In 1914, P.B. Abramsen and John B. Sutton founded Sutton Engineering Company, or Sutton for short, in Bellefonte in the U.S. Its product portfolio initially focused on the manufacture of straightening machines for steel pipes and bars. The company produced its first extrusion press in 1954.

In the decades that followed, Sutton became market leader in the U.S. This was the reason why SMS, in 1979, acquired the firm to expand its own market position in press manufacturing. In 1981, Sutton entered into a collaborative partnership with SMS Hasenclever, also a subsidiary of SMS, enabling it to produce and sell closed-die and open-die forging presses. This collaboration on the U.S. market continued until the beginning of 1989.

After Sutton became SMS Sutton Inc. in 1986, it was renamed SMS Engineering Inc., Sutton Division on July 1, 1991. This company took over the marketing, design, and construction of extrusion presses on the North American and Southeast Asian markets. Following other name changes in the mid-1990s, Sutton was merged with the SMS company Eumuco in 1998. In 2001, the last extrusion presses were manufactured under the Sutton brand name.

From 2013 onwards, SMS group designed and built the fifth generation of Sutton extrusion presses, combining the best of the two worlds of SMS and Sutton. The Sutton MK-V is offered on the North American market in four different sizes within the 18 to 35 MN range.