Design Systems Canada, as a small company with a strong following, is trusted for excellence in smart factory design, upgrading facilities to meet 4.0 and 5.0 fabrication standards, and providing advanced planning, program management, and full-service engineering. DSC also utilizes a terrestrial 3D-laser scanning suite and drone-based photogrammetry to survey and document site dimensions, supporting smart factory conversions.

Additionally, DSC uses top-tier simulation software and commissioning tools for virtual commissioning. As a result, some of its largest clients come from the automotive industry, including well-known global brands. DSC’s clients also come from healthcare, pharmaceuticals, package handling, and other sectors. And although these big industrial companies are diverse, they share an understanding that managing their own layouts, system analyses, and improvements too often wastes more time and resources than it’s worth.

Improving outcomes
DSC is based in Windsor, Ontario, and its team of 20 professionals specializing in removing pain points for clients in service of improving their bottom lines. Aaron Anson, Managing Partner and General Manager, is clear about the company’s value proposition.

“You don’t know what you don’t know—and when clients want to improve processes, they are so close to their established systems it can be difficult for them to see the bigger picture,” Anson says.

But, well-seasoned in a variety of systems, from conveyors to design, all firmly rooted in establishing the ideal product timing schedule for each facility, the DSC team is able to improve output, pre-empt potential issues, and identify existing faults and weaknesses before they escalate. Importantly, DSC also identifies near-imperceptible system flaws that can cost companies dearly down the line.

Care for its image, too, has contributed to the company’s longevity. DSC recently completed a group rebranding project across its facilities in the United States, Mexico, and Canada with a spruce new look embodying energy and modernity. The company also expanded its footprint, adding a facility in Querétaro, Mexico, to its existing footprint in Saltillo.

The future of automotive assembly
As its clients have always included automotive assembly plants, the company originally built its reputation helping car manufacturers by managing new product programs while assisting to implement process improvements. When market demand shifted toward electric vehicles, DSC naturally pivoted to the support of EV manufacturing.

As global political and economic realities evolved, and governments adjusted their mandates accordingly, the company kept pace, although it took a few years to understand what the ideal iteration of this new technology would be for the Canadian market. Now, a little further down the line, with the real-life conditions of a vast landscape, extreme weather, and absence of recharging infrastructure outside large metropoles, EVs are losing favour with Canadians. “There are so many unknowns still in EVs, especially in Canada,” Anson says, and adoption trends indicate a higher popularity rate for hybrid vehicles.

With local market trends including hybrid vehicles as well as pure electric vehicles, the move provides manufacturers with less of an incline in the learning curve to achieving the best possible outcomes in these technologies, essentially buying manufacturers extra time to reflect on and refine their innovations. This is also necessary for developing the kinds of vehicles that are practical specifically for a Canadian context. “Our clients are going to continue to make the combustion engine,” Anson says, pointing out that, economically, this provides security on a national scale.

Yet, it is by no means game over for the EV market. DSC continues to contribute to the country’s electrically powered future by assisting battery fabricators in establishing their state-of-the-art facilities on local soil. A significant amount of this assistance goes to Korean feeder plants working in collaboration with the battery fabricators. These include NextStar Energy, a collaboration between LG Energy Solution and Stellantis, with NextStar Energy’s recently launched $5 billion facility in Windsor, Ontario. The arrival of this company in Windsor led to other firms setting themselves up in the area, creating even more opportunities for DSC.

Flourishing, the Canadian way
The DSC team has been assisting these companies with facility layouts, efficiency improvements, safety reviews, and general guidance on typical Canadian fabrication flow and regulations. “That’s where we get excited; these are the things that we have the opportunity to improve and streamline,” Anson says, noting that foreign outfits often need a lot of support to adapt to the Canadian way of operating.

The company also helps legacy firms evolve by harnessing the latest technology and assisting with regulatory upgrades, putting them painlessly at the cutting edge of their sector through the addition of automation, modern equipment, and facility design. As with new builds, this includes harnessing predictive maintenance and the internet of things (IoT) to optimize uptime and output. While these upgrades can be lengthy projects, breaking them up into clear phases has proven an ideal strategy for introducing manageable change in organizations where fabrication processes have become outdated.

DSC’s methods are as modern as its layouts, with professionally rendered designs using AutoCAD and the use of digital twins—virtual copies of facility layouts that reflect processes in real time. These are used for data analysis, in machine learning, and to improve system flow. “The data might tell us that you need to have a second machine installed so that you can handle more volume efficiency,” Anson explains.

Unsurprisingly, COVID-19 popularized the use of predictive maintenance. As spare parts like filters—which would typically arrive in a few days—suddenly took several months to appear, pre-empting mechanical services became imperative to ensure fabrication uptime. It also brought change.

Continuously diversifying into new areas like food & beverage, the DSC team soon found that its hard-won automotive engineering expertise in lighting, air supply, and every other aspect of manufacturing facility setup had an unexpected upside: it was transferable and would work in any industry. Today, Design Systems Canada collaborates with a host of new industrial outfits, like a lumber yard in northern Ontario that needed some process flow assistance. DSC also foresees exciting new possibilities in aerospace and forestry.

A tight team
Running a smooth operation with a small team means that DSC’s people are close-knit, making teamwork a pleasure—and customers benefit in many ways. Camaraderie makes for solid work relationships and reliability, care, and a general sense of kindness to colleagues permeate the company’s service delivery. In DSC’s own ranks, the result is long tenures, with at least two employees having been with the company for three decades. This means that generational knowledge is being passed from the older generation to the newer, ensuring continuity and a legacy of excellence.

And, with the vast volumes of manufacturing returning to North American shores, whether tearing down old, existing facilities or building new ones, whether consolidating or expanding, Design Systems Canada is close at hand to support fabricators. This includes setting up manufacturers properly from the start to avoid unnecessary expenses while optimizing earning potential. It is much like having an experienced coach on the team, says Anson.

“We want to help you grow your business. We’re not looking to invest in your business or trying to take your money; we just want you to be the best version of you.”

The post Modernizing North American Fabrication<p class="company">Design Systems Canada Ltd.</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

The business specialized in solutions that speak to a bygone era in cinematic history, when movies were shot on celluloid film. The company made film and chemical processing equipment, drybox air systems—also called dry cabinets, storage systems to protect film and film gear from humidity and contaminants—and silver recovery cells, which are commonly used in darkrooms to recover silver elements from chemicals used to process film.

“From ’76 on, any major motion picture you’d see in the movie theatre had gone through something he had made,” states Daniel with pride. During the 1990s, moviemakers started to transition from celluloid film to digital technology and demand for celluloid film-related equipment dropped sharply.

In 2000, Valenzuela suffered a heart attack and his son-in-law stepped into the breach. At the time, Daniel was working as a Los Angeles County deputy sheriff; he was an experienced lawman but knew little about metal manufacturing. Nonetheless, the LA County Sheriff’s Department gave him a six-month leave of absence to manage the business as Valenzuela recuperated.

Few of Daniel’s policing skills were applicable to his new role, other than the ability to suss out “if employees were trying to get something over on me,” he jokes. He did, however, have a naturally inquisitive nature, a good work ethic, and an outsider’s perspective. He peppered the shop floor staff with questions and worked hard to make changes in a business that was struggling at the time.

“At the end of the six months, my wife and I decided that I would stay there and continue with the company and help make it great again. They did their best sales they ever had that year,” he recalls.

In 2004, Valenzuela closed his business and sold his equipment to Daniel and his wife Petra. The company name was tweaked from Metal Engineering, and the business was moved from an 8,000-square-foot space to the 15,500-square-foot facility it currently occupies. Petra passed away earlier this year, so the firm is now solely run by Daniel and his son Bryce, Project Manager.

At present, the company is eagerly anticipating the arrival of a special laser welding system to augment its service lineup. The order was placed after the company researched the laser welding system and found much to its liking.

“The gist of it is it welds faster than MIG welding, which right now is the fastest form of welding,” explains Bryce. “It uses more precise and direct heat than TIG welding, and it delivers full penetration in a single pass… a job that would normally take you an hour, you can do in 15 minutes without any metal fatigue.”

The system is “very easy” to learn, he continues. He expects that the leading-edge solution will arrive by December of this year.

