June 26, 2022 • 24 mins
More than ever manufacturers are having to rethink the materials they choose for product design for a variety of reasons, costs, quality, and more recently availability and supply given the supply chain disruption of 2021-22. Therefore, many companies are looking at die casting over other manufacturing methods for their products.
In doing the research for this topic, we noticed a large amount of information on die casting or die cast parts focusing on aluminum, steel, or plastic. So, we wanted to see if Zinc Die casting offers any advantages or benefits to companies and manufacturers. We spoke with Dave Magner, Director of Sales, and Marketing, of DECO Products in Decorah, Iowa who specialize in zinc die casting to get his expert knowledge on the subject.
As Dave explains in the podcast, Zinc most certainly offers advantages to manufacturing parts and products but there is more to understand of what parts it is best used for making.
Many Thanks to Dave Magner – Deco Products – www.decoprod.com
Visit our Companion Blog Site “Small Business Talks” for more details.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Are you bringing a new product to market
or looking to reduce your manufacturingcosts and improve the quality?
At the same time,
the manufacturing processes and materialsyou choose to produce a product can
greatly impact your profitabilityand and your reputation for quality.
In this podcast, we're going to explorezinc diecasting and what benefits it
(00:21):
brings to the table today on smallbusiness talks,
small businesses and manufacturersconstantly look to increase productivity,
reduce costs, or improvethe quality of their products.
Would zinc diecasting offer any benefits?Today?
(00:45):
We're talking with Dave Magnerfrom Deko Products to discuss just that.
Good afternoon, Dave.
Welcome to the program.
Yeah, thanks, Neil, for having me.
Glad to have you on board.
Hey, Dave, does zinc diecasting offeran alternative solution to manufacturers?
(01:08):
Yes, Neil.
Zinc diecasting as a materialcan be very advantageous.
As a formerdesign engineer and engineering manager
for over 20 years,I had to evaluate different designs.
The first key step is to lookat the material choice.
And so when you're considering whetherit's zinc or other materials,
(01:31):
you have to understand what the designrequirements are and then the cost impact.
And there are certain situationswhere zinc is certainly advantageous.
What benefits would zinc diecasting offer
specifically, like, in part designor in the manufacturing of it?
What are some of those areasthat you're talking about?
(01:54):
Yeah,the nature of zinc is that when it's
melted, it's very fluid,almost like water.
And so that allows
the final product have a net shape,which is a shape that is a functional part
without a lot of secondaryoperations or machining.
(02:14):
So as a designer, you candesign in very tight corners.
You can design in very thin wall
conditions withgreat options for design flexibility.
I think it's also a very strong material
compared to a lot of other moldablematerials like plastic or aluminum.
(02:38):
And so, as a designer,
you want that flexibility to meet thosecritical technical specifications.
From there, it's all about cost.
Zinc, because it has a lower meltingtemperature, takes less energy to melt it
down, it's processed quicker in that itsolidifies quicker than other materials.
(03:00):
And actually, the tool life is very good.
It's ten times more tool life in a zinc
diecast part than, for example,an aluminum die cast part.
And so when you have to pay for ten tools,
that gets the very expensivein the total life cycle cost of a part.
(03:22):
Interesting.
What types of products,
or maybe specifically parts, benefitthe most from being cast with zinc?
Are there, like, common things that this
is a really good material and processfor certain types of products?
Is there anything you cankind of come up with on that?
Sure, yeah.
(03:43):
Zinc is used in a lotof different industries.
R1 common industry isparts that carry fluid,
whether it's liquid or gaseous, becausethe part itself is very dense and can
easily add features like externalthreads or internal threads.
(04:04):
Additionally, often zinc is
a higher grade materialand very pleasing to the end user.
Whether it's a plated part or powder
coated parts,it has a lot of density to it.
And whether it's a door handle for
ingress door window,the materials inc just exude a better
(04:30):
experience for the end userand often a higher price point.
Now, I'm going to ask you to kind of jumpout here and I'm going to ask you there's
a lot of products obviously, people makewith other materials and other processes.
They either machine them out of a solid
chunk of metal or they usedifferent types of materials.
Are there any products that you see
(04:50):
that could really benefit by switching tousing zinc over their existing materials?
