Business Profile: Deckard Tool & Engineering

When Michael Deckard founded Deckard Tool & Engineering in the mid-1970s there was no question Hope would be its home.

Since that time, the business’ name and products have expanded well beyond the borders of Hope and Bartholomew County to other nations and continents. As the business continues to grow, Deckard remains actively involved dividing his time between the business and his farm, says his daughter, Jessica Brown.

Described by those who know him as a quietly religious man, Deckard has made quite the impact on the Hope community over the years and is known for offering words of sound advice, such as “God first, family second and your career will fall into place,” Brown says.

Over the course of nearly four decades, Deckard has been honored a number of times, including being presented with the Distinguished Community Service Award by the Hope Area Chamber of Commerce, as well as recognized for his work restoring the former Pierce Ford Auto Company, the Hope Bowling Alley and the building which housed Hope Auto Parts, the Hawcreek Township Trustee’s office and the Headquarters of MHart Express so many years ago.

But he would not be the first to readily volunteer that information as it would be contrary to his humble nature to do so.

When Deckard first moved his business into the original building at 610 West Drive, West Drive itself wasn’t even technically a street, Brown explains.

“It was just a gravel alley,” she explains. “He petitioned to get it paved and classified as a street.”

Making sure the road was paved was kind of imperative for Deckard’s business to function because if you didn’t have a road, you didn’t get mail.

Suffice to say, after he contacted his senator [at that time] about the situation, locals began referring to Deckard as the “King of Hope.”

Today, Deckard Tool & Engineering specializes in producing tooling packages for clients in the automotive original equipment manufacturer (OEM) industry. Among the company’s services are refurbishment of existing machinery, design and manufacturing of special machinery, including fixtures, jigs and more, as well as utilizing its fleet of trucks to make sure special machinery reaches its destination (within 100 miles of Hope).

Brown, who is the company’s office manager, recently carved out some time from her busy schedule to chat about the business and offer insight into how it has grown over the years, the benefits of being a part of the Hope business district, challenges the company encounters, and where she hopes to see the business in the future.

If you could explain for readers who aren’t familiar with your company, what is it Deckard Tool and Engineering does?
We mostly work for the automotive industry. We are a specialty company. We mostly build exhaust tooling for Faurecia, so the machinery that they use to assemble exhaust systems like weld the tailpipe to the muffler and check it for leaks. We build weld fixtures to weld the different parts together. So machinery that would be used in a manufacturing environment we build that to customer specifications.

The company has greatly expanded over the years, how many buildings and how much space do you currently occupy?
We have the original building back on West Drive and one on Main Street. Then, there is the two-story brick building where our electrical department is housed and we have overflow space in the old NAPA building. There’s more than 5,000 square feet total.

How far has Deckard Tool expanded its customer base and the Deckard brand into the global market?
Our biggest customer is Faurecia out of Columbus. We do build for different plants around the world. Like, we will build for Faurecia’s Canadian plant and they also have several plants in Mexico that we ship tooling to. And we’ve also done things for South Africa, too.

So are these contracts? Or are they strictly specialty orders?
None of these are standing contracts. It is pretty much always a special order and we are always doing something new because we build machinery, so anytime a muffler or car gets an upgrade they may come to us to help upgrade the machinery that is used to fabricate it.

What are some of the typical challenges you and the staff of Deckard Tool encounter in your day-to-day?
I think access to technology sometimes is difficult because we don’t always have the best internet service in Hope, so we will have some outages and that’s not good. And also access to materials can be challenging. You can’t just run down the street and buy a cylinder you need, you have to have everything shipped in and delivered; whereas in bigger cities they may have more access.

What would you say is the best part of being a part of Hope’s business community?
I am just really proud of our little town and all the business people. They don’t just have their businesses, they are part of the local community and they get involved in events and other things. So, it isn’t just running your business and going home for the day.

Do you think Deckard Tool has grown as your dad intended?
I think so, yes. He started out with some partners and bought them out. And I think he probably never imagined he would be shipping things all over the world like he does now. He started out very small with an apprenticeship in Greensburg at Tree City Tool and it kind of grew from there. He started here in 1976 and incorporated the company in 1979.

How does it feel to not only carry on the family business, but continuing to make it such a well-known name locally and abroad?
I am just very proud our name stands for quality and good work.

If there is one thing that makes Deckard Tool stand out among its competitors, what would it be?
I think it is our willingness to go above and beyond, find a solution, and be innovative where others will say they “Oh, I can’t do that. We will work at something and try to find a way to make it happen.”

Do you think your dad ever envisioned Deckard Tool becoming a global name?
I don’t think so. At first he took off because he was here in Hope and he had a good center point between Columbus, Greensburg and Shelbyville and all the smaller factories around. I don’t think he pictured it going beyond the local.

What are your hopes for Deckard Tool as it moves into the future?
I hope that we just continue to grow, at least stay where we are. It is neat to think that machinery made in little ol’ Hope Indiana is out there all over the world.