As with most services at Metal Engineering & MFG., laser welding will be handled in-house. The company’s motto, ‘Where Craftsmanship and Technology Meet,’ reflects its devotion to technological solutions and old-fashioned skill. The company has its own machining and welding equipment and uses CAD software for planning, and, if it needs to subcontract anything out, it relies on a handful of trusted partners.

As a custom metal fabricator, Metal Engineering & MFG. often works as part of a larger team of contractors for the commercial, residential, and specialty markets. Once a project is completed, the company offers maintenance, although such services are not often needed.

“Nine times out of ten, our products don’t require any maintenance,” Bryce says. “The only time that ever happens is, say, for a water feature—if the chemicals are imbalanced and the chlorine levels are way too high, sometimes that causes stainless steel to rust. In that case, we come out and perform the maintenance and tell them what’s wrong with their water. But that’s very rare.”

Even if most modern films are made using digital technology, the company still does some work for the silver screen. The last big film the company worked on was Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, a Quentin Tarantino thriller shot on Kodak 35mm film. Tarantino’s use of old-fashioned film stock necessitated the use of old-fashioned accessories. “We made all the film reels for all the movie theatres in the nation to run the film and the traveling boxes for those films,” Bryce explains.

While Metal Engineering & MFG. does not do much movie work these days, it has developed a new niche doing metalwork for theme parks and casinos. “We get hired by contractors,” says Bryce, “and through them, we do a lot of work for theme parks. You can’t walk through one of their parks without running past products that we make.”

About a decade ago, the company did secondary metalwork at a huge theme park area. The team also contributed to a striking 39-foot-high fountain featuring three stylized sculptures of women embedded in a column rising from a base. 22,000 lbs. of stainless steel support the fountain and its sculptures, built for the lobby of the Palazzo, a high-end casino and hotel that is part of the larger Venetian Resort in Las Vegas.

“Water comes from the top, from a chalice all the way to the bottom, which is the floor below. Everything underneath is stainless steel,” Daniel says. “We do a lot of water features as part of the team that puts them together; we do the metalwork.”

Personnel levels at Metal Engineering & MFG. vary depending on the nature of projects at hand. On a big assignment, the company might use as many as 30 employees, while for most work, the firm relies on a core of roughly 12 staff members. When hiring, the company likes applicants who are “go-getters,” says Bryce. “We try to hire people who mesh well with everyone, too.”

Indeed, the company aims to cultivate a family-like atmosphere, lending out shop trucks, for example, for employees facing car problems. Employees can use the shop trucks to save on repair bills. For their part, employees are expected to be honest and focused on quality. “I tell every employee, whether they’re new or old, ‘If there’s a mistake made, don’t try to hide it. Just come up and say, ‘Hey, I messed up’ and let’s try to figure out how to fix it,’” he tells us.

In terms of quality, “I never want to hear the words, ‘It’s good enough.’ Any company can do good enough. They’re not hiring us to do good enough; they’re hiring us to do better,” adds Daniel. “We’ve got to try to make this the best that we can. If something doesn’t work right, we’ll step back and see what happened: ‘What caused this?’ Then we’ll correct it.”

In a similar fashion, Metal Engineering & MFG. takes a strict line on safety, with regular safety meetings and ample and readily available PPE.

Promotion of Metal Engineering & MFG. is largely a matter of word-of-mouth endorsements. The company does attend trade shows but primarily relies on customer referrals or general contractors hiring it back for new projects. Being that the company is still relatively small, “I would say the biggest challenge is that the industry is kind of changing—more and more companies are favoring big business, big corporations. What we’re doing to solve that problem is really focusing on our quality and our customer service,” says Bryce.

The team is also pondering the possibilities of opening an operation in Florida, perhaps in tandem with some customer operations. “We’re in talks to see if that’s a viable option,” Bryce says. And of course, the company can’t wait to start using its laser welding solution once it arrives.

Looking ahead, “We want to continue to be more of a leader in technology,” Bryce asserts. “That’s the biggest thing with metal manufacturing—integrating technology into what you’re doing and not being afraid of it, whether that’s integrating an AI model into our quoting services, laser welding, or any other new technology that’s coming up. There are a lot of new things emerging right now.”

The post From the Silver Screen to Casinos and Beyond<p class="company">Metal Engineering & MFG.</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

Founded in 2014, Wind River Built used to focus exclusively on tiny homes—that is, small, comparatively inexpensive residences on wheels. The firm was featured on the hit reality show Tiny House Nation and gained a reputation as a premier builder in this sector. In recent years, it has tweaked its business model and expanded into modular construction.

“It was more of a shift in where we think the bulk of our business is going to come from,” explains Director of Business Development, Amelia Dicks. “We will never fully move away from building tiny homes on wheels.”

Modular buildings have foundations and are fashioned from segments built in factories. These segments, or modules, are transported to the building site then fitted together like huge building blocks. Offering a faster, cheaper, and greener alternative to traditional construction processes—in which residences are erected at a building site—modular construction is rapidly gaining in popularity.

Production is carried out at Wind River Built’s 100,000-square-foot plant on 30 acres of land. The company runs a single shift at the moment, built around a shortened week as production crews work 10 hours a day, 4 days a week. Production staff enjoy their three-day weekends, and such a schedule “is part of our culture that everyone seems to enjoy and appreciate,” says Dicks.

The company’s production duties are all self-performed. “We do everything in-house. We have our own cabinet shop, paint booth, spray foam, we do HVAC in-house,” Dicks notes with pride. “We don’t have any subcontractors.” The company does, however, partner with third parties who install its modular buildings. The team works with developers and designers who approach the firm with design concepts that it then brings to fruition, and also offers model designs for modular buildings which can be viewed on the company website.

The factory complies with industry standards from the ICC NTA, an International Code Council organization that certifies modular buildings. When it comes to tiny homes, Wind River Built adheres to American National Standards Institute 119.5 to certify the tiny homes as Park Model RV’s through Pacific West Associates, an engineering firm that provides consultation and quality assurance services for the tiny home niche.

This intense focus on quality is a key element in ‘The Wind River Difference,’ a company ethos that also encompasses excellence and community spirit, says Dicks. That difference is all about “care for both our people and our products,” she says. “It really does translate into everything our clients get from Wind River Built: carefully-crafted products and a customer experience that makes them know they found the right build partner. We’ll welcome anyone to our shop to see and feel this for themselves.”

The Wind River Difference is clearly having an impact; earlier this year, the company won a prestigious Excellence in Innovation Award from the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of East Tennessee.

We last spoke with Wind River Built in November of 2024, and at that time, “We had just released our Hospitality series,” says Dicks. “Hospitality has been a great industry for us, but we also care deeply about building homes for people. So, since our last interview, we’ve released a few signature residential models and have a few more that will be online soon,” she says.

The hospitality sector is still the company’s largest market at present, and designs include the Nova (286 square feet in size with a gable roof, open sleeping area, kitchenette, private bath, and dining area) and the Ronan, which is 390 square feet with floor to ceiling windows and a private sauna. Other hospitality designs include the Rogue (small at 180 square feet, it still offers a porch, coffee bar, and spaces for living and sleeping) and the Wind River Sauna (104 square feet, complete with a private outdoor shower).

For all that, the company’s most popular modular design is a residential model called the Cascade, Dicks tells us. This model home features one bathroom, a pair of bedrooms, and an open floor plan. The house exterior is 43’ long, 25’ wide, and 13’ tall, with 700 square feet of interior space and a base price under $200,000. She attributes the Cascade’s popularity to the fact that “it’s hard to find single family homes at that footprint size… built with traditional construction anymore.”

Given its diminutive footprint, the Cascade could also fit into the emerging accessory dwelling unit (ADU) category, she adds. Sometimes called ‘granny flats,’ these units are secondary residences located on the property of an existing home. They are often small and, as their nickname implies, frequently house older relatives who want to live independently but remain close to their families, or young adults preparing to launch. ADUs can also be used as guest houses for short-term visitors.

While Wind River Built is eager to explore opportunities in the ADU market, permitting and extensive paperwork can make it a challenge to get such units installed. Obtaining pre-approval for building plans from municipalities would be one way to speed this process along, Dicks says. The company is also looking to expand its presence in the student and workforce housing sector as well as the single- and multi-family residential sector.

Regardless of the sector involved, almost all of the firm’s projects are based in the Southeast, Tennessee in particular. That said, “We are actively pursuing development projects across the country and have been approached with some bid requests for the Caribbean and other islands,” Dicks shares.

The company currently has 110 employees and in terms of new hires, “We look to find people that fit with our culture, that want to grow with us. We look for people with integrity… that want to do good work and be part of something that’s meaningful and fulfilling for them.” Led by an accessible, open-minded team, the company is “not corporate,” she says. “Everyone gets a voice.”

Non-corporate as it may be, Wind River Built is starting to land some big contracts. One project mentioned when we last spoke, to build 75 cabins for a resort in the Great Smoky Mountains, has since been completed. The cabins are done, pending installation.

To keep growing, the company attends trade shows, is active on social media, and engages in old-fashioned networking, the latter involving “finding people we want to work with and reaching out to them.” Wind River Built also hosts events at its own facility and takes on in-house projects that showcase its talents and the benefits of modular construction. At the time of our interview, the team was in the process of having a Cascade model modular home installed in Signal Mountain, a town near Chattanooga. VIPs and “people who may be modular-skeptic—who haven’t seen a modular home before” have been invited to view the residence, says Dicks.

Another project involves the installation of a Cascade home on a parcel of land donated by the Chattanooga Land Bank Authority, an affordable housing organization. This partnership is one of Wind River Built’s latest charitable endeavors. The firm has also worked with North Carolina-based nonprofit group, Patriot Relief, to build homes for victims of Hurricane Helene. The team assists with classes that raise awareness about the trades, supports the United Way, and regularly picks up litter as part of an Adopt-a-Highway effort as well.

The company also maintains an internal ‘Helping Hand Fund’ that is used to assist “our Wind River Built family as well as community members,” says Dicks, and has a committee that brainstorms team-building exercises that often involve a philanthropic component.

Going forward, the company may build another facility on its property. It also aims to cement relationships with designers and architects as it takes on larger assignments.

“A lot of developers will go to their existing professional team, which might include [architects and designers], asking about modular, and then those architects and designers are tasked with finding manufacturers,” Dicks explains. “So, we’ve been putting more effort into expanding those relationships and we encourage people to reach out to us if there’s interest in doing developments with modular construction.”

Wind River Built is also determined to educate politicians and the public about the benefits of modular construction. While becoming more commonplace, many people still mistakenly associate modular with lower-quality trailer homes. “We have to talk to municipalities, talk to the community, help them understand that these are real residential homes, and they’re of a high quality,” notes Dicks.

The post Establishing a Model for Modular Construction<p class="company">Wind River Built</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

At its core, Benson Systems is about more than just systems integration; it is about protecting people, safeguarding property, and delivering solutions that blend cutting-edge technology with the personal touch of a family-run operation. The company’s reputation has been built over nearly four decades by staying true to its values while continuously adapting to new demands. “Being a second-generation company means that we carry forward not only the name, but also the values and reputation built by my father,” says Eric Benson, President and CEO. “That legacy is something we take very seriously, and it motivates us to keep raising the bar.”

Benson Systems’ origins trace back to 1986, when Shawn Benson first launched the business with a simple but ambitious goal: to provide reliable, professional service in an industry where safety and trust are paramount. At the time, Arizona was experiencing steady growth in both residential and commercial development, and there was a growing need for specialized systems that could keep up with new construction and regulatory standards.

Over the years, the company evolved from a small local operation into a trusted regional leader. From its earliest days, Benson Systems has stood out for its family approach: treating every client as a long-term partner, not a mere transaction. This philosophy helped build relationships that have endured through multiple projects, property expansions, and even generational changes on the client side. Now, under Eric Benson’s leadership, the family legacy continues.

Family ownership, he notes, is about more than succession. It is about continuity of values, consistency of service, and accountability that extends beyond the bottom line. “When you work with Benson Systems, you’re not just another project or number,” he explains. “You’re part of a relationship. We bring a personal touch that bigger firms often can’t replicate, and we take pride in delivering on promises.”

Employees benefit from this approach just as strongly, and many have stayed with the company for decades, creating a workplace where technical excellence and loyalty go hand in hand. That sense of belonging and shared mission helps Benson Systems maintain consistency, even as the company grows and adapts to shifting markets, regulations, and innovations.

“You don’t make it 40 years in business without adapting to changing markets and technology, or without staying true to who you are,” Benson reflects. “Our customers know they can trust us because we’ve been here for the long haul.”

This dual focus—evolution paired with consistency—is at the heart of Benson Systems’ longevity. The company has successfully navigated multiple economic cycles, from the housing booms of the early 2000s to construction slowdowns during recessions. Through it all, Benson Systems kept investing in people and technology, ensuring it was positioned to serve clients when demand rebounded.

Looking ahead, the 40-year mark is both a celebration and a launchpad. Benson Systems plans to honor its long-term clients, spotlight its employees, and use the milestone to showcase a vision for the future. For Eric Benson and his team, the anniversary isn’t simply about looking back but about setting the tone for the decades ahead.

One of Benson Systems’ priorities is keeping work in-house. The company maintains a staff of highly trained engineers who manage design, implementation, and support under one roof, allowing the team to ensure quality control, shorten project timelines, and adapt more quickly when challenges arise. Teams enjoy a collaborative culture wherein they share knowledge and mentor new talent, creating a pipeline of skilled professionals ready to carry the company forward.

“Having engineers on staff gives us the ability to respond quickly, customize solutions, and control quality at every step,” Benson says. For example, on a recent large-scale commercial installation, Benson’s engineers were able to customize a low voltage and fire life safety system that integrated seamlessly with the client’s existing operations, and were able to pivot quickly when needs changed. The result was a project delivered on time, on budget, and with long-term reliability.

While Benson Systems provides a wide portfolio of services, its reputation is strongest in low voltage technologies and fire life safety, specializations that reflect both industry demand and the company’s commitment to protecting people and property.

Low voltage systems encompass everything from structured cabling and communication networks to access control and security cameras. In today’s connected world, reliable low voltage infrastructure isn’t just a convenience, it’s a necessity. Businesses, hospitals, schools, and municipalities all rely on these systems to function safely and efficiently.

Equally critical is fire life safety. From detection systems and alarms to emergency communication and monitoring, Benson Systems designs and maintains solutions that meet rigorous codes and exceed client expectations. This work is not only technical but deeply personal, as lives depend on systems performing without fail.

“Fire safety isn’t optional, it’s life and death,” Benson emphasizes. “That’s why we’ve made it a core part of what we do. Our clients depend on us to keep their buildings and their people safe, and that’s a responsibility we don’t take lightly.”

By focusing on these specialties, Benson Systems has carved out a reputation as a trusted partner in industries where there is no margin for error. Clients know they can depend on the company not just to meet compliance requirements, but to design systems that provide real-world reliability when it matters most.

Operating for four decades means facing and overcoming numerous challenges, and one ongoing issue has been the shortage of skilled labor in the technical trades. Rather than accept this as a barrier, Benson Systems has doubled down on training and development, building internal pathways to grow talent from within.

Another challenge lies in balancing customization with standardization. Every client has unique needs, but too much customization can increase costs and timelines. Benson Systems has found the sweet spot: creating repeatable frameworks for efficiency while maintaining the flexibility to deliver bespoke solutions.

The company has also kept pace with rapid regulatory change. Fire codes, building standards, and safety regulations evolve constantly, and Benson’s in-house expertise ensures the team can interpret and implement these changes seamlessly for clients.

Beyond its work for clients, Benson Systems also plays an active role in the community. Sponsorships, charitable giving, and educational initiatives reflect the company’s belief that success should be shared. As Eric Benson puts it, “We don’t just work in these communities; we’re part of them.”

Indeed, the future for Benson Systems looks as dynamic as its past. Smart building technology, integrated security solutions, and advanced fire life safety systems are reshaping the industry, and Benson is investing heavily to remain at the forefront. Sustainability is also becoming a priority, with a focus on energy-efficient systems and environmentally conscious practices. Most importantly, the company is preparing the next generation of leaders, both within the Benson family and among its engineers and technicians. This commitment to people, alongside innovation, ensures Benson Systems will remain relevant and respected well beyond its 40^th anniversary.

