Bekkala Engineering, LLC, Gordon Bekkala
Bekkala Engineering is an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of industrial automation and machinery for Midwest companies. We invent, design, fabricate, and install equipment. We will take on any manufacturing problem there is and fix it. Fixes are through Lean manufacturing, automation, machine design, consultation, controls, and measurement analysis.
Our team of engineers has specialized knowledge of waterjet cutting tools, simulated pressure testing, lawn mower blade machinery, compaction equipment, machine control, and hydraulics & pneumatics.
In 2003-2004, I was working in the Twin Cities at an engineering company. I took on my own projects in the evening. After being laid off in 2010, I expanded on my part-time business and made it full-time with my dad, Andrew, who was a professor at St. Cloud State University at the time.
Bekkala Engineering prides itself in taking on any manufacturing problem and fixing it. We are always looking for new problems to solve. My dad, Andrew, holds a PhD in Manufacturing Engineering, is a Professor from St. Cloud State University in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, and is a subject matter expert in machine controls. I have a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and have in-depth knowledge in filtration and high-volume manufacturing. We are both Licensed Professional Engineers in Minnesota. We also have 2 additional engineers on our team, who bring experience in hydraulic and pneumatic systems design and industrial machinery as well as medical device prototyping and industrial manufacturing. All together, we bring over 70 years of engineering experience to our customers.
I would have to say that the high points have been receiving requests to quote from big recognizable brand names. Regarding the low points, there have been times when the work was slow, but we kept our noses to the ground, worked hard, and built ourselves back up.
I reached out to SCORE in 2020 after an employee recommended them. I realized our business could really benefit if I could see if there were better ways of executing our quoting process.
After contacting SCORE, I was put in touch with Darold. We’ve only met with Darold and SCORE three times as of this interview, but he’s really helped guide us in discovering a better way to do our quoting and costing. Darold has provided networking opportunities to connect with others in the industry to substantiate the best quoting process for our engineering business. We’ve started implementing some of the changes and the results have been incredible.
Darold has been a great source of support in the short time that we've been working together. Just having a sounding board to talk through various business situations is invaluable.
Darold along with Pat Lambert have been great resources so far. Every time we’ve met with them they provide on-the-spot advice, or if we have questions that they don't have the answers to, they find the answers really quickly.
Pictured below: A swivel that Gordon designed.
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