Well, usually it's all about the initialdesign and the requirements involved.
Sometimes there are someconversions that happen.
Usually it's a strength issue.
Maybe plastic is not strong enough either
(05:12):
in ultimate tensile strengthor fatigue strength.
And zinc is a common upgradefor performance in that regard.
Beyond that, there are oftenneeds to cut costs,
maybe on a steel stamping that's weldedand you take a couple of parts welded
(05:34):
together and that may make sensewhen the volume is relatively low.
But as a part gets higher usage,then the justification of a zinc diecast
tool makes a lot of sense because youeliminate the process of joining multiple
parts or removing secondary operationsbecause you put those features right
(05:56):
in the tool and then initialinvestments paid back over time.
Very quickly.
I'll start with what are some of the more
commonly known productsthat would benefit by using zinc.
And then I'd like you to elaborate on what
other kind of productsthat maybe people don't realize.
It is an alternative to be.
What other types of parts or productswould benefit by using zinc diecasting?
(06:20):
Yeah, several industries and severalapplications align really well with zinc.
Some of those might relate to
parts like fittings joining components forthe transportation of different fluid.
It could be liquid, it could be gaseous.
(06:43):
Because zinc is very dense, it providesa nice conduit for the material.
But also things like externalthreads can be cast right in.
So again, you can avoidthat secondary operation.
And often that type of joining featurehas to be adapted to something else.
(07:04):
It could be a valving product.
So that's a very key consideration.
And really,zinc is great in a lot of industries.
It's stronger than plastic.
Often when plastic isn't suitable.
Zinc is a great cast molded product thatcan have similar features, but stronger.
(07:29):
And really it comes down to cost,it comes down to appearance.
Zinc is a very,I'll say, pleasing material.
It can be finished with apowder coat or plating.
A lot of parts can be very decorative
in nature because it provides a greatsubstrate for other types of finishes.
(07:52):
Whether it's decorative or just
finishes for increased corrosionprotection, for example.
I'm going to switch gears a little bitand kind of go more into the whole idea
of I'm a manufacturer and there's goingto be a lot of manufacturers listening.
We've looked at our audience.
We see there's a lot of business owners,there's a lot of manufacturers.
(08:15):
And I think the first thing I might is,how do I even go about doing this?
Number one, what should I look for?
How do I go about approaching this?
How do I start a discussion losingdiecaster, and I'll take it from there?
Yeah, good question.
At Eco Products, we concentrate on being
(08:35):
an industry leaderon the zinc diecasting process.
We do arguably more zinc under one roof.
We've got more machines.
We have over 100 zinc diecast machines,
and we've got as much engineeringexpertise as anybody in North America.
So part of our mission in lifeis not just to produce parts.
(08:59):
It's to help the industry,
to help customersto answer questions, whether it's steering
them in the right direction, regardlessof what the material should be.
Often a part that is very high volumeis really well suited for zinc.
Zinc's tooling life is very long
(09:21):
in comparison with a lotof other materials.
For example, a zinc tool will generallylast a million shots, comparatively.
An aluminum diecast tool willonly last 100,000 shots.
So you can see there's a big advantageto using zinc in that regard.
You'd have to buy ten tools,and they're very expensive at times
(09:44):
in aluminum just to get the same long termproduction capacity out of a zinc tool.
Size matters as well.
If it's a bigger part,then zinc gets to be pretty heavy.
And so you might want to lookat plastic or aluminum.
But for parts under a pound,
(10:08):
parts zig parts can be asmuch as 24 inches long.
But generally when they're four inches.Or.
Less in a given dimension, they're goingto be pretty well suited for zinc.
(10:29):
Especially when you consider that the tool
life involved and the other advantagesas far as costco.
Let's say I'm a manufacturer or I'ma company, and I'm about to make
you offer the ability to alsohelp with the design process.
(10:49):
Correct?
Do I have to go find a designerand come up with all the drawings?
How do I do that?
Or can I just contact you directlyand work with people on that avenue?
Yeah, absolutely.
Again, because we want to helpthe industry,
part of our role is to help out whetherit's supplying great information on our
(11:11):
website in a general sense,but also having means to specifically ask
those direct questionswith an expert here at Deko.
And we can do that in a multiple ways.
It could be emails,it could be telephone calls.
We can do webinars,or we can come on site.
(11:31):
We can have instructional sessions that we
call lunch and learns where we bringin a bunch of folks in a larger audience
setting or we're happy to talk aboutthings one on one, very part specific.
And so, yeah, we feel like ourselves,
(11:53):
with the expertise that we have in Deico'shistory being around since 1960,
we provide that service to the restof the folks in the industry.
Excellent.
One of the things I'd like,because you obviously have the expertise,
I'd like you to share your opinions oryour ideas on what should somebody look
(12:17):
for when they're lookingfor the casting company?
What are some of the thingsthey should be looking out for?
What are some of the questions theyshould ask to really make sure they're.
Choosing the right companies?Company?
Yeah.
Really, it comes down tohaving the engineering expertise,
both on the design side, quality side,process side.
(12:42):
They should have operationalexpertise, teeth.
To get the part designed rightfrom the start is so important.
If you make a mistake,
if you take a shortcut on the front end,you'll be paying for it
literally for years on end, because again,that tool will last that long.
Or you could designthe part right or wrong.
(13:06):
And if it's wrong now,
the tool might have a lowerlife expectancy or you might see quality
issues from the onset orlater on in its life.
And sogetting it right from the start is so
important from that point, though,that's just the start of the process.
(13:30):
You need to have a zinc diecasterthat can achieve key reliability.
They need to have the capacityto deal with ups and downs and demand,
and for example, deco productswith over 100 diecast machines.
We've got a lot of capacity to be
(13:51):
the reliable made in the USmanufacturer that we are.
We always want to tailor our schedule,
our demands, to the ups and downsof our customer demands.
We generally have shorter lead times isalways going to be key,
(14:11):
but really it comes down to on timedelivery, reliable
performance, whether on the operationside, the logistics side,
and even have the serviceto get your questions answered.
Whether it's engineering related,
customer service related,but it's a total value proposition.
(14:35):
That's so important with any manufacturer.
And that could be a zinc diecasteror plastic injection molder.
But the name of the game, especially intoday's world, is be able to be reliable.
Especially when things get stressful,
especially when things overseasget troublesome and challenging.
It's great to have a meet in the USA
(14:57):
manufacturer that can step up and reallybe a kiki source and partner.
One thing I always like to point outis I'm on your website right now.
And one of the things I noticed,
and I always try to pull this out becauseto me, as working with manufacturers,
this has always been an important thing,is that you're ISO certified.
(15:18):
And I tell people, I said,that's a certification.
It's not just a nice logothat actually means something.
You elaborate a little bit on that.Sure.
Well, the9001 certified means your facility,
your operations meetcertain standardized requirements.
(15:41):
The 9001 actually goes
into the engineering and the designside of things as well.
Geico Products is involvedwith a lot of different industries.
We're involved with HVAC, food transfer,
different vehicles, automotive,military, furniture, window and door.
(16:05):
And every customer is different.
Every customer has certainbasic requirements.
And so many people align to ISO.
And so, of course,
customers want to understandand they'll do their own audits.
But right from day one, they know that
quality systems in place and itmeets the requirements of ISO.
(16:30):
It gives everybody a lot of assurancethat we're speaking the same language.
We have this similar mindset all kind
of prescribed to what the ISOdocumentation really dictates.
And that kind of leads me to my next
question, which is, again on the website,you've been in business since 1960.
(16:53):
That's a long term.
That's impressive.
And I always love to ask companies
with some time behind them is number one,how have you grown since your beginnings?
And then number two,
kind of a follow up on that would be whatwould you attribute your success to?
And I say that for two reasons.
One, to highlight your company,but then also as companies are looking
(17:15):
for, how do I stand out,what's important to you and what do you
feel was something that helped you growand help you attain where you are today?
Yeah, well, we started as a tool shop.
We started with limited resources in zinc
diecasting area and generallysupporting more local industries.
(17:39):
A lot of our histories in the window
and door industry,being in the northeast part of Iowa,
is a nice central location for a lotof key window indoor manufacturers.