Eric Benson sums it up best: “Our legacy is important. But so is the work we’re doing today and the opportunities ahead. We want Benson Systems to be here for the next 40 years and beyond, continuing to make a difference in the lives of our clients and communities.”

At its heart, Benson Systems is more than a business; it is a legacy. Built on family ownership, strengthened by in-house expertise, and distinguished by a specialization in essential systems, the company has stood the test of time. With its 40-year anniversary on the horizon, Benson Systems is not just reflecting on its past but laying the foundation for its future. For clients, employees, and the community, that means one thing: a trusted partner that will continue delivering safety, reliability, and excellence for decades to come.

The post 40 Years of Safety and Innovation<p class="company">Benson Systems</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

“It is something really special, and not lost on us,” says Ana Lopes, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Beacon Design. “And our customers see tremendous value in U.S.-made products.”

The company’s slogan, “Where Quality Drive meets the New England Way,” says it all. For ChemArt’s many customers, there are countless benefits that come from working with a proud New England company. “Made in the USA means quality craftsmanship, dependability, and our ability to react to demand,” says Lopes. “And it gives you outstanding service, because you’re not having to deal with lag time from working with somebody overseas. There is comfort in knowing you can execute a project on time, on budget, and with consistent communication along the way.”

Investing in people and products
ChemArt has come a long way since it was founded by research chemist Richard Beaupre. Serving in the Navy in the 1950s, he earned his BS degree in Chemistry from the University of Rhode Island in 1962, which fueled his passion for innovation. Soon, Beaupre worked for several companies, including Dynachem Corporation. Highly inventive, he developed and patented several unique core chemistry processes, including dry film resist polymers, still in use today. Created under a work-for-hire arrangement, Beaupre didn’t get into the royalty stream, but is listed on the patent; when he left Dynachem, he received a check as a gesture of appreciation. This became the seed money for ChemArt, which he created with his wife, Barbara, in 1976.

“When ChemArt first launched, it wasn’t a big company,” says Nick Jones, Vice President of Operations. “It was a small location in an old ice cream shop.” Within two years, Beaupre moved the business to its current Lincoln, Rhode Island site, and in 1998 created an additional building. ChemArt was profitable in its first year and every year since, allowing it to grow entirely on internally generated cash flow, which meant there was no outside funding. “This is a very rare accomplishment,” notes company CEO Hamilton Davison.

Planning for the future, Beaupre saw the benefits for the company and its customers of having everything—from initial concept to manufacturing and packaging—under one roof. This allows control over entire projects, from the initial phone call to getting products out the door. “That’s important to our customers,” says Lopes. “It allows us to meet emerging trends, optimize inventories without risk of shortage, and ensure consistent quality.”

ChemArt’s customers include government agencies, military, and historical organizations, as well as medical and aerospace, and for these clients and others, working with a well-established, U.S.-based business has its advantages; Beaupre developed many of the company’s innovations, such as dry film technology, plating recipes were internally created, and the company was vertically integrated long before its competitors. A trusted list of local suppliers and vendors from area companies completes ChemArt’s capabilities to allow the company to make most anything fathomable out of metal, finished in 24 karat gold or other finishes, then hand assembled and packaged in stock or custom boxes.

“Even today, we continue to innovate,” says Jones. Before he passed in 2018, Beaupre realized the importance of investing in technology to produce high-quality products at a reasonable cost. “A Christmas ornament only sells at a certain price point, so we have to figure out how to keep making it for less, given our price point and increasing cost inputs,” Jones explains. “So we’ve combined 3D printing as a form of tooling, rather than paying for traditional hard tooling, and use 3D printers in some of our processes. We’ve added automated cutters instead of hand-cutting, and digital printing instead of just screen printing. And we’ve automated basically through micro-controllers that allow data gathering, improved safety, robotics, and automated press forming, among other advances.”

Along with incorporating robots and updating equipment, the company has also improved its wastewater treatment facility, which has an excellent record. Protecting the planet is important to the company and its clients alike, who value ChemArt’s commitment to the environment compared to more far-flung manufacturing locales.

“Since everything ultimately drains to the Atlantic Ocean, there are very stringent discharge requirements imposed on all companies in this area, especially regarding metals, and we continuously monitor our discharge, sample it, and send it off weekly for chemical analysis,” says Davison. Occasionally, members of the Narragansett Bay Commission, the regional wastewater operator, show up unannounced, take samples, conduct their own analysis, and compare the two to ensure accuracy. In 2023, ChemArt had a perfect record; in 2024, it had just a single incident, due to employee error. “We take employee health and safety and environmental stewardship very seriously,” adds Davison. “We’ve got a great track record, and that’s something we’re very proud of.”

Constantly refining its processes and procedures, ChemArt continues to improve efficiencies and reduce waste and setup times. In the two years he has been with the company, Davison has seen significant improvements. “By being vertically integrated, we can bring different disciplines together to ideate and problem-solve in a way you don’t find in other non-vertically integrated shops,” he states. “They just have a piece of the process; we can look holistically across the whole production flow and optimize the entirety, not just individual pieces.”

“Three brands. One legacy. Made in the USA.”
ChemArt is proud of its three brands, which focus on distinct market segments. Beacon Design is centered on creating custom brass ornaments for clients including religious organizations, universities, non-profits, and fundraising programs across America. B Luxe creates tags, wraps, labels, and other custom luxury packaging solutions “designed to elevate high-end retail presentation.” And ChemTecUSA manufactures precision metal components for industrial and aerospace applications.

“Most of the products we make at Beacon Design support missions of non-profits, by giving them program income while deepening their donor basis allegiance and affiliation with the charity,” Davison explains. “That’s really the lion’s share of our business.” In fact, most of the company’s products are for non-profits. This includes educational and religious institutions as well as local and municipal government agencies and entities.

“The idea with Beacon Design is that we are creating products that reflect the missions of the organizations we are working with to create sustainable annual programs where they are turning their supporters and donors into lifelong collectors,” says Lopes. One of the company’s many long-time relationships is with the White House Historical Association, which furthers its mission to promote a deeper understanding of the Executive Mansion through millions of dollars annually in proceeds from the ornament.

ChemTecUSA, the company’s precision division, sells very tight tolerance parts to industrial clients that are used in subassemblies in medical, energy, transportation, defense, aerospace, and oil & gas. Products include filters, flow measuring components, connectors, springs, sharps, encoder disks, and critical components. B Luxe, meanwhile, uses its capabilities to make luxury attachments and accessories, which helps elevate and differentiate brands in the crowded consumer marketplace and create shelf awareness in retail spaces. Made of metal, these attachments and accessories can be configured to be attached to a box, handbag, perfume bottle, or other containers.

America’s jewelry state
Known as the ‘Ocean State,’ Rhode Island is famous for its striking coastline, rich history, Newport mansions, seafood restaurants, thriving arts scene, and jewelry industry. A leader in the state, ChemArt has made more than 70,000 unique projects in the past 20 years and has some 400 SKUs representing everyday items sold through its open line for retail.

Averaging about 120 full-time staff, the team expands leading up to Christmas, with its increased ornament production. “We can be at over 200 employees at peak season,” says Jones of the company’s roster, which includes manufacturers, assemblers, designers, engineers, and sales. In addition, it has about 150 independent field representatives supported by Beacon Design. These talented staff members, and a commitment to quality and service, continue to put the company ahead of the competition.

“We are lucky to have a highly skilled, collaborative workforce on projects both big and small,” says Lopes. “All those pieces of the puzzle are really important. And to say we have the largest output in the country, being the smallest state, is super impressive.”

CEO Davison joined the company about two years ago. Today, ChemArt’s former CEO remains active as head of the retail division. The transition brought an influx of strategic investments as well as experience and increased sophistication in certain areas.

“Having been through these sorts of transitions in the past, I can honestly say this has been one of the best—maybe the best—I’ve seen in terms of combining incredible history and capabilities with new ideas and technology in a seamless, productive way,” says Davison. “We have not lost any of our executives or managers in that process. There has been a great transition and melding of capabilities, which has been a lot of fun.”

When Davison arrived, he saw the company’s 17 distinct manufacturing steps and how they were precisely sewn together. “I was full of wonder and amazement—and I still am—on a daily basis here,” he says. “And I realized how hard it is to do, to come up with a quality product; maybe we are the only people silly enough to try it? It is really hard!”

