Myers Pump, a division of Pentair, manufactures several types of pumps that have practical, everyday applications. Their engineered solid submersible pumps and reciprocator pumps serve the municipal government, commercial, and global industrial markets. They also make water well, sewage and sump pumps for residential use.

The pumps are manufactured in Ashland, Ohio, where Myers Pump has had a presence since 1870. The company employs more than 300 workers in the city, which is midway between Cleveland and Columbus. Production employees belong to one of two unions at the plant. Lean manufacturing and demand-based production are a part of the way of life at the company.

In the early 1900s, Ashland was a thriving manufacturing center with more than 80 factories, and government records showed it as having one of the nation’s highest per-capita incomes. Myers, which was run by four brothers, at one point had more than 1,000 employees, many of which were skilled machinists. Orders came in faster than the company could fill them, as demand for pumps surged from industrial customers, agricultural customers, and homeowners who drew their water from wells. Myers also manufactured farm implements.

Gradually, electrification reduced the need for residential pumps, and agricultural automation lessened demand for farm implements. The company survived those trends, as well as the Depression, by adapting their business lines and emphasizing more efficient pump products. The original ownership family sold the company in 1960, and it was acquired by Pentair in 1986.

With 145 years of manufacturing and still going strong, FE Myers is another Great Manufacturing Story.