You've got Pello window,
you've got Marvin, you got Larsonand several other key folks in the area.
(18:00):
Andersonthe industry really needed a product line
offering, and so Deko developed a productline offering around window and door.
And we were the main
manufacturer for a lot of thingslike sash locks 1020 years ago.
(18:24):
That was a lot of our legacy history.
Since then, we've expanded a lot.
We're certainly more nationwide and even
global as far as our outreachin providing zinc diecasting services.
But the key to our success has been
(18:44):
partly with our ownershipgroup and our leadership.
There been very stable, very supportive.
We've been family ownedin multiple generations,
and they've been really key supportof change and innovation.
And that goes along with the equipment
(19:06):
and the technology that we apply, but alsotraining our experts here in house.
Because when it's all said and done,the core team that we have here is
special,and it's based on everybody's hard work
and education and reallythe support of each other.
(19:26):
We've got a lot of engineering expertise,and that's academic related.
We've got a mechanical engineer with their
doctorate that does a lot of our mobilephone analysis and some of the higher
level work we do as far ascontinuous improvement.
But then we've got an array of expertsthat are either
(19:48):
worked up through experienceor certain academic accomplishments.
But when you add all up,
it was over 400 cumulative yearsof engineering expertise here.
And so that is important in how we support
our customers and industry, but it'salso important how we support ourselves.
(20:10):
Those continuous improvements,those innovations all happen ultimately
from the spark andthe brain and the mindset of some of these
innovative folks that wehave here at Deco.
Dave, I can't thank you enough.
Everything you've beentalking about is fantastic.
I mean, I really like this and I hope
(20:30):
everyone listening is going to be ableto gain some interest and knowledge.
Out of that, I'm goingto give you the last say so.
Is there any final thoughts you haveor anything you'd like to throw in?
Well, you're getting back towhen zinc divesting makes sense.
A lot of times as an engineer,
you have to make thedesign and the financial considerations.
(20:57):
There are certain features of zinc.
It's strong,
it's fluid, like we talked about,but you can get the shape that you want.
But then the other aspect is cost.
There's going to be comparisons beingmade on what material makes sense.
And again, that's one of the first things
you have to figure out whenyou're designing the part.
And so zincis a material that can be cast net shape.
(21:25):
And so you don't need thosesecondary operations.
It's a material that's processed generallyquicker than a lot of materials.
You make more partsin a given amount of time.
That's the nature of zinc has a lowermelting temperature,
so it solidifies and cools down muchquicker than, say, aluminum does.
And so we can get moreparts done in an hour.
(21:48):
And so when it makes senseis when it's the best cost.
And like we also talked about,
tool life isn't huge whenyou have to buy ten tools.
And those tools can cost 1020 $50,000.
Now you have a huge investment when you
have to buy ten of themto one zinc, that cash part.
(22:09):
So it's all about reallythe life cost of a part.
It's not just, okay, what part is cheapest
today, it's what the entirelongevity of the value proposition is.
And that goes along with logistics
and shipping delays that might occurif parts are shipped overseas.
(22:34):
Those considerations are often
as problematic as any peace priceconsideration might be on the onset.
Again, as an engineer, you haveto consider those trade offs.
You need to consider really whatis key in the life of the product.
(22:55):
And then from there,zinc certainly has its fit and
something that they don't teach a lotin colleges when they talk about material
science, it's a lot of steeland polymer discussions.
And so zinc is not always well knownby the folks that are designing parts.
And so that's wheredeko can be a great resource to remind
(23:20):
engineers when it makes sense to usezinc in zinc die casting process.
Thank you.That's fantastic.
And I think very informative,like you said, to try and get this message
out to people and let themhear more about that.
These are things to take a look at.
And even if it inspires somebody to take
a look at it, that's our whole goal isto try and get those things out there.
(23:43):
If I wanted to get in touch with you,
what would be the best wayof getting in touch with you?
Well,our websites are key communication tools
that's decoperoad.com,and that's a great way.
From there,
there's a multitude of avenues,whether it's emailing us phone calls,
(24:05):
setting up a meeting, whether it'swebinar in person, that's a great place.
Again, it's decoprod.com. Great wayto find us via Google, Zinc, Diecasting.
We're likely going to be one of the first
names you seeas we support the industry, and
(24:28):
even Google sees us as a nice,prominent resource.
I'm also going to add the linkto the website in the description below
this podcast so people can actually justclick on it and be able to go there's.
Well, yeah.Excellent.
Great idea, Dave.Thank you very much.
I appreciate your time and your expertiseand sharing your knowledge with us.
Yes.
Thank you so much, Neil, for everythingyou're doing for the US industries.
Are you bringing a new product to market
or looking to reduce your manufacturingcosts and improve the quality?
At the same time,
the manufacturing processes and materialsyou choose to produce a product can
greatly impact your profitabilityand and your reputation for quality.
In this podcast, we're going to explorezinc diecasting and what benefits it
(00:21):
brings to the table today on smallbusiness talks,
small businesses and manufacturersconstantly look to increase productivity,
reduce costs, or improvethe quality of their products.
Would zinc diecasting offer any benefits?Today?
(00:45):
We're talking with Dave Magnerfrom Deko Products to discuss just that.
Good afternoon, Dave.
Welcome to the program.
Yeah, thanks, Neil, for having me.
Glad to have you on board.
Hey, Dave, does zinc diecasting offeran alternative solution to manufacturers?
(01:08):
Yes, Neil.
Zinc diecasting as a materialcan be very advantageous.
As a formerdesign engineer and engineering manager
for over 20 years,I had to evaluate different designs.
The first key step is to lookat the material choice.
And so when you're considering whetherit's zinc or other materials,
(01:31):
you have to understand what the designrequirements are and then the cost impact.
And there are certain situationswhere zinc is certainly advantageous.
What benefits would zinc diecasting offer
specifically, like, in part designor in the manufacturing of it?
What are some of those areasthat you're talking about?
(01:54):
Yeah,the nature of zinc is that when it's
melted, it's very fluid,almost like water.
And so that allows
the final product have a net shape,which is a shape that is a functional part
without a lot of secondaryoperations or machining.
(02:14):
So as a designer, you candesign in very tight corners.
You can design in very thin wall
conditions withgreat options for design flexibility.
I think it's also a very strong material
compared to a lot of other moldablematerials like plastic or aluminum.
(02:38):
And so, as a designer,
you want that flexibility to meet thosecritical technical specifications.
From there, it's all about cost.
Zinc, because it has a lower meltingtemperature, takes less energy to melt it
down, it's processed quicker in that itsolidifies quicker than other materials.
(03:00):
And actually, the tool life is very good.
It's ten times more tool life in a zinc
diecast part than, for example,an aluminum die cast part.
And so when you have to pay for ten tools,
that gets the very expensivein the total life cycle cost of a part.
(03:22):
Interesting.
What types of products,
or maybe specifically parts, benefitthe most from being cast with zinc?
Are there, like, common things that this
is a really good material and processfor certain types of products?
Is there anything you cankind of come up with on that?
Sure, yeah.
(03:43):
Zinc is used in a lotof different industries.
R1 common industry isparts that carry fluid,
whether it's liquid or gaseous, becausethe part itself is very dense and can
easily add features like externalthreads or internal threads.
(04:04):
Additionally, often zinc is
a higher grade materialand very pleasing to the end user.
Whether it's a plated part or powder
coated parts,it has a lot of density to it.
And whether it's a door handle for
ingress door window,the materials inc just exude a better
(04:30):
experience for the end userand often a higher price point.
Now, I'm going to ask you to kind of jumpout here and I'm going to ask you there's
a lot of products obviously, people makewith other materials and other processes.
They either machine them out of a solid
chunk of metal or they usedifferent types of materials.
Are there any products that you see
(04:50):
that could really benefit by switching tousing zinc over their existing materials?
Well, usually it's all about the initialdesign and the requirements involved.
Sometimes there are someconversions that happen.
Usually it's a strength issue.
Maybe plastic is not strong enough either
(05:12):
in ultimate tensile strengthor fatigue strength.
And zinc is a common upgradefor performance in that regard.
Beyond that, there are oftenneeds to cut costs,
maybe on a steel stamping that's weldedand you take a couple of parts welded
(05:34):
together and that may make sensewhen the volume is relatively low.
But as a part gets higher usage,then the justification of a zinc diecast
tool makes a lot of sense because youeliminate the process of joining multiple
parts or removing secondary operationsbecause you put those features right
(05:56):
in the tool and then initialinvestments paid back over time.
Very quickly.
I'll start with what are some of the more
commonly known productsthat would benefit by using zinc.
And then I'd like you to elaborate on what
other kind of productsthat maybe people don't realize.
It is an alternative to be.
What other types of parts or productswould benefit by using zinc diecasting?
(06:20):
Yeah, several industries and severalapplications align really well with zinc.
Some of those might relate to
parts like fittings joining components forthe transportation of different fluid.
It could be liquid, it could be gaseous.
(06:43):
Because zinc is very dense, it providesa nice conduit for the material.
But also things like externalthreads can be cast right in.
So again, you can avoidthat secondary operation.
And often that type of joining featurehas to be adapted to something else.
(07:04):
It could be a valving product.
So that's a very key consideration.
And really,zinc is great in a lot of industries.
It's stronger than plastic.
Often when plastic isn't suitable.
Zinc is a great cast molded product thatcan have similar features, but stronger.
(07:29):
And really it comes down to cost,it comes down to appearance.
Zinc is a very,I'll say, pleasing material.
It can be finished with apowder coat or plating.
A lot of parts can be very decorative
in nature because it provides a greatsubstrate for other types of finishes.
(07:52):
Whether it's decorative or just
finishes for increased corrosionprotection, for example.
I'm going to switch gears a little bitand kind of go more into the whole idea
of I'm a manufacturer and there's goingto be a lot of manufacturers listening.
We've looked at our audience.
We see there's a lot of business owners,there's a lot of manufacturers.
(08:15):
And I think the first thing I might is,how do I even go about doing this?
Number one, what should I look for?
How do I go about approaching this?
How do I start a discussion losingdiecaster, and I'll take it from there?
Yeah, good question.
At Eco Products, we concentrate on being
(08:35):
an industry leaderon the zinc diecasting process.
We do arguably more zinc under one roof.
We've got more machines.
We have over 100 zinc diecast machines,
and we've got as much engineeringexpertise as anybody in North America.
So part of our mission in lifeis not just to produce parts.
(08:59):
It's to help the industry,
to help customersto answer questions, whether it's steering
them in the right direction, regardlessof what the material should be.
Often a part that is very high volumeis really well suited for zinc.
Zinc's tooling life is very long
(09:21):
in comparison with a lotof other materials.
For example, a zinc tool will generallylast a million shots, comparatively.
An aluminum diecast tool willonly last 100,000 shots.
So you can see there's a big advantageto using zinc in that regard.
You'd have to buy ten tools,and they're very expensive at times
(09:44):
in aluminum just to get the same long termproduction capacity out of a zinc tool.
Size matters as well.
If it's a bigger part,then zinc gets to be pretty heavy.
And so you might want to lookat plastic or aluminum.
But for parts under a pound,
(10:08):
parts zig parts can be asmuch as 24 inches long.
But generally when they're four inches.Or.
Less in a given dimension, they're goingto be pretty well suited for zinc.
(10:29):
Especially when you consider that the tool
life involved and the other advantagesas far as costco.
Let's say I'm a manufacturer or I'ma company, and I'm about to make
you offer the ability to alsohelp with the design process.
(10:49):
Correct?
Do I have to go find a designerand come up with all the drawings?
How do I do that?
Or can I just contact you directlyand work with people on that avenue?
Yeah, absolutely.
Again, because we want to helpthe industry,
part of our role is to help out whetherit's supplying great information on our
(11:11):
website in a general sense,but also having means to specifically ask
those direct questionswith an expert here at Deko.
And we can do that in a multiple ways.
It could be emails,it could be telephone calls.
We can do webinars,or we can come on site.
(11:31):
We can have instructional sessions that we
call lunch and learns where we bringin a bunch of folks in a larger audience
setting or we're happy to talk aboutthings one on one, very part specific.
And so, yeah, we feel like ourselves,
(11:53):
with the expertise that we have in Deico'shistory being around since 1960,
we provide that service to the restof the folks in the industry.
