Minneapolis, MINN–November 29, 2007–Diversified Plastics, Inc. (DPI), a precision injection molder of custom thermoplastic parts, celebrated its 30th anniversary with a lively casino night on Saturday, Nov. 10, for 74 employees, family members, customers and suppliers.
DPI was incorporated in December 1977 with 2,500 square feet of rented space, three machines and 13 employees. Seven of the original DPI employees are still with the company today, and another five employees have been with DPI for 15 years or longer. The cumulative industry experience of DPI employees is well over 200 years. The company serves approximately 60 OEM customers in a wide variety of industries including filtration, medical, electronics and industrial.
DPI moved to its current building in Brooklyn Park in 2000, and today the company is operating in 42,000 sq. ft. with 16 machines and 65 employees. According to vice president, Annette Lund, “We’ve grown from a small company of 13 employees with only about $1 million in sales to a company with 55 employees and nearly $7 million in sales. And, we have some loyal customers that have been with us from the very beginning. We’re very proud of these accomplishments.”
Lund says that DPI is known in the industry, “For taking on the tough projects and accepting the small- to medium-size orders. We’re also known as a very high-tolerance, high-quality injection molder.” To explain the meaning of “tolerance,” Lund said, “The normal hair is about .003 of an inch thick. Our product can hold tolerances of +/- .001 of an inch.”
DPI managers and employees are actively involved in the community, volunteering time and/or money to the local Rotary club, North Hennepin Area Chamber of Commerce, United Way, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Memorial Blood Bank, Community Emergency Assistance Program (CEAP), Adopt-A-Family program during the holidays and numerous food drives. The industry organizations with which DPI is involved include:
- American Society for Quality (ASQ)
- Society of Plastic Engineers (SPE)
- Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME)
- Manufacturers Alliance
- International Standards Organization (ISO)
“We’re quite proud of how we’ve given back to the community,” says Lund. “It’s been amazing to see how many of our employees will donate to our Adopt-A-Family program, or to the packages for soldiers or the United Way. In fact, one year DPI had such a large increase in United Way contributions over the prior year that we were listed in the newspaper along with major corporations like 3M. I think that’s pretty amazing for a small company.”
The casino night anniversary party “was a huge success,” said Lund. Attendees were given $3,000 each of “funny money” for playing casino games such as blackjack, roulette and craps. They exchanged their winnings for tickets to enter raffle drawings for 21 prizes. “The more tickets you had with your name on them, the more chances you had of winning,” she said. The grand prize raffle, for employees only, was a portable DVD player won by an employee who has been with the company for eight years.
Lund concluded, “We are proud of our longevity and our success. We take on the tough jobs and we’re willing to work with our customers and offer them what they need, when they need it.” She said DPI is poised to continue its growth for years to come.
About Diversified Plastics, Inc.
Founded in 1977, Diversified Plastics, Inc. is a custom injection molder of thermoplastic parts weighing 5 ounces to 41 ounces. DPI specializes in small- to medium-size orders of one to 10,000,000 parts. Many orders require custom design services, and the company provides value-added services such as spin welding, part decorating, automated assembly and sonic welding. The major industries served by DPI include filtration, medical, electronics and automotive.
