The folks at Plateco in Reedsburg, Wisconsin know they can’t hide from the truth. In fact, in their “pursuit for plating excellence,” they stick their return rate at the very top of their website for all the world to see.
In early June, it was a measly 0.24% over the past six month, a phenomenal accomplishment for the often complicated work they do in zinc plating.
“We have a drive to continually innovate and become more efficient at what we do,” says Monique Guyse, sales manager and a member of the Schweich family that has run the company since the early 1970s. “Our drive to do the right thing.”
Plateco is a family-owned business that started in the early 1970s by four brothers in a garage is Necedah, WI doing barrel mechanical zinc plating. By the end of the decade, Plateco built their first standalone facility; in the early 1980s they built a second facility, which is their current location in Reedsburg. In the last 30 years, they have had five expansions and added rack electroplating, barrel electroplating, hydrogen embrittlement relief, and passivation to the services that they offer.
70 Employees and Steady Growth
That growth has been built on being a true family, both to their more than 70 employees and to their customers.
“Being that Plateco is a family owned business, we are for each other and the other members of our family who are our employees,” says Jim Schweich, who calls himself the “Chief Executive Perfectionist.” We treat others as we want to be treated. We are open and honest with our customers, and transparency is key to develop strong partnerships.”
The company is owned by the second generation of Schweichs: Tom, Jerry and Jim Schweich. Guyse is the start of the third generation within the organization.
- Jim, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Stout, is responsible for directing the company’s strategic planning and policy-setting initiatives. This includes determining the company’s target markets, product mix, and financial plan. Prior to assuming his current position in 2013, Jim’s roles included general manager, operations manager and plant manager. Since 2005, he has overseen the company’s capital investment of over $3 million.
- Tom, the Executive Operations Perfectionist, is responsible for six production areas, including two automated zinc barrel electroplating lines, two highly automated zinc rack electroplating lines, and three zinc mechanical galvanizing production lines. He is also responsible for scheduling, water treatment, and plant maintenance. And he’s done it all at Plateco: prior to assuming his current position, Tom’s roles included production supervisor, estimator, shift supervisor, line operator, and water treatment operator.
- Jerry, the Executive Engineering Perfectionist, is responsible for all technical departments, including engineering and the test laboratory. Prior to assuming his current position, Jerry’s roles included technology manager, maintenance technician, electroplater operator and water treatment operator. Since 1990, he has overseen the design and installation of four barrel electroplating lines, four rack electroplating lines, three water treatment systems, and three hydrogen relief ovens.
- Monique, who is Jim’s daughter and the first third-generation family member to join the company, is responsible for sales, customer care and quality control. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, she started her Plateco career in the accounts receivable area before moving into sales and operations, serving as sales engineer, technical sales engineer, and quality systems manager before being promoted to her current position.
14.5 feet, up to 1,000 pounds, and 500 Racks a Shift
All production lines at Plateco produce high-quality products, including two rack electroplating lines and two barrel lines. All of these lines are fully automated, and while they do all zinc plate, they allow the company to plate a wide variety of parts.
One rack plating line has the capabilities of plating parts up to 14.5 feet in length and up to 1,000 pounds. The other rack plating line is designed for stampings, brackets and other parts, and produces over 500 racks per shift, allowing Plateco to provide very competitive pricing to its customer.
“We also have two barrel electroplating lines one has the capability of plating up to 800 lbs in a barrel,” says Jerry Schweich. “The other barrel plating line is smaller and can process up to 400 lbs, and has smaller drain holes. This line is great for small, delicate parts as small as 1/16-inch in diameter. Since the load sizes are smaller, we can plate fine threads and edges without rolling the threads.”
Plateco does not focus on a specific industry for its customer base. Rather, they like to have diversification within their organization to try and smooth out the flow of product to their facility though seasonality. Their most popular industries are automotive, agriculture, construction and communications.
Tom Schweich says in Plateco’s pursuit of excellence — and keeping its return rate down — they pride themselves on increasing their internal efficiencies.
“When the second generation took over the organization, we were running three shifts, six days a week,” he says. “Today we are processing the same volume of work in 1.25 shifts in just four days a week. This was all possible with creating internal efficiencies, which we continue to do each day.”
Customer Service Focused
Plateco also has what it calls a “sales funnel,” where they outline actions that take place at each step in their quoting process. They are also focused on our marketing efforts with e-mail marketing, blogs, videos, and more, an initiative that Guyse has led to let customers and potential customers know more about the company.
“More than just pricing, we have become very customer service focused,” she says. “We have gone as far as including survey links in our employees email address to ask our customers about their interactions.”
Jim Schweich says the future of Plateco looks great, especially if the company continues its pursuit of playing excellence.
“The zinc plating process is quite complex and detailed,” he says. “We have a great team who workday in and out to ensure that we are pursuing and achieving ‘plating perfection.’ As we like to say, you don’t have to be a Schweich to work for Plateco; you just have to be a perfectionist.”
Visit zincplating.company