When customers and others visit the company, they are often in awe of ChemArt’s dedication to quality and the intricacy involved in the products it produces. “I think for anyone trying to recreate this, the barrier to entry would be huge,” says Davison.

The manufacturing process varies depending on the project: the shortest time from initial conversation to production can be as little as six weeks, while high-volume, large-scale projects with many components can take months or more. Many clients do projects with the company year after year.

Although potential customers can choose to deal with cheaper offshore companies, ChemArt’s clients prefer consistent American quality, accountability, and timely turnaround. This is especially crucial during peak seasons, when customers can’t wait weeks or months for shipping from overseas. “And buying locally allows customers to purchase from us and not have to hold large inventories,” says Lopes.

The ChemArt advantage
Offering design, cutting, plating, advanced manufacturing, assembly, and packaging all in-house, ChemArt continues to attract new clients. “There are other companies that do everything we do—they just don’t do all of what we do,” says Davison. “If you were to go elsewhere, you would be paying three, four, maybe five companies, plus an artist or engineer. And each one of those companies or contractors would have their costs, plus their markup, whereas we just have one markup at the end, so that also keeps us competitive. And because we are vertically integrated, if something goes wrong, you don’t have people pointing the finger at each other, and saying, ‘that wasn’t me, that was your other supplier.’ We take a lot of pride in our quality here, so everyone views themselves as an inspector. When it shows up at their department, they make sure it looks like it’s supposed to look.”

Experienced in running plants in the U.S. and one in Canada before coming to ChemArt, CEO Davison says, “I would put the Northern Rhode Island workforce up against any that I’ve worked with. There is such a sense of craftsmanship, pride, and commitment to quality here, and it’s multi-generational. It’s really cool, and a great asset.”

Lopes, meanwhile, has been with the company for 26 years, and is continually impressed by the company and its staff’s dedication to their craft. “We take great pride in our ability to produce beautiful ornaments and keepsakes all year long for our customers,” she says.

“When you walk out on the assembly floor it’s like walking into Santa’s workshop. The joy and amazement you see in our employees while they handcraft beautiful product for our customers is inspiring.”

The post Crafting Ornaments, Luxury Packaging Accents, and Precision Components Since 1976<p class="company">ChemArt</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

From its 140,000-square-foot facility, the team at Countryside Cabinets gives customers the opportunity to customize their choices based on wood type, finish, and accessories, all of which will set any project apart. And, with a new catalogue on the way as part of its 50^th anniversary celebrations—complete with its new Slim Shaker doors and the ever popular Quartersawn White Oak offering—the company looks to bring its offerings into new markets, ensuring that there is something for every room, style, and budget.

Rooted in family
Over its long history, Countryside Cabinets has made great effort to simplify the design and manufacturing process while strengthening its own internal culture. From its catalogue to its pricing structure and the level of service it provides, these efforts have been a major point of differentiation in the market.

“We’ve eliminated complex pricing structures in our catalogue and essentially put all our offerings into one single cabinet line,” says Marketing and Product Manager Anna Harteau of Countryside’s a la carte offering. “Designers don’t have to jump catalogues or cabinet lines to upgrade the product; we offer all architectural styles at each price point so customers can make decisions based on their preference instead of their budget.”

With the motto “Custom made simple,” Countryside Cabinets seeks to be the go-to source for cabinets on the basis of quality, aesthetic, function, and simplicity, taking the guess work out of cabinetry and becoming a true partner in the process. This approach can be attributed to the company’s founding. Countryside Cabinets was established as a family business in 1975 and grew throughout the years, doing so on a firm foundation of family values and open lines of communication entrenched in the company culture.

When the company was sold in 2020, that same commitment to its values carried forth—all that changed was a renewed sense of energy and the adoption of a growth mindset that would position the company to grow in the Midwest and beyond.

Currently, its sights are set on the Northeast, as Harteau explains. “We have outside sales teams in each region that do a great job of being our eyes and ears in the field,” she says. “We are still able to deliver the majority of our product on our own trucks,” though future growth could necessitate the use of third-party logistics.

Customer-led growth
Much of Countryside Cabinets’ growth has come about organically in response to demand, and customer feedback has informed the expansion of its catalogue as well as how the company operates.

As Harteau notes, “We really listen to what our dealers and designers are asking for, not only in the fashion aspect of our cabinetry line but in the function and quality as well. Our catalogue was built on dealer requests. Because we can do these custom requests, we’ll take what people have been asking for repeatedly and bring it into our line as standard.”

In the 1990s, the business invested in acquiring machinery to produce stock cabinetry to support the burgeoning multi-unit construction market, though it maintained the ability to manufacture simple modifications, which served it well as the market evolved. In the 2000s, there was growth in the single family home market and the demand for customization grew—and so too did Countryside Cabinets. From 30 employees to 300, and 75 pages to 500 pages in the catalogue, the company has come a long way over the last half century, but it remains committed to the values and the relationships it has built along the way.

Customer feedback has not only impacted the breadth of the company’s offerings; it has also led Countryside Cabinets to become a certified partner in sustainability. Recognizing that many of its processes were already “green,” a customer inquiry took it to the next level. “15 years ago, we had a builder reach out asking if we had an environmental certification that was required for a project of his and at the time we didn’t, but when we started looking into it, we realized that a lot of our practices were already aligned with that,” Harteau shares. “We were already purchasing hardwood materials locally whenever possible. We recycled. We eliminated process wastes as much as we could. Our sawdust is actually collected and used as animal bedding at local farms and any extra product that we have, we donate to Habitat for Humanity.”

For 12 years now, Countryside Cabinets has been certified under the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association (KCMA) Environmental Stewardship Program (ESP), which has guided its sustainability practices and continuous improvement efforts.

“As our manufacturing plant has grown and as our processes have needed to change, it played a really large part in us switching to water-based stains and paints. I think we’re a leader on that point. It’s very difficult to work with water-based and it took a lot of work internally, but we’ve been running that since 2014 and it’s been great for the environment and also for our employees’ health,” Harteau explains.

Collaborative success
At Countryside Cabinets, quality and safety go hand in hand, and these elements are embodied in the culture of the company. A healthy work-life balance is encouraged and as the company has grown, so has its commitment to open lines of communication. Feedback loops with customers and employees alike are a key part of Countryside’s continuous improvement strategy.

With standard quarterly meetings of the representative safety committee and continuous improvement team, everyone has a stake and their efforts are appreciated. “Our production moved shifts to four 10-hour days and that really helps with work-life balance—if we do have overtime requirements, our employees are still keeping their weekends,” says Harteau of the effort to ensure that work-life balance is a priority even when the going gets tough.

She also notes that there is a large Hispanic population in the region, many of whom are employed by Countryside Cabinets, so efforts have been made to create bilingual resources to ensure that everyone can communicate effectively and operate as a collective in the interest of quality and safety.

The company also hosts monthly birthday lunches which give employees an opportunity to meet with the president, director of operations, human resources, and their team supervisors, creating an additional line of communication between employees and decision makers. Harteau refers to it as, “an hour of face time where you can share an update on the company and tell people what’s going on and they get to give feedback on their own experiences and day-to-day life in the shop.” These insights, she says, are invaluable to the company’s leadership.

This year, given the company’s milestone 50^th anniversary, there is even greater cause to celebrate. Countryside Cabinets has hosted company picnics (one for each shift to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to participate) and other fun events to reflect on the long tenure of the company as well as its bright future.

To 50 more
The success of Countryside Cabinets is unmistakably connected to its culture, including its commitment to continuous improvement and its ability to consider and internalize feedback from its customers and employees. This is why its relationships, like the cabinets it designs and manufactures, are built to last.

For Harteau, the goal is clear: “We want to produce a product driven by quality and focused on value. We want to continue to exceed industry standards for semi-custom cabinetry and maintain relationships with the same family values that got us here.”

This principled approach will continue to serve Countryside Cabinets well as it looks to new markets across the U.S. Backed by a long tenured history and solid reputation, its semi-custom cabinet solutions will satisfy design and function requirements at every price point and its service delivery is sure to impress.

The post Made to Order. Built to Last.<p class="company">Countryside Cabinets</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

Lanco takes the guesswork out of these challenges, thanks to its expertise and longevity as a global systems integrator of precision-engineered automation, assembly, and test solutions for multi-piece, high-speed production systems.

