Lexington Manufacturing’s Anthony (T.J.) Dimke speaks at WDMA conference
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Lexington Manufacturing engineer Anthony T.J. Dimke

Photo By Lexington Industries

MINNEAPOLIS - T.J. Dimke, manufacturing engineer with Lexington Manufacturing, was selected to speak at the Window and Door Manufacturers Association’s (WDMA) Technical and Manufacturing Conference in Chicago. The WDMA sets and advances the industry standards for manufacturing residential and commercial windows, doors, and skylights.
 
Dimke presented the continuous improvement methods Lexington had been designing over the last few years to improve efficiency, lead times, and quality in their window and door component manufacturing facilities.
 
“We designed our manufacturing systems to help automate processes and simplify the complexity of our production environment,” said Dimke. “Our industry has gone through a transformation over the past 10 years with expanded product offerings, custom products, and shorter lead times. We needed to transform our systems as well, in order to keep up with this changing demand.”
 
Lexington developed and created their new manufacturing systems in-house without utilizing an outside IT company. Changing the process from paper to digital and applying automation to exchange information mean that lead times can be shorter, productivity has increased, and quality has improved. The new systems now allow Lexington to make decisions on data-driven facts rather than opinions. Collecting and analyzing data under the old system used to take eight hours and now it takes less than 15 minutes.
 
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Bill Esler | ConfSenior Editor

Bill wrote for WoodworkingNetwork.com, FDMC and Closets & Organized Storage magazines. 

Bill's background includes more than 10 years in print manufacturing management, followed by more than 30 years in business reporting on industrial manufacturing in the forest products industries, including printing and packaging at American Printer (Features Editor) and Graphic Arts Monthly (Editor in Chief) magazines; and in secondary wood manufacturing for WoodworkingNetwork.com.

Bill was deeply involved with the launches of the Woodworking Network Leadership Forum, and the 40 Under 40 Awards programs. He currently reports on technology and business trends and develops conference programs.

In addition to his work as a journalist, Bill supports efforts to expand and improve educational opportunities in the manufacturing sectors, including 10 years on the Print & Graphics Scholarship Foundation; six years with the U.S. WoodLinks; and currently on the Woodwork Career Alliance Education Committee. He is also supports the Greater West Town Training Partnership Woodworking Program, which has trained more than 950 adults for industrial wood manufacturing careers. 

Bill volunteers for Foinse Research Station, a biological field station staddling the border of Ireland and Northern Ireland, one of more than 200 members of the Organization of Biological Field Stations.