Twenty years ago, Amphenol TPC Wire & Cable (ATPC) acquired Sanco, which would eventually become its Custom Build Shop (CBS). But the story of the CBS began long before the acquisition with a family willing to build something from the ground up. For Diane Anderson, Production Manager of Assembly at ATPC, the journey has been personal from the very beginning.
"I've been with ATPC for the Custom Build Shop for 20 years now," Anderson said. "And I've been with the build shop since it started back in 1993."
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That year, her parents launched the business in the most humble of settings: their basement. What initially started as a part-time operation quickly grew, and Anderson would help after work, assembling products alongside her mother as demand increased. The company expanded into shared rental space before moving into larger facilities and eventually becoming Sanco Assembly Incorporated in 2003.
Those early years required extraordinary commitment.
"Working part-time, I did payroll, I did shipping, receiving, whatever mom and dad needed me to do," Anderson said. "When I started full-time, I still did all that, but I also did build work."
In those early days, the work truly was a labor of love and dedication, often stretching late into the night.
"It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears," she said with a chuckle. "There were nights spent there building assemblies, and people coming in the next day going, 'Oh, you're still here?' I'm like, 'Yeah, I had to get it done.'"
The foundation for the business was built on flexibility and customer focus; Anderson's father had spent his career selling cable products, which led him to discover an opportunity others had overlooked. His original dedication to flexibility and customer focus continues to define the CBS today. And unlike in high-volume manufacturing environments, concentration on solving unique challenges every day has allowed the team to stay customer-focused.
"Most of our projects today are one-offs," Anderson said. "We don't require orders that include hundreds of pieces like other people do, with some of the most popular assemblies being MIL-C-5015 and M23 connectors. That all started when we were Sanco, where we did everything from different types of patch cables – thousands of them – to crimping and soldering D-subs, 5015s, and anything else my dad could sell. Today, we do those plus X-Line, V-Line, Harting, ILME, and more."
That unique capability to handle small-scale projects has only expanded over time. Today, the team handles soldering, crimping, molding, modifications, and specialized assembly projects while working closely with engineering to create solutions for customers.
Truly, from the very beginning, a focus on people is what has kept the build shop going. And it very much defined the direction it would go in the coming decades. Before the acquisition in 2006, Anderson's parents faced an important decision: multiple companies were interested in purchasing Sanco Assembly.
Becoming a part of TPC Wire and Cable was a natural decision, though.
"Mom and dad wanted what was best for the employees," Anderson said. "That was always their goal, whatever's best for the employees."
Over the years as part of ATPC, the CBS has continued to evolve. New processes, updated tooling, continuous improvement initiatives, and expanded facilities have helped the operation grow far beyond its original footprint.
All that growth moved the operation from location to location over the years. The very first move took it from a basement enterprise to a small building in Roseville, Michigan.
“We were over on Calahan Road,” Anderson recalled. “And then after TPC acquired us, we moved to Fraser, Michigan. The biggest change came in 2012 when they moved us down to Ohio. That move also brought molding capabilities, new tooling, and the ability to take on different types of assemblies.”
It was in the Buckeye State that Anderson embraced the idea that the CBS would be her “footprint.” After all, she’d witnessed every chapter of its story firsthand. “Mom and Dad started it, but I want to finish it. Every time it grows, I share the news with them. They love to hear all the stories. For me, it’s thinking back – we started in a basement, and now I look out into the shop and go, ‘Oh, wow.’ We’ve got 15 or 16 employees, and we’re still growing. We have mostly updated all of our tooling now."
Looking across today's operation, it's hard not to reflect on where it all began. When asked about her most memorable moments with the CBS, Anderson narrowed in on one specific project. Years ago, she and her mother were tasked with reverse-engineering a complex 13-legged harness assembly for a customer.
"We had to dissect this oily, nasty assembly and create the new ATPC version," she said.
The project required long hours and determination.
"We had stayed at work overnight, ate dinner and everything right there just to get it designed correctly."
The result was worth it. The customer loved it, even preferring the new build to the original design. It became a popular offering, and today, it’s something the CBS team still builds. It’s now a lasting reminder of the ingenuity and persistence that helped shape the business.
As CBS enters its next chapter, Anderson sees opportunity ahead. And her team is equally eager to grow. The reason for that continual growth, she believes, is simple. Customers continue to need partners who can solve difficult problems instead of forcing standardized solutions.
"We're a niche that not a lot of people have," Anderson said. “A lot of other solution providers will push a specific solution and encourage you to change over to whatever they want you to change over to. Here, we’re like, ‘Let’s see if we can rework that. Let’s see if we can mold that, make that even better.’ We have capabilities that are very in-demand.”
After more than three decades with the build shop and two decades as part of ATPC, her commitment remains unchanged.
"There’s this pride and joy for what happens here every day," she said. And when asked what keeps her here, despite having family hundreds of miles away in Michigan, her answer was immediate. "This job is what means the most to me. I don't know what I would do if I wasn't here."
