TE Wire Company History

Fred Walter, an aeronautics engineer, founded Thermo Electric Co. in 1941 to produce a thermocouple sensor for the aircraft industry. Its mission was to become a leading manufacturer of high-quality thermocouple sensors. Its first significant customer was Curtis Wright, the airplane parts manufacturer. The company manufactured sensors for them throughout World War II and prospered as the demand for planes grew dramatically. However, the company struggled to keep up with demand in part because they were unable to buy the wire they required. Thermocouple sensors require very high-quality, accurately calibrated wire. This led to Thermo Electric developing its own wire manufacturing facility it would be able to control the wire quality, resulting in more control over the quality of the company’s final product. The goal was to provide the sensor division with a significant competitive advantage. As a result, in the late 1940s, the company successfully developed its wire manufacturing business.

In the 1960’s Thermo Electric Co. started to manufacture sensors for power plants and petrochemical plants, in addition to serving the aircraft industry. As the sensor business grew and diversified into servicing new industries, the wire and cable division grew in size and scope with it.

In 1967 the wire and cable business was split from the sensor business and made into an independently managed division. The wire and cable division developed into a prosperous business unit of the parent company, and in the 1980s Thermo Electric Co. expanded its product lines. Management increased the range of thermocouple wire sold and developed new technologies to meet the demands of the various industries that the company served. The company began to gain a reputation for manufacturing the highest quality, most accurately calibrated wire in the industry.

Thermo Electric Co. Inc. sold the Wire & Cable Division in March 1999 to an independent buyout group.

In 2007 what was then called the Marmon Group, seeing an opportunity to enhance its extensive businesses, including its many holdings in the wire and cable business, purchased 100% ownership of the company and renamed it TE Wire & Cable LLC (TEW&C). TEW&C is a member of the Marmon Electrical business sector that encompasses businesses that support energy exploration and the production with specialized wire and cable, work with utilities to reduce their cost and improve grid reliability, and provide technologies and products for mission-critical aerospace and defense systems.

In 2008 the Marmon Group and TE Wire & Cable became part of the Berkshire Hathaway group of companies. The Marmon Group now Marmon Holdings, Inc. has since grown to 11 business sectors and more than 100 autonomous businesses with total annual revenue of $10 billion. Marmon’s 20,000-plus team members serve diverse industries and markets worldwide.

In 2015 CCPI Europe Ltd was acquired by Marmon and became a sister company of TE. 

In 2021 TEW&C expanded its manufacturing area and is in the process of building additional assembly capabilities with an anticipated AS9001 certification and launch in 2022.