Passion and precision

Diemo Machine Works thrives on sophisticated micro-calibrations, but they’re equally committed to character and conscience.

by John Longhurst

Marty Friesen is passionate about work. That’s good, since it’s right there in his job description: “To combine the talents of Diemo’s employees with their passion.”

Friesen, a 31-year-old father of two young daughters, admits it’s not a usual job description. But then, Diemo Machine Works (pronounced Dime-oh) is not a usual company. It’s in a class all its own when it comes to micro-calibrations as minute as one tenth the width of a human hair.

The company does high-precision machining, custom fabricating and tool and die making for the transportation and agricultural sectors, as well as fenestration and fibreglass pultrusion for building construction. Some of Diemo’s work is literally out of sight – in an aerospace component way up in the stratosphere or in the internal framework of a highway bus. Some is right there in plain view, like the contoured guard rail of a farmer’s combine.

All this emanates from a factory in the unlikeliest of places – north of the little town of Arborg (pop. 959), which is some 60 miles from Winnipeg in Manitoba’s Interlake region.

Workers, some with grade five to 10 educations, routinely operate sophisticated Computerized Numerically Controlled (CNC) equipment worth up to half a million dollars, performing operations that require tolerances of half of 1,000th of an inch.

Nobody at Diemo has a title. There are no perks for people in management. Everyone punches in on the same time clock and eats in the same lunchroom.

At any other business, Friesen – who is in charge of the overall operations of the plant – would be known as the general manager. But for him, making sure everything runs well also means helping every person be passionate about what they do.

“My driving focus is to find the passion in people and then link that passion to their talent,” he says.

The unique approach seems to be working. From humble beginnings as a one-man machine shop in a small shed 23 years ago, Diemo has grown into a multi-million-dollar business with 60 employees. Its products are used by companies such as New Flyer and Motorcoach, which make buses, and agricultural implement companies like John Deere, Case and Agco, which owns Massey-Ferguson and Gleaner.

“The key is to establish a relationship of trust so that the people you work with instinctively know that you are looking out for their best interests,” says Friesen, who started out on the shop floor himself in 1995. “When that’s the case, you don’t need a title or have to act like a boss.”
It all goes back to 1977, when founder Gerhard Wiebe loaded himself, his wife, their 12 children and all their belongings onto a 1958 Mercury half-ton truck in Mexico and headed for Manitoba. He was coming on the invitation of Willie Dueck, the founder of Vidir Machine Inc., also located near Arborg (see March-April, 2002 The Marketplace). Dueck invited Wiebe, a machinist, to come work at his machine shop.

Wiebe was happy to go. “There wasn’t enough work in Mexico,” he says. “It was hard to support my family.” One winter he didn't have enough money to buy shoes for his children. “That was very hard,” he says.

In 1982, Wiebe decided to strike out on his own. He used a loan from a church friend to buy a lathe. Later, he added a broken punch press, which he repaired. “I could pretty much only afford used and broken equipment back then,” he recalls, noting “it’s quite a bit different from the computerized equipment we use today.”

Later, Wiebe’s son, Jacob, and son-in-law, Les Loewen, bought into the company as co-workers and partners. Today Wiebe, 71, is retired, leaving the day-to-day operations to Jacob and Les. But his legacy still shapes how the company is run.

“His life is an example to us,” says Friesen, noting that he is inspired by how Wiebe maintained good relations with employees.

Wiebe deflects the praise. “I just wanted to treat my employees in such a way that nobody could ever accuse me of anything before God,” he says. “I was an employee once, and I had bad bosses. I know what it feels like, and I don’t want anyone at my company to feel that way.”

Wiebe also wanted to be a friend to his employees. He still drops by the factory almost every day to talk to and have coffee with staff. “They tell me their personal troubles. They can talk to me about anything,” he says, adding “I see myself in many of them from when I was younger.”

The employees, half of whom are Mennonites from Mexico, Bolivia, Paraguay and Belize, seem to be responding. “There is an incredible work ethic here,” says Friesen. “There’s a real sense of ownership and pride in their work.” As proof, he points to one customer who has set a standard of 450 rejects per million for materials it buys from suppliers. “Our reject rate is 83 pieces per million,” Friesen says.

For Friesen, the good results all come back to passion. “If someone is passionate about what they do – if they enjoy it and feel fulfilled in it – then they will do a good job. They know that mistakes affect everyone. They know how important it is to do it right the first time.”

Just as important as passion, though, is character and conscience. “We define character as the desire to serve others, and a willingness to accept responsibility when things go wrong,” Friesen says. When deciding whether to promote someone to lead a department, Diemo not only considers skill and ability, but also character. “We ask, ‘Is the employee serving people around him or her?’” Friesen says. “Without character, you won’t go far in this company.”

As for conscience, Diemo won’t bid on contracts that contribute “to the loss of human life, either directly or indirectly.” Of course, they realize that the world isn’t perfect, and that some of the items they make for others may end up in things like military hardware. The company’s business guidelines say that, as best they can, they will try to “avoid production of parts that are used primarily in military combat equipment.”

Friesen enjoys unlocking passion and talents in others. But does he feel passionate about his work? “Absolutely,” he says. “I love two things: Interacting with people, and math. This job allows me to do both.”

During his time at Diemo he has been involved in things like purchasing, sales, accounting, planning and scheduling. He also likes setting up systems that allow people to keep the stress of the job manageable.

He’s also passionate about combining his faith and work. As a teenager, he remembers thinking that the best way to serve God was by becoming a missionary or a pastor. “But I couldn’t speak, and I couldn’t sing, so I thought there were a limited number of things I could do to serve God,” he says. His involvement at Diemo, however, has shown him that “most needs can be met through the day-to-day business of working,” he says. “If we combine our faith and work, we can help people feel successful and fulfilled seven days a week, not just on Sunday.”

Friesen draws heavily on MEDA for inspiration. “MEDA has been a huge source of ideas for me,” he says, noting that he especially enjoys going to conventions where he is “surrounded by other businesspeople who, like me, understand that business is a calling.”

He also appreciated a chance to visit MEDA’s projects in Tajikistan in May. “It was a life changing experience,” he says of the trip, which found him joining other MEDA members to provide advice and encouragement to entrepreneurs in that country. “I came home promising that I would never complain about life in Canada again,” he says, noting that “entrepreneurs in Tajikistan are just as industrious as we are but, unlike us, they simply don’t have the resources they need to succeed – they lack capital, the country’s infrastructure is crumbling, electricity can’t be counted on and there are trade barriers. My life is so much easier than theirs.”

The visit also allowed him to see “just how challenging development work can be. I came away with a huge amount of respect for the MEDA staff.” He also appreciated seeing that MEDA “isn’t just there for the business side of things, but for the whole person.”

The visit has given Friesen a new passion – for the wider world. “I want to do my best for Diemo and my community,” he says, “but I also want to do what I can to help meet the needs of people around the world. That’s my mission, and the mission of Diemo.”

John Longhurst, former MEDA staff member, is director of communications at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg.