 We are seated at an important time to discuss the opportunities that can arise from hard times. Hard times create problems that need solving, and those who step into the gap to fill them are the ones who will be celebrating milestones 10, 15, and 25 years down the road. DMAC Automation crossed that 15-year milestone in 2024. I recently caught up with DMAC Owner and President, Dave Minor, to learn more about the company, and there’s a moment in our conversation where he casually explains what “DMAC” means, and it honestly made me laugh a little—because it’s both completely practical and kind of perfect. It’s not a family name. It’s not a trendy “we mashed a few letters together and hoped for the best” situation. It’s literally a sentence that turned into a company name. Design. Manufacture. Assemble. Control. Commission. Automation. Dave wrote out what the business would do (because the bank wanted to know, as banks do), turned it into an acronym, and—almost accidentally—ended up with the brand. “Commission” was the last piece added, he told me, because it’s a real part of what they do in the field. And now, years later, the name still reads like a simple promise: this is what we do. End of story. And the funny part is… that’s pretty much the whole vibe at DMAC Automation.  Quietly impressive. Very busy. Not flashy about it. DMAC Automation is based right here in St. Thomas and if you haven’t heard of them or realized they were located in #stthomasproud country, you’re probably not alone. Dave even mentioned that during a meeting with a customer he was once asked where the business was located. Dave pointed out the window and said, “two blocks that way, you can see our roof from here”. Two blocks away. (That’s the kind of “hidden in plain sight” story that feels very St. Thomas.) But make no mistake: DMAC’s reach is not small-town. They design and build custom automation systems used in manufacturing environments that span industries—from automotive and warehousing to food and beverage, and even military-related work. That can be hard to picture if you don’t work in the automation world. It’s not like you drive past a storefront and think, Ah yes, robotic palletizers and custom vision inspection systems. So, let’s put it in plain terms: DMAC builds the machines and systems that help manufacturers work faster, work safer, and reduce costly inefficiencies—often by taking the repetitive, heavy, or high-risk parts of a job and giving that task to equipment designed specifically for that environment. And they don’t do it with canned solutions. They’re a custom shop. Every project is its own puzzle.  The recession-era origin story (that somehow turned into stability) DMAC was born in 2009, in the shadow of a recession, after the company Dave worked for decided to exit automation and ultimately shut down. Dave was in management. He knew the contracts, the customers, the reality behind the speeches. And he made a decision quickly: if the work was going to be dropped, he’d pick it up—with the same people and the same standards. He set the company up in 11 days. Which sounds slightly unhinged (in the determined way, not the chaotic way). But it worked. DMAC started with seven people, and today they’re close to 30. And here’s the thing Dave is clearly proud of—maybe the thing he’s proudest of: In 16 years, they’ve had no layoffs. Not through downturns. Not through COVID. None. Instead, they’ve built a “core team” approach: keep a stable core group, scale up with contractors and partners when needed, and scale back down without sacrificing the people who make the company what it is. That choice is not the most common one. Dave knows it. He talked openly about the pressure businesses feel to constantly expand—bigger building, bigger headcount, bigger everything. But he’s cautious about what growth costs. He even has a term for it: the “business bobblehead”—when management grows faster than the team doing the actual work, and the whole organization starts to feel top-heavy and weirdly disconnected. He’s not interested in that. Not here. “No cowboys.” The culture does the filtering. If you ask Dave what makes DMAC special, he’ll talk about problem-solving. He’ll talk about creativity. He’ll talk about the satisfaction of building a custom solution that actually works. But he always comes back to one thing: culture. He described it as “thick,” which is such a specific word, and also… accurate? You know what he means right away. It’s not a culture that lives on posters. It’s the kind you can feel when you walk in. DMAC hires people who like variety, who want to learn, who don’t need to be the loudest person in the room to be valuable. Dave put it bluntly: they don’t have “cowboys.” You know the type he means immediately. Someone who’s not about the team. Someone who’s loudly for themselves, unpredictable, and risky. There was also something I found quietly moving: Dave’s biggest fear as an employer is losing a great employee because of a bad one. He doesn’t treat that as normal collateral damage. He treats it as preventable. That’s not a metric you’ll find in an annual report, but it’s a real leadership tell.
Automation doesn’t “take jobs.” It changes them. One of the most interesting parts of our conversation was Dave’s take on a common fear: automation removes jobs. His argument is more nuanced than a simple yes/no. In many cases, he explained, automation removes the most physically punishing parts of a role—and creates space to retrain workers into higher-skill positions: operating, maintaining, troubleshooting, inspecting quality, managing throughput. It shifts people from repetitive labour into roles that require technical ability and decision-making. He shared an example that stuck with me: a system designed to move heavy items that used to be handled manually. The risk of injury was real. The physical strain was constant. Automation wasn’t just about productivity—it was about safety, and about long-term sustainability for the workforce. And honestly, that framing matters. Especially now, when labour shortages and retention challenges are very real for manufacturers across Ontario. Not just automotive. Sometimes it’s… cherries. Here’s where DMAC gets unexpectedly fun. Dave shared about a robot installed in a barn in Simcoe—a giant industrial robot that picks up multiple pails of cherries (heavy ones, around 35 pounds each) and stacks them efficiently. The reason wasn’t flashy innovation for the sake of it. It was practical:
So the robot does the heavy lifting, and the people shift into operating and managing the line instead. And I know this is a small detail, but it’s the kind that makes automation click for people. It’s not abstract. It’s not “robots are coming.” It’s: this prevents injuries, keeps production moving, and helps a local agricultural operation survive a short season. That’s it. That’s the point. But you better believe I'd like to see that cherry-moving robot in action.  What DMAC actually does (in human language) If you want the official breakdown, DMAC describes itself as a custom automation shop focused on improving how customers work—supporting everything from design to installation and training. They offer:
That’s a lot. And it’s why people outside the industry often don’t realize what’s happening inside that building tucked in on Duckworth. Growing talent, locally (and watching students’ eyes pop out) Dave also talked about something that matters deeply in a growing manufacturing community: talent pipelines. DMAC supports co-op placements, and he described the first-day shop walk as one of his favourite moments because students see the robots up close, and their understanding of “a job in skilled trades or automation” shifts in about 30 seconds. Their team includes a range of trades, millwrights, electricians, controls specialists, and Dave’s advice to young people was refreshingly simple: follow your interest. Trades. Tech courses. Robotics teams. Coding (not just for gaming—PLC programming and industrial automation need coders too). The common thread is curiosity and comfort with building things that move, solve, lift, sort, inspect, or assemble. And if you’ve ever wished students could see more of what’s available in their own community before they make big career decisions… same. I think about that a lot, actually.
A St. Thomas company, with a ripple effect One of the best parts of DMAC’s story is its intentional localism. Dave talked about working with nearby machine shops and suppliers, keeping work local first whenever possible, then expanding outward only as needed. DMAC even outsources some manufacturing to local businesses as part of their flexible model. That’s not just good community spirit. It’s smart business. It builds resilience. It creates a network where companies help each other stay steady. And that might be the most St. Thomas detail of all: the idea that you don’t win by standing alone, you win by building a strong circle around you. This team doesn't just build automations, it builds community. Reinforced through sponsorships and community partnerships. The DMAC is the reigning 2025 winner of the best themed float at the St. Thomas Optimist Santa Claus Parade. They mean business when it comes to community support and building a culture of care. The takeaway (and it’s not just “robots are cool”) Yes, robots are cool. Very cool. But what I’ll remember most about this conversation is Dave’s pride in building something steady: a company that started in a recession, grew carefully, avoided layoffs, protects its culture, and solves real-world problems in ways most of us never get to see. DMAC is one of those businesses that makes you pause and think, We have more going on here than people realize. And maybe that’s the point of telling stories like this—because in a community growing as quickly as St. Thomas is, we don’t want the long-standing builders to get lost in the shuffle. Not when they’ve been quietly shaping the future from the inside out. If you’d like to learn more about DMAC Automation or connect with their team, you can find them at 10 Duckworth Ave., St. Thomas, or explore their services and solutions online.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
RSS Feed