As a global integrator, Lanco has an expansive footprint—but with a specialized local touch, able to meet customers where they are. This is important for multinational customers, particularly those in the automotive, medical and life sciences, aerospace and defense, electronics, and consumer product sectors where tight tolerances, rapidly evolving technologies, and production values are top of mind.

As a problem solver, Lanco leverages deeply rooted design engineering, technological integration, and risk-mitigated project management to devise customized solutions, offer valuable market insights, and support a project through its lifecycle until long after installation is complete, which makes Lanco an enduring partner in automation.

Going global, staying local
Lanco Integrated is a legacy company, but one in evolution. The company dates back to 1873 in Switzerland, with origins in manufacturing watch components for Rolex. Through several iterations, acquisitions, and expansions, the precision engineering and automation specialist has positioned itself to support its customers wherever they may be, both geographically and in terms of market readiness.

As a global integrator, Lanco has had a presence in Asia since 2008, establishing an operation in Malaysia in 2021 to further enlarge its global footprint. This expansion allowed the company to flex its might as an integrator by bringing together two separate locations and unique cultures from opposite sides of the world to work seamlessly as a team. “We are a global company,” says President and Chief Executive Officer, Bob Kuniega, “but to be able to execute to that level—to deliver on your promise of ‘design anywhere, build anywhere, identically to one another’—that is a completely different game,” he says.

“The infrastructure has to be set up and the training has to be done; the business management systems and the processes and the forms and the tools all have to be in place, and everybody’s got to be using it all in exactly the same way.” This ensures that “everyone is working toward the same goal,” says Kuniega.

By engaging its people, creating a system of accountability, and blending established institutional knowledge with the ideas of the next generation, Lanco has continued to add value to its customers’ operations with its exceptional precision engineering capabilities and specialized market insights. As an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) company, Lanco is uniquely differentiated from other businesses as its employees are also owners. The ownership mindset drives a heightened interest in not only satisfying customers but also ensuring profitability, as everyone’s individual success contributes to the collective success of the team. From Kuniega’s perspective, the company has the potential and opportunity to capitalize on fast-moving markets, both mature and emerging, to advance new products to market and scale up production to take advantage of unique market conditions.

“Whether it be tariffs and reshoring, or supply chain disruptions because of a pandemic, [conditions are] requiring our customers to scale up in the local markets where they have to supply their solutions, so we’re well positioned not only here in the United States because of our legacy, but also in Southeast Asia and the rest of the world through our facility in Malaysia,” Kuniega explains. He sees it as supporting those customers as they face rising costs, resource challenges, rapidly evolving technology, and highly competitive markets.

Embracing change
A significant part of the value delivered by Lanco is the team’s ability to anticipate customers’ needs, for today and for the future. “We have a modular solution,” explains Kuniega. “Each discrete operation is a self-contained module. For instance, if the control system within a module goes down, you don’t have to stop the whole production line.” This affords flexibility and the ability to adapt, reconfigure, and expand operations without the need for costly redesign or reengineering.

These modules comprise all the latest technologies, where needed, such as (take a deep breath!) vision-guided pick and place, dispensing, laser processing, various attachment solutions, multi-axis articulated robot-based mechanisms for material handling, feeders, transport systems, intelligent and smart devices and sensors, industry-leading programmable logic controls, PC-based network systems, and data management solutions.

Essentially, Lanco provides what Kuniega describes as “the glue that holds the whole supply chain together. We’re the best R&D for some of our vendors because we’ll test their products to the limit and in some cases, we’ll tease out some flaws in their software or their hardware and we’ll give them ideas of what they need to enhance their product so they can differentiate themselves.” He notes that this is all while ensuring that customers have the best available technological innovation at their disposal.

This approach is built upon the understanding that with technology advancing at a rapid pace, it becomes harder for customers to understand the breadth and depth of the technology, much less how to unlock its potential, as they may lack the intimate application and market knowledge that sets Lanco apart as an integrator. Lanco takes everything a step further by aligning with sectors where it can deliver the greatest value, leveraging its market insights, precision engineering, and automation expertise to not only add value but also mitigate risk.

Integrating risk management
This team is not only in the business of precision engineering and systems integration; it is also in the business of risk management, and a big part of this approach is centered on its Design for Automation principles, which are applied early in the design cycle to identify and address any potential process and scalability issues while avoiding the potential for costly delays and rework.

“We evaluate our customers’ products and processes, their competitors’ end-market needs, and trends, and engage our critical supply and technology partners as we embark on engineering the right solutions, tailored to address markets’ and customers’ needs,” explains Global Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Barry Rahimian.

From concept to the unique Design for Automation process—as well as data management, line integration, performance optimization, finalization, and post-installation support—Lanco Integrated remains a constant in a market of changing variables.

“At core, we are problem solvers, and we look for difficult automation projects where we can leverage our talents in design engineering, integration, and risk-mitigated process management to provide value to our customers,” Rahimian says. To this end, Lanco Integrated considers all commercial, technical, supply chain, quality, legal, project, financial, and environmental risks and provides comprehensive risk mitigation plans, potential backup plans, and strategies.

Supported by a well-defined and documented risk assessment process internally, Lanco Integrated mitigates risk for itself as well, which helps maintain its robust ability to step up to the plate for its customers. With over 1,000 days without a lost workday at its U.S. operations and pushing 700 days in Malaysia, its strategy and performance speak for themselves.

Future-forward
As part of its approach to forecast and mitigate risk for its customers, in 2024, Lanco established a “Futures” initiative that was, as Rahimian notes, “engineered to align our technology and innovation development efforts with our go-to-market (GTM) strategy, and which was fundamentally based on meeting the needs of our customers and markets.”

This is particularly important where speed to market, market share, and cost-related challenges are concerned, since, as he explains, “we don’t have anything off the shelf that people can order; everything is customized to customer-specific requirements. Everything we do is heavily tailored to their needs, so we have to anticipate our customers’ current and future requirements.”

Key to this value-add is a deeply rooted knowledge of the markets being served, which is why Lanco has undertaken a detailed and expansive market segmentation strategy to ensure its solutions are timely, relevant, and insightful, even where technology is forging ahead. The goal is to ensure that processes remain competitive in the one to two years it takes to implement them in the market.

“Markets will change and evolve in that time, so it’s critical for us to anticipate and be cognizant of the market trends and our customers’—and their customers’—needs and accordingly be able to plan proactively and make sure we keep their future requirements in mind,” says Rahimian.

“We want to show our customers that we know their application, their pain points, their challenges, and we want them to minimize their risk by going with a supplier who has done this over and over, who can bring to the table new thoughts that they hadn’t thought of before,” says Kuniega, referring to the way the company has proven itself through its performance for over a century.

It’s this ability of Lanco’s to evolve, grow, and stay at the leading edge of technological innovation and market trends that has proven to be a sharp strategy for its customers and its vendors. And so Lanco Integrated continues to prove that it is second to none as an automation and precision engineering specialist, capable of optimizing performance on the manufacturing floor while remaining profitable in the most competitive of global markets.

The post Global Automation That’s Got the Local Touch<p class="company">Lanco Integrated</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

“We’ve consistently grown the business at a significant pace over the last eight years,” says Vice President of Sales and Engineering, Tyler Eck, who shares leadership of the company with his cousin, both fourth-generation members of the Eck family to run the business. “That’s been compounded by significant annual growth for a business like us.”

While its longevity is impressive, it is the company’s recent transformation that truly stands out. After years of flat growth, Eck Industries embraced automation and made strategic hires in engineering to scale operations even amid industry-wide labor shortages. “Less and less people want to do the hard, difficult jobs, and we’ve been able to grow with fewer people because of the automation solutions we’ve implemented,” Tyler explains.

Eck Industries got its start in 1948 when Tyler’s great-grandfather, a metallurgist by trade, left another foundry due to a disagreement and decided to launch his own. Harley-Davidson was among the young company’s early customers, and even members of the Davidson family were original investors. What started as a scrappy entrepreneurial venture grew into a respected, multi-sector foundry serving industries from automotive to defense.

Today, the family legacy is very much alive. “We’re proudly a fourth-generation, family-owned business,” says Tyler, “and while there are other family members in the fourth generation, it’s just the two of us involved in the business, which allows us to stay focused and agile.” That focus and agility have enabled the company to evolve into a modern, technology-driven operation without losing its foundational values.

