Demtool is a metal fabricator based in Petersburg, Ontario that strongly believes in investing in its capabilities. The company serves as a one-stop shop for customers across industries who rely on its unmatched metal fabrication, machining, and powder coating expertise.
Celebrating 20 years in operation, Demtool has remained agile, dynamically evolving its services and capabilities to meet the needs of the market. Together, owners and brothers Jim, Derrick, and Matt Demerling have curated a niche offering that has enabled the company to grow organically throughout the years. Continuous reinvestment in the business vigorously reinforces its growth, ensuring that size, capacity, and output align with the latest technologies and equipment, all in service of keeping promises to customers.
As Derrick notes, “If you want it done right, you Demtool It!” a commitment that the company lives by and by which its reputation is sustained.
Family affair
Family is a big part of the success of Demtool, extending beyond the blood ties of the ownership team to embrace the employees as well. This has been the case since the company’s founding when Jim and Derrick saw an opportunity that they simply had to take. A local shop owner was retiring, and as Derrick explains, “Jim and I had decided that we should buy the shop from him, and we purchased his equipment and put it in the building our parents operated their construction business out of. We moved into their building and that’s how Demtool started.”
As Jim notes, “We were both tradesmen working at bigger companies and decided to make a go of it on our own. That’s where it all started, and Matt was our first employee.”
The company found early success by instinctively and comprehensively addressing its customers’ needs, an approach that serves it well to this day. Established first as a machine shop, its capabilities quickly expanded to include fabrication and later powder coating, making Demtool a one-stop shop for diverse customers in automation, robotics, automotive, agriculture, packaging, food processing, and more.
Indeed, having multiple services under one roof enables Demtool to “be very competitive and offer short lead times because we control the schedule through all those various operations. Our quality and integrity are second to none and our customer service is quite high. If we say we’re going to do something, we do it,” says Derrick.
Continuous investment
Demtool works closely with its partners and engineering teams to identify the most cost-effective means of manufacturing, which is where continuous investment in its capacity to meet growing demand for its services is called for. The company is presently in the process of adding 7,500 square feet to its facilities, necessitated by expanding capabilities and new equipment that have been integrated in recent times, including laser cutting equipment.
Previously, the company would outsource services like laser cutting, but demand is changing things. As Jim notes, “That was a big jump for us to get into laser cutting in 2009, and now it’s a large part of what we do.”
The additional capacity will also provide more office space and a boardroom. “It gives us extra space to get some more hires in place and then the production side will have space for expanding into different processes. It’s also building on what we’re already doing by adding an area to expand our quality inspection capabilities,” notes Jim.
When asked if the company would be celebrating its milestone 20th anniversary, Derrick explains that “2025 will be a big year,” especially once the expansion is complete, at which point there will be much to celebrate.
Certified quality
The investments that Demtool has made to integrate modern, highly specialized equipment, software, and processes to improve workflow and output—as well as quality and precision—have also supported the effort to achieve its ISO 9001:2015 certification. Demtool has also implemented Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB) standards, another certification that will open doors for the company. As Jim observes, “That’s a good step in the right direction with our existing customer base, as well as new customers.”
In addition to its quality processes, Demtool takes proactive measures to ensure that its equipment and output are of the highest calibre. This includes equipment upkeep and maintenance, on which Matt comments, “Making sure it’s maintained is key to our success and our customers’ success.”
As Derrick points out, “Improvement is and has always been a big part of what we’ve done, even before we understood what continuous improvement meant,” a point that was made about the company’s recent ISO certification.
Even with the investments that have been made, Demtool is finding that demand, in the form of growth driven solely through referral, is testing its capacity. Luckily, thanks to competitive wages and a family-oriented company culture at a time when demand for talent is at an all-time high, talent attraction and retention aren’t a challenge to sustaining growth for this company.
“We offer highly competitive wages, and we do various company events to enhance team building, which makes the culture really strong, really positive,” says Jim of the team’s approach to internal culture and community outreach.
“We participate in and donate to local charity events, and we also work with local high schools and universities and their competitive teams. We donate our time through mentorship, resources, and components to different teams,” says Derrick.
An eye on growth
For the Demerling brothers, the goal is to maintain the success of the business, growing the company, as well as its market and community impacts, which are of particular importance.
Asked about goals, Derrick replies: “Continuing to grow. We’re located in Petersburg, Ontario; it’s a very small town. It’s where our parents still live. It’s where we grew up. We don’t have any aspirations of leaving. We want to grow within the town.”
It is also exceedingly important to the brothers that this growth is strategic and sustainable for the long term. After 20 years, Demtool is a family legacy in the making that enriches the lives of its people, its customers, and the place they call home.
“That’s our long-term goal: growth, but sustainable growth. We don’t want to put anybody at risk. We don’t want to have to lay people off if the work slows down. We’ve never laid anybody off for lack of work. So, we will continue to develop our processes,” Jim says, and the brothers are as one in their desire for long-term growth.
United as a family and company with this goal in mind, the Demerlings remain dedicated to continuous improvement and investment, and to ensuring that the company preserves the reputation it has earned for quality and performance, and for being a one-stop shop that gets the job done right.
