Cutting bend time at Dielco

Dielco fabricated and installed the stairs shown here as part of the London public library’s renovation.

Dielco Industrial Contractors has been serving the London, Ont., region for 34 years, installing industrial process, manufacturing, and production equipment systems. Its 40,000-sq.-ft. fabrication shop has added to the services it can supply customers. As it has grown, management realized that upgrading its press brake capabilities could save more than just time on jobs.

Dielco is a family-owned business, founded by Case Dieleman, father of current CEO Jason Dieleman and CFO Rob Dieleman.

“We started out as a millwrighting company, but our services have grown to include piping and ironworkers, and our fab shop has a team of 20,” said Jason Dieleman. “We employ about 85 people doing work in commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings, doing pretty much everything but the electrical work.”

This flexibility was born of necessity. As a comparatively small business, Dielco handles few jobs more than an hour or two from London. While that may cover a lot of ground in southern Ontario, it still requires a determination to consider all the opportunities available.

“We’re very multifaceted,” said Dieleman. “For instance, in this past quarter we were building lighthouses for Fisheries and Oceans while also doing miscellaneous interior steel work for a food processing company in Cambridge, Ont. We have also been busy working on an ethanol plant expansion, fabricating and installing platforms, tanks, and handrails.”

While Dielco doesn’t chase structural work, it does handle small buildings, expansions, and the occasional larger project.

“We did all the structural and miscellaneous work on the St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital last year in partnership with Ellis Don, but that’s primarily because of the way the project was broken into phases,” said Dieleman. “That was a nice job, which involved us doing all the stainless steel inside, including supports for all the medical equipment in the operating rooms.”

Much of the fabricating work Dielco handles in its shop is this miscellaneous work, much of it custom jobs.

“We continue to grow this part of the business,” said Dieleman. “It seems to open up more doors for us as there aren’t a lot of companies in our area that can handle a lot of that miscellaneous work. It requires a real attention to detail in terms of dimensioning and drawing that is a natural fit with the other work we do.”

Dielco began its fab shop operation with an entry-level press brake that, at this point, no longer can meet the precision requirements of the shop’s jobs.

Here we see the company’s new Cincinnati 350-ton-capacity Proform 10 press brake in use. It can bend thicknesses up to 1/2-inch plate and a length of 12 feet. The model Dielco purchased included a Wila crowning system that compensates for bed and ram deflections during bending.

“That brake served its purpose, but it just wasn’t consistent enough to handle the expanded work load we have now,” said Dieleman. “For instance, we worked on the University of Western Ontario’s Interdisciplinary Research Building, which was a two-year project. That project involved all kinds of decorative aluminum and stainless steel, and we ran into issues with our old brake leaving scuff marks on the finished product. That required plenty of extra finishing work after the fact. I wish we’d had our new brake for that job.”

The new brake in question is a Cincinnati 350-ton-capacity Proform 10, which can bend thicknesses up to 1/2-inch plate and a length of 12 feet. The model Dielco purchased included a Wila crowning system that compensates for bed and ram deflections during bending.

“Installing this new brake has probably cut our brake time by a third or more,” said Dieleman. “The efficiency and accuracy are much greater than our last brake. We also purchased all new tooling to use with it, including roller dies so that when we do work in stainless and aluminum we don’t leave scuff marks. This will save time both on the brake and in our finishing area.”

While Dieleman appreciates what this investment does for his shop’s productivity, he also believes this type of investment is good for morale.

“We always have good morale, but it does make the team happy when they see us investing in the company and finding equipment that makes their jobs easier. Getting new equipment like that is a boost for them; they are proud of the work they do, and this equipment allows them to do it better.”

Dielco does its best to equip its team with the best equipment it can, including autofed HYDMECH saws and up-to-date welding equipment. But Dieleman appreciates it’s the people at the machines that make all the difference.

“We have some of the most talented guys around, very dedicated,” he said. “The majority of the guys have CWB welding tickets for mild steel and stainless, and a few have aluminum tickets. What we like to do is rotate the men every few months so they all get the experience of working on different projects, which makes them more versatile and better fabricators. As a company we pride ourselves on an honest approach to business, always working to deadlines we ensure we can meet, and our whole team reflects that dedication.”

And going into 2019 that team will be very busy. Despite hiccups caused by steel tariffs affecting costs, the company has more than 50 jobs in the queue for its fab shop alone.

“2018 was a challenge, but we’ve been through a lot of changes in the past 10 years or more, during which time we saw companies like Kellogg’s and Electromotive leave our area,” said Dieleman. “Through word of mouth and working on the business, we’ve been able to maintain and grow in that time. Now we’re considering other ways in which we can bring certain jobs we currently outsource in-house. 2019 is going to be a busy year.”

Editor Robert Colman can be reached at rcolman@canadianfabweld.com.

Dielco Industrial Contractors Ltd., www.dielco.com

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