he reported to me. I was so over-worked that I took him into the conference room, pointed at some manuals and said ‘I’m busy, just read them’. What an introduction to one of my best friends and future boss.”

A lifetime in lead batteries has also meant watching an industry change with the times. “One of the persistent themes of the past 40 years has been the inexorable rise of automation,” he says. “This has been healthy in terms of boosting productivity. But there’s still a fair way to go.

“The next big thing in automation will come from AI. Artificial intelligence could well pave the way ahead for the lead battery business.”

Dan will be on-hand for MAC should emergencies arise. But for now, he knows exactly what’s in order. “Chilling out,” he says. “Fishing, camping, the outdoor life and seeing friends around the country.”