DMS rebranded with new owner

After 40 years in business, Oldcastle mould parts distributor Die Mould Services (DMS) has been sold.

Local businessman and owner of Southwestern Manufacturing Vince Schiller purchased the family business in October from owners Dave and Breen Belleperche. Tom Kaschalk was brought on as general manager of sales and operations and has spent the last four months rebranding the company.

“We knew the rebranding was important,” Kaschalk said. “We just weren’t sure how we were going to do it. But we decided to lean on our employees, our customers and see what they needed and wanted. We are pumping oxygen back into this place.”

For Kaschalk, who was formerly at Ramstar Carbide Tool Inc., a big part of the rebranding was stepping out of the box and rethinking the business plan. He said there’s a new motto: health, family and then DMS.

“We are big on family around here and big on health,” he said. “We want to make sure our employee’s families are cared for, their health is good and then they come to work and they are fine.”

DMS employs 15 people and is looking to add to its staff with positions for marketing, sales people and in its warehouse. DMS supplies more than 12,000 parts integral to mould making, such as mould bases, ejector pins and core pins.

They also reached out to customers to see what was working and what could be implemented to make business run smoother. DMS decided to put quality cards in with the packaged items sent to customers containing the name of the person responsible for the order.

Heather Amlin-Boisvert, director of human resources and operations, said it gives the employees and company some accountability.

“Right off the top they can see who packaged the products for them,” she said. “It’s unusual to do that in our industry, but it gives us accountability. If they open it and there’s a problem, we can trace it back right off the bat.”

DMS has taken the time to rename some of its positions within the company to give employees more pride. As well, the company is adding a few part-time shifts to see if the after-hour slots fit better with their customers’ needs.

“Our Saturday shift has taken off really well with our customers,” Kaschalk said. “Are we unique? No. But we definitely are trying to think outside the box.”

DAN JANISSE Tom Kaschalk, managing partner of DMS Components, and HR director Heather Amlin-Boisvert have worked on a revived customer focus at the mould parts distributor, which was recently bought by the owner of Southwestern Manufacturing.