Racine-based Dynaseal Inc. has manufactured vinyl binders, CD holders, padfolios, zip-top bags, bookmarks, convention badge holders and many other vinyl products some of which you can make at home using a Vinylcuttingmachineguide.
The company’s products are sold and used in retail stores throughout the Midwest and around the country. Dynaseal’s custom vinyl products can be found on the shelves of office supply stores, as pieces of shelving for retail chains, as badge holders used at trade shows and other events.
The company has more than 10,000 dies, each to make a different vinyl item.
Dynaseal’s custom vinyl business averages 2- to 3-percent annual growth.
However, the company has found a different source for growth – consumer products. The firm currently makes two lines of consumer products, the Raindrain and the Dynatrap. Both have had significant growth over the last two years, said Juan and Tami Rocha, owners of the company.
Juan is the company’s president, and Tami is its executive vice president.
The Rochas bought Dynaseal in August 2005. Juan worked previously for Fiskars Corp., a Finland-based manufacturer of scissors, garden hand tools and other products, and American Biophysics Corp., a Rhode Island firm that manufactured the Mosquito Magnet, a propane-powered insect trap. With both employers, Juan learned about product development and how to take new products to market.
When the Rochas bought Dynaseal, it was already making the Raindrain, an attachment for rain gutter downspouts that helps channel rain water away from foundations and areas that might be prone to erosion. When not in use, the Raindrain looks like a tube of toothpaste that has been rolled up to get everything out. The natural pressure of rainwater extends the Raindrain.
Some models need to be manually re-rolled after rainstorms. Other models have springs inside them and roll themselves back up.
The Raindrain has been on the market for almost 50 years. Dynaseal’s previous owners purchased the product line in 2000 and began manufacturing it in the Racine plant.
Before the Rochas acquired Dynaseal, the company wasn’t marketing the Raindrain effectively, Juan said. Still, the fact that the company had its own product line was what attracted him to Dynaseal.
“It was like a diamond in the rough,” he said. “It just needed some polishing. The company was flat in sales — it was just focusing on serving industry, and that was pretty quiet. Marketing techniques were not being utilized.”
After the purchase, the Raindrain’s packaging was redesigned. Juan introduced the Raindrain to the Home Shopping Network and stores such as Menard’s, Do It Best, Ace and True Value Hardware. The new owners also successfully re-introduced the product for sale at Home Deport.
Since early 2006, when the changes to marketing and packaging were finalized, sales of Raindrain have increased by 40 percent.
“We have an incredible list of customers now,” Tami said. “The key is finding what else we can sell to them.”
When they bought Dynaseal, the Rochas already had another product in hand, ready for Dynaseal to bring to market – the Dynatrap, a device that traps flying, biting insects such as mosquitoes, flies and others. There are similar devices on the market, but the Dynatrap is the only one that doesn’t need propane to work.
Dynaseal introduced the Dynatrap in May 2006.
“The season was already done for most (sales), and we still sold many containers (of Dynatraps),” Tami Rocha said.
The Dynatrap, which sells for $99 to $129, is being sold through several catalog companies, as well on the web sites of retailers including Sam’s Club, Target, Home Depot, Tractor Supply Co. and Hammacher Schlemmer.
This year, the Rochas expect their Dynatrap line to post at least $1 million in sales, with more than 100,000 units sold.
The product is now being made in China, with final assembly, packaging and marketing done in Dynaseal’s Racine facility. The Rochas hope to move production of the Dynatrap to the Dynaseal facility in the next several years. Because the Dynatrap uses plastic pieces, the company would likely partner with a local injection molder, Juan said.
However, before it moves production to Racine, Dynaseal needs to move to larger quarters. The company, which has a 20,000-square-foot facility on a three-acre parcel, is now looking at other facilities in Racine County and may move in 2009.
“Space is tight here,” Juan said. “We’ve been talking about doing something closer to the highway. We definitely need more space.”
Dynaseal has 50 employees. Because of its aggressive plans to grow its consumer division, the company plans to hire several new employees this year to work in both shipping and manufacturing.
To create more growth and better fill out a new facility, Dynaseal is now exploring how to create its own line of vinyl products for several different markets, Tami said.
“We’re going to use Juan’s networking connections with office (supply) companies to start our own office, craft and scrapbooking brands,” Tami said.
Dynaseal Inc.
Address: 3801 S. Memorial Drive, Racine
Industry: Custom vinyl and consumer products
Employees: 50
Consumer products: Raindrain and Dynatrap
Web site: www.dynasealinc.com
