Deister Machine Co.

Deister Machine Co. is well known throughout the industry for designing and building rugged, dependable and cost-effective vibrating equipment. Countless manufacturers consider their employees and customers as one big family, but not many live up to those expectations like Deister Machine Co. The Fort Wayne, Ind.-based manufacturer of vibratory screening and feeding equipment has been in operation for almost 100 years, and Vice President of Engineering Dale Loshe credits retention of key employees through a pleasant work environment.

One of the keys to success of Deister Machine Co. is the stability of employees.

“One of the keys to success of Deister Machine Co. is the stability of employees,” Loshe says. “Stability in the employees translates into a very big bonus for our customers because we’re not constantly having to re-train employees as they move on.”

Deister Machine Co. also hasn’t moved on from its Midwestern roots. Emil Deister established the company by building heavy-duty mining machinery and separating and sizing equipment. The company still manufactures these machines, which help increase efficiency and productivity for the crushed stone, sand and gravel, asphalt, coal, coke, slag and ore-processing industries. Today, the product line includes scalpers, feeders, grizzlies and a range of screens for most applications.

The company remains in the hands of the Deister family with the third generation of Deisters at the helm. Irwin F. Deister Jr. serves as chairman of the board and E. Mark Deister is president. The fourth generation of the Deister family also is involved with the company – Rich Deister is vice president of customer relations and parts and service.

Decision-making Deisters
Although Deister Machine Co. isn’t as large as some of its competitors, the private family ownership structure allows the company to move faster than the big players in the industry, Loshe says.

“Decisions can be made very quickly and efficiently because there’s no boards or anything we have to be accountable to,” Loshe says. “A large corporation may be more concerned about what a shareholder might think than taking care of the customer. The priority here always has been to take care of the customer first and [not] assigning blame.”

In one instance, a customer had a piece of equipment with a number of structural problems induced by inappropriate operation that Deister was not obligated to repair. However, due to the longstanding relationship with the

customer, Deister ownership decided in a matter of minutes to replace the machine rather than repair it in order to assure the long-term integrity of the equipment. The replacement was rushed through production to minimize any downtime for the customer.

Customized Machines
With so many industries and applications served by its products, Deister Machine Co.’s orders are close to 100 percent customized. “We always look at the feed gradation, tons per hour, etc., to make sure we are providing the best possible screening solutions for the application,” Loshe says. “We have a wide variety of types and configurations, so we offer a wide range of solutions to come back with the best possible [solution] piece of equipment.”

With Deister Machine Co.’s reputation for quality and integrity, customers regularly ask Deister’s employees for their recommendations for specific applications. “They may have a screen application in mind, but we still want the application information so we feel comfortable that it is the best machine for that application,” he adds.

To provide this type of individualized attention and service, Deister Machine Co. relies heavily on its technically savvy personnel. “Another key to success is many of our people in a variety of departments have engineering backgrounds,” Loshe says. “We are very technically capable in a variety of areas other than just engineering.”