Excellent.
One of the things I'd like,because you obviously have the expertise,
I'd like you to share your opinions oryour ideas on what should somebody look
(12:17):
for when they're lookingfor the casting company?
What are some of the thingsthey should be looking out for?
What are some of the questions theyshould ask to really make sure they're.
Choosing the right companies?Company?
Yeah.
Really, it comes down tohaving the engineering expertise,
both on the design side, quality side,process side.
(12:42):
They should have operationalexpertise, teeth.
To get the part designed rightfrom the start is so important.
If you make a mistake,
if you take a shortcut on the front end,you'll be paying for it
literally for years on end, because again,that tool will last that long.
Or you could designthe part right or wrong.
(13:06):
And if it's wrong now,
the tool might have a lowerlife expectancy or you might see quality
issues from the onset orlater on in its life.
And sogetting it right from the start is so
important from that point, though,that's just the start of the process.
(13:30):
You need to have a zinc diecasterthat can achieve key reliability.
They need to have the capacityto deal with ups and downs and demand,
and for example, deco productswith over 100 diecast machines.
We've got a lot of capacity to be
(13:51):
the reliable made in the USmanufacturer that we are.
We always want to tailor our schedule,
our demands, to the ups and downsof our customer demands.
We generally have shorter lead times isalways going to be key,
(14:11):
but really it comes down to on timedelivery, reliable
performance, whether on the operationside, the logistics side,
and even have the serviceto get your questions answered.
Whether it's engineering related,
customer service related,but it's a total value proposition.
(14:35):
That's so important with any manufacturer.
And that could be a zinc diecasteror plastic injection molder.
But the name of the game, especially intoday's world, is be able to be reliable.
Especially when things get stressful,
especially when things overseasget troublesome and challenging.
It's great to have a meet in the USA
(14:57):
manufacturer that can step up and reallybe a kiki source and partner.
One thing I always like to point outis I'm on your website right now.
And one of the things I noticed,
and I always try to pull this out becauseto me, as working with manufacturers,
this has always been an important thing,is that you're ISO certified.
(15:18):
And I tell people, I said,that's a certification.
It's not just a nice logothat actually means something.
You elaborate a little bit on that.Sure.
Well, the9001 certified means your facility,
your operations meetcertain standardized requirements.
(15:41):
The 9001 actually goes
into the engineering and the designside of things as well.
Geico Products is involvedwith a lot of different industries.
We're involved with HVAC, food transfer,
different vehicles, automotive,military, furniture, window and door.
(16:05):
And every customer is different.
Every customer has certainbasic requirements.
And so many people align to ISO.
And so, of course,
customers want to understandand they'll do their own audits.
But right from day one, they know that
quality systems in place and itmeets the requirements of ISO.
(16:30):
It gives everybody a lot of assurancethat we're speaking the same language.
We have this similar mindset all kind
of prescribed to what the ISOdocumentation really dictates.
And that kind of leads me to my next
question, which is, again on the website,you've been in business since 1960.
(16:53):
That's a long term.
That's impressive.
And I always love to ask companies
with some time behind them is number one,how have you grown since your beginnings?
And then number two,
kind of a follow up on that would be whatwould you attribute your success to?
And I say that for two reasons.
One, to highlight your company,but then also as companies are looking
(17:15):
for, how do I stand out,what's important to you and what do you
feel was something that helped you growand help you attain where you are today?
Yeah, well, we started as a tool shop.
We started with limited resources in zinc
diecasting area and generallysupporting more local industries.
(17:39):
A lot of our histories in the window
and door industry,being in the northeast part of Iowa,
is a nice central location for a lotof key window indoor manufacturers.
You've got Pello window,
you've got Marvin, you got Larsonand several other key folks in the area.
(18:00):
Andersonthe industry really needed a product line
offering, and so Deko developed a productline offering around window and door.
And we were the main
manufacturer for a lot of thingslike sash locks 1020 years ago.
(18:24):
That was a lot of our legacy history.
Since then, we've expanded a lot.
We're certainly more nationwide and even
global as far as our outreachin providing zinc diecasting services.
