Steel Rule Diemasters Inc.
8219 W. Bradley Road, Milwaukee
Industry: Die cutting
Employees: 16
www.steel-rule-die.com
Steel Rule Diemasters Inc. was started 14 years ago by president and chief executive officer Mark Jeske as a one-person shop in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward.
Today, it is located in its third facility, a 12,800-square-foot building on the far northwest side of Milwaukee; it employs 16 people; and its revenue has been growing an average of 15 percent per year since 2010 due to its creation of unique medical dies.
Vice president Luke Eshleman calls the recent changes at Steel Rule Diemasters a “360.”
“We went from a smaller group of employees in a very small space, but still managing the same product, now to developing our product, growing our product, growing our space and our employees,” he said.
Steel Rule Diemasters moved in 2006 from the Third Ward to its second location, a 5,600-square-foot facility at W141N9312 Fountain Blvd. in Menomonee Falls. At the time, it had eight employees.
Since it moved from Menomonee Falls to its current location in January 2014 in order to accommodate growth, employment has grown from 12 to 16. Two more employees may be hired later this year.
Marketing project manager Juliayn Rietzler declined to disclose the company’s annual revenue, but she said the goal is for Steel Rule Diemasters and its Medical Presses division both to grow by 35 percent this year.
According to Eshleman, the growth is due to a new company culture, new processes, new ways of conducting customer outreach, the addition of a marketing manager, and the Medical Presses division.
Incorporated in 2012, the Medical Presses division makes presses and dies that cut skin grafts, heart valves, wound dressings and perform other varied medical needs. Since 2013, the addition of the division has accounted for 22 percent more growth each year.
“(Jeske) was looking for a more innovative niche to grow his entrepreneurship, and that was a division he saw a really strong need for,” Eshleman said.
In addition to the medical industry, Steel Rule Diemasters serves a variety of industries, including printing, aerospace, electronics and plastics. The printing industry alone, however, accounts for about 60 percent of the company’s business.
Steel Rule Diemasters typically sells directly to other businesses, and its clients are local and from across the U.S., including Puerto Rico and Hawaii.
“We try to be as creative as possible and not say no,” Eshleman said. “We’re more of a specialty die shop in that aspect. Somebody could come off the street and want one die that’s really difficult and they’re not sure, and that’s where we’ll invite them in and work with them to see if that’s something we can tackle, where other die shops would probably turn them away.”
The manufacturing process consists of four steps. First, employees work with customers to design the die that best fits their needs. Then, the die is burned in order to map out the design. Next, the die is “knifed,” which is when the rule is cut to fit in the lasered board. Finally, the die is “rubbered,” meaning that rubber is placed around the die to help get the product out.
Rietzler said die cutting is for anything that needs to be cut out repeatedly.
For instance, Steel Rule Diemasters will make dies and presses for movie theater displays, snowflakes for stores’ holiday decorations, and puzzle pieces. It also recently manufactured a die that will cut specialty bandages for use during brain surgery.
Eshleman and Rietzler said the most unique product they have seen made so far is a press for dough.
“It’s a direct result of who we are now,” Eshleman said of serving the food industry. “We’re pushing into other industries that before we probably wouldn’t have.”
