Our start was many years ago and from a very humble beginning. Merit Gear and Machine Company was founded in 1952 by two gear makers from Chicago who were as interested in fishing as they were in making gears. They saw the beauty of Northern Wisconsin, smelled the fresh North Woods pine air, and knew immediately that Antigo was the ideal place to build a gear company. These serene surroundings and this meticulous, hard-working labor force would give Merit a unique, sustainable advantage that would enable us to become one of the world’s premier small-scale manufacturers.

Merit’s first gears were for the tractor replacement market and for general machine applications. For a brief time Merit also manufactured snowmobiles, but this venture soon ended when it became clear that Merit needed to focus on the core business of making high-quality gears. In 1965 Merit Gear and Machine was purchased by Foundry Allied Industries (FAI) of Racine, Wisconsin, who brought new management ideas and fresh capital to help Merit rise to the next level of quality gear manufacturing.

During the FAI years, Merit grew in size and scope, and embraced the concept of Continuous Improvement as one of the fundamental values that would position us for the future. We invested in new equipment, implemented new quality methods, and developed new competencies that would enable us to exceed our customers’ ever-growing quality standards. In 1982 we purchased our first CNC Lathe. In 1984 we opened our in-house heat-treating facility. Soon afterwards we opened our in-house metallurgical lab to provide verified quality control for our customers. In 1991, Merit Gear Corporation was spun off of FAI, regaining its status as an independent company.

We have continued to reinvest the rewards of our labor in new technologies and have focused on maintaining the world-class skills that set us apart from other gear makers. Today, most of our work is performed by CNC machines at all stages of production. We continue to expand our capabilities by investing in the finest machinery available and by continuously updating the skills of our dedicated workforce. In 1997 we received our first ISO Certification. In 2004 we received our current ISO 9001-2000 certification, which includes certification to create complete design programs in addition to manufacturing gears. In 2004 we also added an experienced Ph.D. Engineer to our team to provide our customers with true “full service” gear and gearbox support.

We outgrew our original facility on Neva Road many years ago and moved into a larger space on Elm Street. We eventually outgrew that site and moved into the facility on Hudson Street where we still do our production today. We have since expanded this plant five times, being careful to grow our capacity only after we have first grown our quality. In 2005 we completed yet another plant expansion, this time providing a new, world-class gearbox design and assembly facility that enables us to build precision enclosed drives in a clean, climate-controlled environment.

The people of Merit Gear are homegrown, proud, and extremely hard working. Many of our “old timers” learned the real meaning of work in the potato fields that surround the city. Our people are from a special blend of European ancestors that came to America to farm and log the land. They understand hard work and take immense pride in whatever they do. Merit's employees play a key role in our special ability to continuously improve our gear-making skill and knowledge. They are persistent pursuers of perfection who do not stop at “good enough.” Our work force also remains steady over the years with very little turnover. Many of our employees started at Merit decades ago as apprentice machinists and are now master gear makers who produce some of the world’s finest precision gears.

Today our work force of over one hundred dedicated people is focused on supplying high-precision loose production and prototype gearing, along with the complete design and assembly of custom enclosed drives for the industry’s most exacting customers.

It is their skill that lies at the core of our ability to provide uniquely high-quality gears for our customers; and it is their experience and efficiency that enable us to provide great value, too. They are what make Merit Gear "America's Best Value for Precision Gearing."

We invite you to visit our facility and to meet our unique team in Antigo, and we would welcome the opportunity to show you how your company could benefit from a partnership with Merit Gear.