But the key to our success has been
(18:44):
partly with our ownershipgroup and our leadership.
There been very stable, very supportive.
We've been family ownedin multiple generations,
and they've been really key supportof change and innovation.
And that goes along with the equipment
(19:06):
and the technology that we apply, but alsotraining our experts here in house.
Because when it's all said and done,the core team that we have here is
special,and it's based on everybody's hard work
and education and reallythe support of each other.
(19:26):
We've got a lot of engineering expertise,and that's academic related.
We've got a mechanical engineer with their
doctorate that does a lot of our mobilephone analysis and some of the higher
level work we do as far ascontinuous improvement.
But then we've got an array of expertsthat are either
(19:48):
worked up through experienceor certain academic accomplishments.
But when you add all up,
it was over 400 cumulative yearsof engineering expertise here.
And so that is important in how we support
our customers and industry, but it'salso important how we support ourselves.
(20:10):
Those continuous improvements,those innovations all happen ultimately
from the spark andthe brain and the mindset of some of these
innovative folks that wehave here at Deco.
Dave, I can't thank you enough.
Everything you've beentalking about is fantastic.
I mean, I really like this and I hope
(20:30):
everyone listening is going to be ableto gain some interest and knowledge.
Out of that, I'm goingto give you the last say so.
Is there any final thoughts you haveor anything you'd like to throw in?
Well, you're getting back towhen zinc divesting makes sense.
A lot of times as an engineer,
you have to make thedesign and the financial considerations.
(20:57):
There are certain features of zinc.
It's strong,
it's fluid, like we talked about,but you can get the shape that you want.
But then the other aspect is cost.
There's going to be comparisons beingmade on what material makes sense.
And again, that's one of the first things
you have to figure out whenyou're designing the part.
And so zincis a material that can be cast net shape.
(21:25):
And so you don't need thosesecondary operations.
It's a material that's processed generallyquicker than a lot of materials.
You make more partsin a given amount of time.
That's the nature of zinc has a lowermelting temperature,
so it solidifies and cools down muchquicker than, say, aluminum does.
And so we can get moreparts done in an hour.
(21:48):
And so when it makes senseis when it's the best cost.
And like we also talked about,
tool life isn't huge whenyou have to buy ten tools.
And those tools can cost 1020 $50,000.
Now you have a huge investment when you
have to buy ten of themto one zinc, that cash part.
(22:09):
So it's all about reallythe life cost of a part.
It's not just, okay, what part is cheapest
today, it's what the entirelongevity of the value proposition is.
And that goes along with logistics
and shipping delays that might occurif parts are shipped overseas.
(22:34):
Those considerations are often
as problematic as any peace priceconsideration might be on the onset.
Again, as an engineer, you haveto consider those trade offs.
You need to consider really whatis key in the life of the product.
(22:55):
And then from there,zinc certainly has its fit and
something that they don't teach a lotin colleges when they talk about material
science, it's a lot of steeland polymer discussions.
And so zinc is not always well knownby the folks that are designing parts.
And so that's wheredeko can be a great resource to remind
(23:20):
engineers when it makes sense to usezinc in zinc die casting process.
Thank you.That's fantastic.
And I think very informative,like you said, to try and get this message
out to people and let themhear more about that.
These are things to take a look at.
And even if it inspires somebody to take
a look at it, that's our whole goal isto try and get those things out there.
(23:43):
If I wanted to get in touch with you,
what would be the best wayof getting in touch with you?
Well,our websites are key communication tools
that's decoperoad.com,and that's a great way.
From there,
there's a multitude of avenues,whether it's emailing us phone calls,
(24:05):
setting up a meeting, whether it'swebinar in person, that's a great place.
Again, it's decoprod.com. Great wayto find us via Google, Zinc, Diecasting.
We're likely going to be one of the first
names you seeas we support the industry, and
(24:28):
even Google sees us as a nice,prominent resource.
I'm also going to add the linkto the website in the description below
this podcast so people can actually justclick on it and be able to go there's.
Well, yeah.Excellent.
Great idea, Dave.Thank you very much.
I appreciate your time and your expertiseand sharing your knowledge with us.
Yes.
Thank you so much, Neil, for everythingyou're doing for the US industries.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.