Douglas Waldal

Chief Executive Officer 80/20

Last Reviewed: September 26, 2026

Executive Summary

Douglas “Doug” Waldal is Chief Executive Officer of 80/20, the Columbia City, Indiana manufacturer known for “The Industrial Erector Set”, a modular T-slot aluminum framing system used for machine frames, robotic platforms, guarding, enclosures and workstations. He has led the company through its private equity ownership. Under MPE Partners it made its first-ever acquisition, buying Canadian steel framing maker Flexpipe in 2023, and in early 2026 MPE sold it to Littlejohn & Co. Waldal is a general manager with an industrial marketing background. Before 80/20 he ran GTO Access Systems, a gate-operator maker, and a global broadcast and AV business unit at Belden.

Career Highlights

• Chief Executive Officer of 80/20, a maker of modular aluminum framing systems with more than 400 employees and more than 8,500 configurable SKUs.
• Led 80/20’s first-ever acquisition, Les Industries Flexpipe of Farnham, Quebec, in July 2023.
• Led the company through its sale by MPE Partners to Littlejohn & Co., announced in January 2026 and reported complete in February 2026.
• Named President of GTO Access Systems, a Nortek subsidiary in Tallahassee, Florida, in October 2015.
• Spent six years as a vice president and general manager at Belden, with P&L responsibility for a global broadcast and AV solutions business.
• Earlier worked at Newell Rubbermaid and Brady Corp.
• MBA in Marketing from Marquette University. Bachelor’s in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Wisconsin.

Professional Journey

Waldal trained as an engineer, earning a bachelor’s degree in industrial and manufacturing engineering from the University of Wisconsin, and later an MBA in marketing from Marquette University. He built his early career in marketing, sales and general management at Brady Corp. and Newell Rubbermaid, both manufacturers.

He then spent six years at Belden as vice president and general manager, with profit-and-loss responsibility for a major global broadcast and AV solutions business. In October 2015, GTO Access Systems named him president. GTO, based in Tallahassee, Florida, had made automatic gate openers since 1987 and sold perimeter and access control products including gate and garage door operators and telephone entry systems. It was then a subsidiary of Nortek, Inc.

80/20 was founded by entrepreneur Don Wood in 1989 and grew around one idea: a catalog of aluminum T-slot extrusions and fittings from which customers could build almost any frame or structure. In March 2021 MPE Partners, the Cleveland and Boston private equity firm, invested in the company through a leveraged recapitalization. Patrick Buesching was then president and CEO. Waldal took over as CEO under MPE’s ownership.

His first public milestone was 80/20’s first acquisition. In July 2023, 80/20 and MPE bought Les Industries Flexpipe, a Farnham, Quebec maker of steel modular framing and material handling systems. Waldal said the deal expanded 80/20’s product line and opened up new customers and applications, and the companies said there would be no workforce reductions at either business.

In January 2026 Littlejohn & Co., a private investment firm in Greenwich, Connecticut, announced it had acquired 80/20 from MPE. Terms were not disclosed. By then the company described itself as the North American leader in premium configurable modular framing and reported more than 60,000 end users a year, sold through automation integrators, MRO distributors, eCommerce and direct channels. When MPE announced the sale was complete, Waldal said the partnership had seen 80/20 scale its operations, expand its commercial organization, accelerate performance across its channels and complete its first acquisition. He said the company was positioned “for its next chapter while preserving the culture of innovation and customer focus that has defined the Company since inception.”

Education

Marquette University

MBA, Marketing

University of Wisconsin

Bachelor’s degree, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering