Dalsin Industries: Embracing High-Tech Tools to Revolutionize Manufacturing

How does a 75-year-old company continue its legacy of industry leadership? The answer comes from constant innovation and unmatched services. Dalsin’s legacy is important to many stakeholders: its family shareholders, the management team and staff, the local community, and Dalsin’s customers, too. Dalsin’s customers depend on its capabilities and timely delivery of critical products and components. In today’s business ecosystem, legacy also represents a promise about tomorrow’s performance—continued caring about the team, business, and clients. Let us look at how a 75-year-old business strives to be relevant and a leader, too— Dalsin Industries.

Founded in 1945, Richard. E and Eleanor Dalsin together led the foundation of Dick Dalsin Sheet Metal Company. Dalsin Industries was established as a partnership and was incorporated in the State of Minnesota in 1973. Dalsin was founded on the pillars of respect, hard work, family values, and a good sense of humor. These pillars remain intact and the business has transformed into a market-leading full-service contract manufacturer. Dalsin shares an outstanding history of innovation, quality, and ISO 9001 certified quality management systems and is well-positioned in the market because of its excellent metal fabrication and designs. Initially, the company specialized in architectural sheet metal products but soon added additional products and services to its portfolio of capabilities.

Delivering Consistent Excellence

Based in the U.S., Dalsin has positioned itself as a full-service contract manufacturer and delivers more than just welding and fabrication. The company leverages its comprehensive experience to develop, manufacture, and deliver precision metal products and assemblies to major OEM customers across the world. Its wide-ranging services include Precision Steel Metal Fabrication, Automated Sheet Metal Punching, Laser Sheet Cutting, Welding, Automated Sheet Metal Panel Bending, Machining, Metal Surface Treatments, and Electro-Mechanical Assembly.

These manufacturing services—collaborative design assistance, design-for-manufacture optimization, high-velocity manufacturing, precise planning and production control, and supply chain management—integrate to deliver high-value solutions. Dalsin delivers these services to a diverse customer base which includes various industry verticals.

The company has continually adapted to innovation and has been committed to delivering excellence. Dalsin Industries is consistently growing year-over-year. On this journey of growth, the key concerns are to maintain high levels of operational performance and profitability. To grow without any aligned operational plan can adversely affect customer relationships.

Prioritizing Customers’ Needs

Dalsin Industries’ priority has always been to effectively and efficiently service unique customer needs. The market is continuously evolving. The one major differentiator for a successful company is customer satisfaction which results in high customer retention. Customers value high-quality products and Dalsin offers products that not only meet customer expectations but exceed their requirements and does so on the promised schedule. This approach helps improve Dalsin’s ability to offer customers valuable collaborative design support and to improve product designs using Design for Manufacturing (DFM) best practices.

Suppliers with sustainability initiatives are highly valued by the customers. As customers are at the center of Dalsin’s services, it has increased the importance of sustainability initiatives. Recently, it implemented a roof solar system that will generate 46% of its electrical needs. The business will also be Green Waste certified in 2021.

Strategic Reinvention

In its rich 75-year legacy, Dalsin Industry has constantly reinvented itself. It has strategically invested in technology and innovation to meet evolving market landscapes. Keeping up with Industry 4.0, Dalsin has leveraged automation in every aspect of its operations from welding, precision punching to delivery of parts. By combining the years of experience and the advanced tech tools, its solutions will be further augmented to serve the global clientele.

Adaptation and innovation have always been one of the contributing factors behind Dalsin Industries’ success. In 2020, Dalsin was awarded the 2020 Manufacturer of the Year from the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association. In addition,, it also won the 2020 Manufacturing Excellence Award from the Twin Cities Business Journal and the 2020 Manufacturing Excellence Award from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal. Tom Schmeling, (President and CEO), confirmed: “Continued use of process automation tools is an annual investment priority.”

Alongside the tech transformation, Dalsin’s marketing has also changed tremendously in recent years. In the past four years, Dalsin refined its value proposition and defined an ideal customer profile. It contracted with a third party for outbound lead generation and lead qualification services. This approach helped the company to enhance its productivity of the sales and marketing program. Dalsin has supported annual revenue growth of 20%+ in a market that traditionally grows 1% annually.

Unique Expertise

Tom has highly contributed significantly to Dalsin’s revenue growth. He previously managed the role of VP Sales and during that tenure, he strategically grown the revenue as well as demonstrated a firm grasp of all aspects of the business.

Before joining Dalsin, Tom helmed various sales and development roles at precision and recreational manufacturers, working with business partners, customers and helping to manage global supply chains. He is leveraging this experience to further enhance the services and sales of Dalsin Industries. In 2021, Tom moved into the role of CEO and is continually striving to grow the business.

As Tom shares unique expertise on procurement for large OEMs, he is anticipating that industry consolidation as smaller shops are less competitive in serving large OEMs. He is confident that Dalsin is well-positioned to deliver the larger markets—despite the pandemic effects on the economy. He states, “With a diversified revenue plan, Dalsin is well-positioned especially in markets which are emerging strongly from the post-pandemic recession. We also are seeing increases in raw material prices and we are taking appropriate actions.”

Integrating Tech Advancements

The pandemic may have disrupted the industry, but companies that have adapted to the new normal are thriving despite the challenges. Dalsin Industries is determined to continue the innovation it has achieved throughout the years and invest in new technologies. The team will be focused on improving targets and prioritization of high growth markets that fit the capabilities and service profiles. Apart from this, it will also continue to build the new paint line which was introduced in 2020.

Tom concludes by stating the vision of the company, “Our vision is to continue the innovation we have achieved by the unique integration of processes, people, and technology to outperform our competition and meet the financial goals set by our owners.”