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McHENRY – With electric motors, the only important factor used to be whether or not the thing worked.
The size of the motor was more or less irrelevant. Nobody thought twice about efficiency. Companies would routinely stick a 100-horsepower motor in a machine that only really needed 20 horsepower.
"There was a lot of waste," said Rich Sawisch, the repair shop manager and 38-year veteran of the now Dreisilker Electric Motors Inc. in McHenry. "They realize now that they don't need that overkill."
As the general public has become more educated on the benefits of reducing their electric intake, Dreisilker has followed suit by gearing their products and services toward efficiency. The 62-year-old company started in Glen Ellyn and has expanded through the years to seven Chicagoland locations and two more in Georgia. Dreisilker bought the 18,000-square-foot McHenry Electric & Supply Co. 13 years ago.
Whatever they're doing seems to be working. Last year, Dreisilker had its best year in company history.
Marketing Manager Chris Connell said that's due to a variety of factors.
First came a rush of sales to original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, that Connell said had been on the brink of buying from Dreisilker for a long time.
About half of Dreisilker sales go to OEMs, with the other half going to industrial manufacturers serving the steel, machine tool and printing industries, among others.
Some of those industries started to see a rebound in 2011, which benefited Dreisilker. During recessions, companies tend to let motor maintenance issues pile up, Connell said.
"They'd been putting it off," he said. "And suddenly they're busy."
Increased production means those companies now need to once again utilize all equipment at their disposal, which means any motors sitting around awaiting repair are sent to companies like Dreisilker.
Put those two developments together with a hot summer that brought in sales to HVAC companies, and you have a record-breaking 2011.
"It was kind of a perfect storm," Connell said.
To keep up through the years, Dreisilker and the former McHenry Electric have had to shift their focus.
Repairs of small motors have become tougher and tougher to come by. More people are choosing to buy new or upgrade to more efficient models.
As a result, more of the business today is focused on building brand new, custom motors in-house, using some imported parts.
"We'll make our own shafts and design our own windings, and put it together to their specs," Sawisch said.
Still, there are companies who have irreplaceable motors, and many rely on Dreisilker to rebuild them when they break down.
"Various industries have various specific motors that simply aren't made anymore," Connell said. "So they come to us and say, 'Rebuild it.'"
Sawisch, who started as a machinist with McHenry Electric 38 years ago, said the evolving industry has kept his job interesting.
"I'm sure you can't find a lot of people that say they fix electric motors," he said.
Dreisilker Electric Motors Inc.:
What: An electric motor manufacturer and repair shop with nine U.S. locations. The company also sells a full line of accessories.
Where: 4012 W. Main St., McHenry
Information: Call 815-385-5530 or visit www.dreisilker.com