BTD Manufacturing, Inc.

Making things right, fast┬áA member of the Otter Tail family of companies, BTD Manufacturing offers a range of design and manufacturing solutions to its customers. In todayÔÇÖs just-in-time environment, it also emphasizes the ability to deliver goods quickly.  ┬áItÔÇÖs been 30 years since Bismarck Tool and Die Co. came into existence, named after the North Dakota city where it was founded in 1979 by Erling Rasmussen and Paul White, Jr.  Now known just by its initials and based in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, BTD Manufacturing has grown into a full-service provider of manufacturing outsourcing services. BTD offers stamping, fabrication, tubing, welding, machining and tooling services as well as up-front support services to create new product designs, improve existing designs and develop innovative manufacturing processes.All those services are delivered against a backdrop of understanding that speed is important in todayÔÇÖs business world. As the company says, even the highest quality product ÔÇ£has little value if it isnÔÇÖt delivered on time.ÔÇØ BTD uses a warehouse system equipped with bar-coding and lot-tracked inventory control and boasts some two million cubic feet of climate-controlled storage to keep products at the ready for delivery. In a time when many outsourced manufacturers competing in the same space are based in overseas locations, BTD believes its location in the central United States is a major competitive advantage. In many cases it offers a 24-hour shipping service that can release products to customers as they are needed. But BTD believes its most important strength lies in its ability to work with customers to improve their products and the processes behind them, utilizing the latest technologies to enable products to be made faster, less expensively and in a more environmentally sustainable wayÔÇöall without losing quality. As the company says, it offers both its brain and its brawn to its clients. Otter Tail Corp. purchased BTD in 1995, and a year later the company invested heavily in an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software package to help it manage its own supply chain and manufacturing logistics as well as those of clients. More recently, that system was upgraded to a Management Operations System (MOS) that offers additional insights into forecasts and materials demands. The company has invested as heavily in the machinery needed for manufacturing as it has in technology to run the business.┬áIts facilities feature equipment including a 600-ton blow metal stamping press, a range of turrets, laser cutters and press brakes. The facility also includes both traditional and robotic welding capabilities, with dual-arm robotic equipment that can significantly boost productivity while working with a range of materials, including aluminum, steel and stainless steel, gas tungsten arc welding and other techniques to bring products to fruition. As it has grown, BTD has added additional capabilities to enable it to be a complete manufacturing and assembly option for customers, with both hard-tool and soft-tool operations.BTD has used those capabilities and its experience and knowledge to help customers come up with solutions to some vexing problems. One BTD customer turned to the company to create a strong corner support that would not have sharp edges and would look aesthetically pleasing. The customerÔÇÖs own engineers worked with BTD staff, and the result was a piece that exceeded strength requirements, with BTD using its ADGIE Dynamic 8 tube bending machinery to produce a smooth bend without giving up strength. In another instance, BTD was able to produce a rectangular tube part for a customer that was an improvement in both appearance and strength over existing options, with BTD using its bending and other capabilities to bend thick steel without causing any damage to the side walls of the part. Over the years, BTD has also taken steps to ensure the company and the metal fabrication and manufacturing industry at large has a steady supply of qualified labor both now and in the future. The company worked with the Minnesota State Community and Technical College of Detroit Lakes to create and open the BTD School of Tool & Die and Machining, offering a one-year course. In 1998, BTD earned ISO 9001 certification, a symbol of the companyÔÇÖs commitment to meeting industry standards for quality and consistency and a certification that it continues to maintain to this day.  ÔÇô Editorial research by Kristina Perley