A sense of ownership flows down through the organization. With a workforce of roughly 200 employees, Eck Industries remains large enough to tackle complex projects, but small enough that employees are more than just a number or a face in the crowd. People know each other by name and the leadership team walks the floor regularly, listening to input, recognizing outstanding work, and creating a culture in which employees feel valued and heard.

Rather than chasing volume, Eck Industries has built its business around complexity. The company specializes in high-complexity sand and permanent mold castings, often using specialty aluminum-copper and high-strength alloys that few others dare to handle. This expertise attracts clients in sectors where failure isn’t an option.

“We like the hard stuff,” Tyler says simply. “If a part has failed at other foundries or the customer needs something no one else will quote, that’s where we shine.”

These are not just technical challenges; they are strategic opportunities. By focusing on the difficult jobs, Eck avoids competing on price alone and, instead, builds long-term relationships based on trust, performance, and engineering excellence. This forte has allowed the company to work in the defense, aerospace, and electric vehicle sectors, where high-performance, lightweight components are critical.

“One of the biggest advantages of taking on the tough jobs is the barrier to entry,” Tyler notes. “Not everyone has the capability or the appetite to handle the kinds of castings we do, which gives us a strong competitive edge.”

That edge has been sharpened in recent years by the company’s push into automation, not just on the shop floor but throughout the engineering and production lifecycle. “We brought in a few key automation engineers and started building our own solutions in-house,” Tyler says. “That changed everything.”

Rather than outsourcing, Eck Industries designs and implements automation internally. From robotic pouring systems to custom-built fixtures and process optimization, its engineering team owns every step of development. Traditionally, pouring molten metal into molds was a physically demanding and inconsistent process. But Eck has developed robotic systems that can pour up to 150 pounds of metal with high precision.

“Before, an operator might pour one mold at a time. Now we can pour multiple molds faster, more safely, and with better consistency,” Tyler explains. “That opens up new opportunities for larger parts and better economics.”

Automation also supports employee retention by helping to reduce repetitive or dangerous tasks and improve ergonomics. Instead of replacing workers, Eck empowers them to focus on value-added activities like quality control and continuous improvement. “It’s not about removing people from the equation,” Tyler says. “It’s about enabling them to do more meaningful work.”

Beyond hardware, Eck Industries uses powerful software tools like solidification analysis to simulate casting performance before metal is ever poured. This predictive modeling helps optimize gating, cooling, and alloy behavior to avoid common defects. Gating is part of the casting process that smoothly directs the metal to the mold so that the mold is evenly filled for better quality. “It lets us pour the casting in the computer first and see where it might fail,” says Tyler. “That helps us move faster and get it right the first time.”

The benefits are measurable: shorter development cycles, higher first-pass yields, and better customer outcomes. However, these improvements do not happen in isolation; rather, they are the product of a deliberate strategy to keep engineering at the core of the business. “A lot of our wins and losses start in engineering,” Tyler says. “We invest heavily there because if we miss something early on, we pay for it throughout the process.”

To keep the talent pipeline flowing, Eck Industries recruits from top foundry programs and supports the Foundry Educational Foundation (FEF). The company is also proactive about mentoring its young engineers and giving them early ownership of meaningful projects. One junior engineer, for example, was recently given the lead on designing a new robotic grinding cell, an initiative that is now being scaled across the plant.

“That sense of ownership is critical,” Tyler says. “We want people who can grow with us and bring new ideas that challenge the way we’ve always done things.”

This growth mindset extends across all departments. From quality assurance to production scheduling to finishing and shipping, Eck’s employees are encouraged to take initiative. “If someone on the floor has a better idea, we’re all ears,” Tyler says. “That’s how we get better.”

In a competitive manufacturing environment, customers increasingly seek partnerships, not just vendors, and Eck embraces this fully, working closely with clients on design for manufacturability (DFM), cost optimization, and performance improvement. “We’re involved early in the process, often before the part is even fully designed. That’s where we can make the biggest impact.”

This collaborative approach has helped the team forge deep relationships with original equipment manufacturers and Tier 1 suppliers. One recent example involved redesigning a part for a military contractor, which cut production costs by 20 percent and improved durability in the field. “It was a win-win,” Tyler says. “They got a better part, and we deepened the relationship.”

Beyond technical success, Eck Industries contributes to its local economy in Manitowoc through job creation, internships, and civic engagement. The company regularly donates to local schools and sponsors science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) initiatives, believing that investment in the next generation benefits both the community and the industry at large.

Sustainability is also a growing priority for this team. Eck recycles nearly all its scrap aluminum, uses energy-efficient equipment where possible, and is evaluating carbon footprint reduction strategies. “It’s the right thing to do,” Tyler says, “and our customers increasingly expect it.”

After nearly eight decades in business, Eck Industries is just getting started. With its automation scaling up, engineering talent deepening, and customer demand growing, the company is positioned for continued expansion—but do not expect this team to compromise its values in the process. “Our goal isn’t to become the biggest foundry out there,” Tyler says. “We want to be the best at what we do, and we want to keep that family feel, that culture of craftsmanship and care.”

That means more investment in people, more automation innovation, and more bold bets on complex castings others will not touch. With the next generation of leadership already proving its mettle, the Eck Industries legacy seems poised to shine even brighter in the years ahead.

“We’re not afraid to try hard things,” Tyler Eck says. “We believe if you do the right things long enough, the results will follow. That’s how we’ve built this company, and that’s how we’ll continue to grow it.”

The post Forged for the Future<p class="company">Eck Industries</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

Founded by Larrie York and Terry Sumner, Frontier Power Products’ primary goal from the start was to provide the best solutions for the challenging conditions in Western Canada, from servicing sea level to the summits of the Rocky Mountains to some of the most isolated places on the planet, where engines must operate in extremely cold or hot conditions.

Creating products that take site conditions into account to overcome these obstacles, Frontier’s technology has helped clients design engines and generator sets that have performed around the world in the deserts of Mexico and Libya, the highlands of Chile and Peru, and the frigid Antarctic, but the company’s roots remain deep in Western Canada.

“Frontier has steadily grown into a trusted power provider in Western Canada,” says JP Ouellette, Vice President and General Manager. The company has, in fact, recently expanded into Ontario with its acquisition of Mississauga, Ontario’s M-K Power Products in April of 2023. “The Frontier history lies in the motto: ‘If you dream it, we build it.’ If you can think of how you want to power your machine, we will make it happen. ‘You dream it, we build it’ was the resonating ideology behind how Frontier grew and captured so much business,” Ouellette says. “That is a platform that has made Frontier great.”

The company prides itself on maintaining the perfect size—not too big for smaller projects, but not so tiny that it can’t take on a big project, he adds.

Historically, the company’s client portfolio was largely North American-based, with products required to handle climatic swings from minus 50 degrees Celsius to plus 40 degrees Celsius, which meant building design equipment that can work in that type of environment, adds Sales & Service Support Specialist Dave Vandeburgt. This is what pushed the mechanical and electrical engineers to think outside the box. What Frontier saw coming from the southern hemisphere wouldn’t make it in a northern Alberta climate.

“The durability wasn’t there, but we always had to be conscious of the economic dollar amount too, where there wasn’t an open chequebook,” adds Vandeburgt. “We’ve got great product that we represent; we still have to build with the practical price and economic value in mind, trying to find that balance and then having the durability they keep coming back for.”

This means extreme heavy-duty packaging in the “really harsh environment” that is the northern oil and gas fields, adds Ouellette. “These are abused horribly, so you can’t pull something off the shelf from a big box store for that location.” Frontier, he adds, has been around a long time and has proven itself.

“It isn’t a 10- or 15-year business,” Vandeburgt agrees. “I think we’ve navigated the ups and downs of the North American region and all the changes that happen from an economic standpoint.” When it comes to commercial marine generators, Frontier has taken a lead in the industry, he adds, backed by the company’s impressive 40-plus-year history, knowledge, and experience. Vandeburgt emphasizes that Frontier has built its name in the marine business both historically and currently, establishing itself as the number one solutions provider on the West Coast.

“We realized we had to package custom-built product because there wasn’t much competition in the marketplace. The cost to replace a particular generator or upgrade a particular generator vessel is just a small part of it. When a customer says they need this product best-suited for the application—and whether that product must be customized as a generator off the back or generator off the front, along with a hydraulic package off the front or back—they’re really coming and saying it’s a niche application and we’ve got to get creative,” he explains.

Still, he believes there’s always room for improvement. This means new product coming up that includes custom or hybrid packaging, and new John Deere JD14 and JD18 engine packages that bring the company into a different kw/horsepower range, expanding its reach into the market. Frontier is also looking to expand with its marine generators, which are moving into different power nodes. The hybrids, in particular, are becoming smaller, with the engine’s batteries making the combination all the more efficient.

To help address these challenges, Frontier is working on a hybrid package that allows a lower run time on the generator with a higher load to charge the batteries while being able to operate in extreme cold. “We did cold chamber testing, we did site testing, we got proof of concept on our hybrid package, and we’re continuing to review and test and improve this package,” Ouellette explains. “We’re going to create our standard offering, so this hybrid technology is a whole new generator set for us.”

Looking ahead, it will be critical for Frontier to embrace the hybrid packages, whether for marine, industrial, or off-grid applications, along with continuing to form partnerships with battery companies. “As the world goes green to a certain degree, a lot of companies have seen the value—with some high capital cost initially—of what that looks like,” adds Vandeburgt.

And while Frontier and M-K Power will continue to do what they have always done best, the team will also be scrutinizing industry changes and technological advances and working on incorporating them more effectively into its products.

“To strengthen our packaging business, we’re strategically expanding our OEM operations,” explains Ouellette. “Over the past five to ten years, we’ve successfully secured OEM partnerships that consistently take engine shipments, creating a reliable and scalable revenue stream. This dual focus allows us to offer unmatched flexibility—delivering precisely the custom products our customers need, when they need them. It’s a powerful way to meet evolving demands while driving long-term growth.”

Whether it’s servicing customers big or small, low or high-volume, new to its standards or still around after 20 years or more, Frontier knows it is sized just right to fulfill promises and orders and give clients unfailing support every time. “We make every customer feel like they count,” says an emphatic Ouellette. “They know they’re not just an account number. They come in and talk to us, and they feel appreciated.”

Amidst this emphasis on personal attention, Frontier boasts a growing team in multiple locations—Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Toronto. And while some companies economize on personal service as they expand, Frontier hasn’t and is resolved never to do so.

Frontier prides itself on its longevity, but also attributes current growth to new ownership and an ambitious trajectory that remains organic in the North American market. “To a certain degree, we’re worldwide,” says Vandeburgt. “We do feed our product all over the world, whether it’s on a mountain in Ecuador or a Saudi Arabian fish farm. That’s a tribute to how word travels organically in the network. Everybody’s got a website, but realistically, it’s usually word-of-mouth or references that drive or expand the business marketplace.”

And that’s a tribute to Frontier, he adds. Big or small, the company remains dedicated to servicing its clients. “There are customers that, historically, we built our business on, that we can’t leave behind, because it’s them and the next generation that we have to consider. We have to be able to fill that capability.”

The post “If You Dream It, We’ll Build It”— Power Solutions from a Trusted Provider<p class="company">Frontier Power Products</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

The company has been growing successfully ever since, making a name for itself by delivering innovative solutions for unmet needs. After profiling the rising star in 2023, Manufacturing in Focus is checking back in this month to hear the company’s latest news.

Wieland Healthcare’s focus continues to be on providing the most durable and reliable solution—and making sure that solution best fits the patient’s needs. The team’s relatively new Soul collection, which includes the Soul mate and Soul sofa, has proven to be a hit. “It’s our most recent, most innovative product offering that we’ve introduced to the market,” says Market Manager Emily Wentz.

The Soul sofa is a multifunctional unit with an open base and legs that are tall enough for the Soul mate to slide underneath for storage. This companion piece functions as an ottoman and nightstand, or can be unfolded to transform into a rolling chair, allowing families to sit closer to their loved ones.

The Accord collection is another popular Wieland Healthcare offering. In a signature, patient-first move, the team has added more options to its Accord recliner, which has been on the market for about a decade and is ideal for patients receiving infusions. “We’ve added things like heat and massage and a fold-down table that gives the nurse, the caretaker, or even the patient an extra surface to work from or to set their tablets or personal belongings on,” Wentz explains. “And then we’ve also implemented power options—places for you to plug in your tablet or your phone while you’re sitting there getting treatment.”

To get these additions just right, the team listened carefully to patient feedback and responded. “In all that we do, everything is based on Voice of Customer research, making sure that we’re doing the right thing, that we’re solving problems and not creating more problems,” says Wentz. Wieland took the entire picture into consideration and recognized that patients will be in the Accord recliner for the entire duration of an infusion; this means paying attention to details such as “the placement of where the power plug is and the kind of massage that’s implemented into the chair—making sure that the heat doesn’t get too hot for the oftentimes fragile patients that are sitting in the seat. We’ve also made the seat and the back more comfortable, considering that people are going to be sitting in these chairs longer than they might if they were just in a typical [healthcare] environment, where you see most recliners. We’ve made sure that the seat and the back are much more comfortable to sit for longer periods of time.”

The company’s specially designed sleep sofa, which gives families the opportunity to spend days as well as nights at their loved one’s bedside, remains popular. The sleepToo sofa includes an adjustable table so that family members don’t have to leave the patient’s room to eat. And the table-couch combo transforms into a bed with a simple push of a button.

Wieland Healthcare has consistently been ranked as one of the top ten manufacturers serving the acute healthcare market. “We’re incredibly proud to be among them,” Wentz says. “I think that we’ve earned our place in the industry based on [our] warranty and product reliability. That’s always been a key factor in our success. We stand behind our products… If it’s broken, we’ll fix it. It’s just that simple. And I think it says a lot about our commitment to being reliable and it fosters trust with our customers. They keep coming back.”

This strong focus on customer service ensures that customers are taken care of throughout a product’s lifecycle. “When you become a customer of Sauder Manufacturing, the Wieland brand specifically, you’re part of the family from the moment that you purchase a product all the way through its life,” says Wentz. “We’re going to be there with you every step of the way. If you have an issue, you know you can always count on us. Call customer care, and they’re going to connect you to the right person. You’re going to be taken care of when you have a Wieland product in your facility.”

Of course, a continuously evolving market has been one of the challenges the company has faced on its road to success. “Since COVID, this market, this industry, has been ever-changing,” Wentz tells us, and paying attention to customer research has been key to overcoming this challenge. In fact, this “has always been the backbone of everything that we do: actively listening to what’s going on in the market—with our customers, with nurses, and with our designers and even the dealers, our distribution channels. It’s about making sure that we’re actively listening to feedback directly from each of those individuals and then taking what we’re hearing and applying it directly to the products that we’re trying to get to market.”

The company even has a program dedicated to gathering and listening to customer feedback. “We’ve just hired someone new to help us maintain that and keep it sustainable. It’s not just sending out surveys and emails, but it’s going to the customer on-site—visiting their facilities, going to trade shows throughout the country, nurse shows, design shows, healthcare facility shows—to get at every angle and extract as much information as possible.”

Continuous improvement is currently a key focus for the company. “A lot of times, you’ll hear continuous improvement or CI, and sometimes it can be just a buzzword, but here we literally live and breathe continuous improvement,” Wentz says. “We have people dedicated to that in those programs, from holding Kaizen events, to lean practices, to filling out A3s for [problems]. We’re continuously trying to improve things and not just on the production floor, but even in the office, in our marketing processes, and in our customer care processes. Because we realize that ultimately, that’s what’s going to satisfy the customer. If we can improve ourselves here, it’s going to trickle down to our customer too.”

Not content to rest on their laurels, the team has more solutions in the works for the near future. “We are looking at launching a couple of new products, one of which is another recliner option,” Wentz shares. She can’t release too much information about this exciting development just yet, but the product is sure to hit home with patients and providers alike. “As always, the goal is to solve problems with the patients and the caretakers. That is, of course, our main goal.”

After three decades of delivering innovative, patient-centered solutions, the Wieland Healthcare team is more than ready to keep meeting this goal.

The post Healthcare Furniture That Puts Patients First<p class="company">Wieland Healthcare</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.