Component manufacturer seeks a higher profile

Wood & Wood Products, Oct, 1996 by Margie Melaniphy

Lexington Manufacturing plans to combine its component manufacturing business with its new emphasis on profile laminating.

Lexington Manufacturing hopes it has another winner on its hands.

In 1984, Lexington's owners scored their first major victory when they predicted the effect CNC routers were going to have on the woodworking industry, because they jumped on that bandwagon early and have ridden it to success.

Two years ago, the managers at Lexington began searching for a path to increased success and believe they have found the answer in profile wrapping.

This Minneapolis-based component manufacturer is staking at least a portion of its future on the success of its new venture into profile laminating.

"There are obviously a lot more routers around now than there were when we bought our first one," said Bob Dimke, president of Lexington Manufacturing. "We want to continue to have a strong emphasis on routing, but we also want to get in on the ground floor of something that ten years from now will be as hot as routers are. We think the answer is veneer wrapping over man-made substrates."

Dimke added that despite all the pressure on timber resources, people still want long, clear lengths of lumber. "We think wrapping with real wood veneers or even vinyls, which are starting to look as good as wood, will be hot."

Dimke views his company's plans to break into the profile wrapping market as an extension of Lexington's well-established component manufacturing business.

"This profile wrapping work is still component work to us in that it is not a finished product when it leaves here'" said Dimke.

Dimke is hoping to have more control over the type of profile wrapping work Lexington does than it is possible for him to have over the component manufacturing' which he said by its very nature demands a large degree of flexibility.

"We'd like to concentrate on OEM contracts so we can do longer runs of profile wrapping. That way we don't have to start out being extremely flexible, although for the first two years we've been the ultimate in flexibility," Dimke said. "Such a high degree of flexibility can be difficult to maintain. but it takes a while to introduce something new, and typically many wrapped products are new. A lot of times the substrates are new as well, like TimberStrand, which is just not accepted everywhere yet."

Of course, as with every new big idea, there will be some road blocks; Lexington has never worked with veneers in its 40-year history.

"We started from scratch two years ago," said Dimke. "We bought a Barberan profile wrapper. Our intention is to target window and door manufacturers and to manufacture high-performance components for them using polyurethane glues. Mastering the process, especially the use of polyurethane hotmelt adhesives, has been challenging, but we've put a lot of time into it and we've become very good at it."

Bending over backwards

In the late 1950s, George Dimke began building architectural panels in his garage, an inauspicious beginning to what has become a multi-million dollar company.

Forty years later, George Dimke's garage shop operation is now housed in 40,000 square feet of manufacturing space and employs 58 full-time workers and 30 temps. Lexington Manufacturing pulled in approximately $6.8 million in 1995, up almost 48 percent from the previous year. The company's sales tripled between 1988 and 1995. (Lexington has been featured in the WOOD 100 five times, including a No. 17 showing in the 1996 edition. See W&WP September 1996)

George Dimke moved his business into a larger facility in the early 1980s and began manufacturing components as well as architectural panels. In 1982, Lexington narrowed its focus to strictly component manufacturing and bought out a local business that already owned a Heian CNC router. Lexington considered CNC routers to be the wave of the future, and positioned itself as an expert with the machine before most companies even considered purchasing one.

Since that time, George Dimke has retired, and his sons Bob and John have taken over the reins at Lexington. The company now focuses on value-added machining, primarily targeting tight tolerance components. Lexington has also purchased three Shoda CNC routers since 1984.

"One of our specialties is getting production lines up and running in short order," said Bob Dimke. "Our responsiveness has been the key for us. Having the ability to do tight tolerance work and remaining flexible, bending over backwards to do the job right -- that's what we've built our reputation on."

Dimke said the company's innovativeness has gotten it some of its most successful projects.

"In 1993, a large retail manufacturer came to us with a project," Dimke said.

"They wanted us to manufacture a decorative wood component to house a dispenser that releases an aromatic scent. When the dispenser is filled it releases a potpourri scent that fills the room." The small wood component was designed to help make the product look crafty.

"The problem was not in the manufacturing, the problem was the time frame allowed," Dimke said. "The company was looking for eight million finished parts within eight months.