Transformer Company Transforms into Hot Commodity

Founded in 1969 in Cuba, Mo, by Andrew Sanazaro Sr., Meramec Instrument Transformer, originally known as Meramec Electrical Products, is the preeminent manufacturer of instrument current transformers to the electric power industry. It produces the highest quality instrument current transformers for the high-and-medium-voltage circuit breaker, power transformer, and power generation markets.

When the 2008/2009 recession began to rock the manufacturing industry on a global scale, Meramec Instrument Transformer found itself on the other side of the spectrum with sales increasing by 250 percent. The company knew to sustain this growth and stay ahead of the competition it had to reduce the price of its products. Constructing a larger and more efficient facility to ramp up capacity was only the beginning to Meramec’s journey towards transforming into a global commodity. After construction began, the company realized it needed additional expertise in the area of continuous improvement.

Market research conducted by Missouri Enterprise verified the company’s decision to move forward with new product development and plans to add more space. Building the facility was the first step, ensuring it was as lean as possible was the critical next step. Meramec began working with the Missouri Enterprise team on its quality management systems. The company pursued ISO registration because it knew it needed more process controls in place to ensure a high standard of work. Missouri Enterprise helped the company obtain ISO registration within 10 months.

As the company grew it was frequently targeted by phishing scams and also experienced a few fraud attempts. Meramec knew it needed to beef up monitoring, increase protection inside its systems, and train its number one defense-- its employees. Missouri Enterprise helped assess cybersecurity weaknesses and pointed to solutions that would protect the company.

As a result of its new state-of-the-facility, lean processes, competitive prices, an increase in capacity, and assistance from Missouri Enterprise, the company more than captured the market. It currently has three new products and several more in the works. It is also waiting on funding approval from corporate to finish out another ~$3 million section of the facility dedicated to space and new equipment for a new product project. It has already added three new staff members and anticipates growing by another 30-35 employees over the next two to three years.