DISHER
DISHER is a privately held engineering design and product development services firm founded in 2000 in Zeeland, Michigan. Operating as an ESOP, it embeds 130+ cross-functional engineers and a 70+ expert extended network with enterprise clients across aerospace, automotive, medical, furniture, and other industrial verticals.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2000
- HeadquartersZeeland, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What DISHER does
DISHER is a privately held engineering design and product development services firm headquartered in Zeeland, Michigan, founded in January 2000 by Jeff Disher after 11 years in automotive engineering. The company delivers cross-functional engineering through three core service pillars — Innovation & Design (product strategy, ideation, conceptual design), Product Development (design engineering, electronics engineering, project management), and Manufacturing Solutions (manufacturing engineering, automation engineering, capital project management) — supplemented by facilitated Whiteboard & Innovation Workshops and a recruiting subsidiary, DISHER Talent. Engineers are embedded directly into client teams onsite, hybrid, or remote under fixed-bid or time-and-materials engagements, with onboarding reportedly taking as little as a few days.
The firm operates a 130+ core team of ESOP employee-owners plus a 70+ expert extended network (DISHER DEN) of vetted contractors, and is supported by a multi-state footprint across Michigan (Zeeland, Comstock Park, Grand Rapids, Holland, Portage), Hammond, Indiana, and London, Ontario, Canada. Technical capabilities span CAE modeling and simulation, DFMA, VA/VE, Class A surfacing, PCB hardware design, and LTspice/Monte Carlo-based worst-case circuit analysis; the firm's portfolio includes co-developed IP such as the patented Humanscale Path Chair Gravity Mechanism, design patents behind the Haworth Fern chair, and patent-pending work on Archer Aviation's eVTOL inverter and GTF Technologies' RENU food-waste drying and milling system.
DISHER serves enterprise and mid-market customers across 11+ verticals — aerospace, agriculture, automotive, consumer goods, energy, food & beverage, furniture, medical devices, military & defense, general manufacturing, and transportation — with named relationships including Steelcase, Herman Miller (MillerKnoll), Haworth, Landscape Forms, Buell Motorcycle, HexArmor, Otto Environmental Systems, Linamar, and Archer Aviation. The business model is professional services with flexible billing and volume/loyalty discounts; marketing is driven by content (291 blog articles, 37+ case studies), free workshops, and culture tours that serve as top-of-funnel demand generation. Revenue is not publicly disclosed, and the firm is entirely self-funded via its ESOP structure with no external PE/VC capital.
DISHER firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- DISHER
- Legal name
- DISHER
- Website
- https://disher.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2000
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- DISHER is a privately held engineering design and product development services firm founded in 2000 in Zeeland, Michigan. Operating as an ESOP, it embeds 130+ cross-functional engineers and a 70+ expert extended network with enterprise clients across aerospace, automotive, medical, furniture, and other industrial verticals.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where DISHER is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Zeeland
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices9 records
Markets served
DISHER business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Professional Engineering Services: DISHER provides top engineering talent and consulting services for product development, electronics, manufacturing, and automation. Services are delivered through core team members or extended network experts. Engagement models include fixed-bid projects or time-and-materials billing. The company integrates with client teams to provide extra manpower, fresh ideas, and technical expertise across various industries.
- Talent Solutions: DISHER Talent helps organizations recruit for engineering and technical roles across the U.S. This subsidiary provides talent acquisition and placement services for direct hires, complementing the engineering services offerings.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Flexible engagement models based on project scope |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free 1-hour Whiteboard Workshop |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Innovation Workshop (1/2 day to 3 days) |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels9 records
DISHER product offering
Product offeringCore offering
DISHER is an engineering design and product development services firm that delivers cross-functional engineering support across three pillars: Innovation & Design (product strategy, ideation, conceptual design), Product Development (design engineering, electronics engineering, project management), and Manufacturing Solutions (manufacturing engineering, automation engineering, capital project management). Engineers integrate directly with client teams onsite, hybrid, or remote under fixed-bid or time-and-materials engagements. Complementary offerings include facilitated Whiteboard & Innovation Workshops and DISHER Talent recruiting services.
Product overview
DISHER is an engineering design and product development services company offering a unified portfolio of three core service pillars: Innovation & Design (Product Strategy, Ideation, Conceptual Design), Product Development (Design Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Project Management), and Manufacturing Solutions (Manufacturing Engineering, Automation Engineering, Capital Project Management). These services are complemented by Whiteboard & Innovation Workshops for facilitated ideation, and DISHER Talent for technical talent recruitment. The company operates as a services firm rather than a software product company, providing cross-functional engineering expertise to clients across industries including aerospace, automotive, medical devices, furniture, and more.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- DISHER Talent: Talent solutions division helping organizations recruit for engineering and technical roles across the U.S.
- DISHER DEN
Products and services
- Innovation & Design Services
Quantifiable outcome
- 3-5% OEE improvement for medical equipment manufacturing, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue increase per assembly line
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use DISHER
Customer profileNamed customers14 records
Segments11 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
DISHER technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature7 records
DISHER partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.
- Archer AviationflagshipDISHER serves as a key development partner for Archer Aviation's Midnight eVTOL aircraft. Work includes BMS design, WCCA analysis, peripheral PCB features, inverter design, and charge port development. DISHER collaborates with Archer's cross-functional team including NASA, Stellantis, and United Airlines partners. Archer aims to launch air taxi service in USA in 2025 and internationally in 2026.
- GTF TechnologiescoreDISHER partnered with GTF engineers on new feature design and development (patents pending) to optimize drying and milling processes for the RENU system intended to reduce food waste while improving environment and profitability.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights7 records
DISHER competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- RCO Engineering: RCO Engineering is a Michigan-based product development and engineering services firm serving automotive and industrial clients. Direct geographic and vertical overlap with DISHER's Michigan-anchored, automotive-rooted engineering services business.
- Leverage Design Group: Leverage Design is a US industrial design and product development consultancy serving consumer, medical, and industrial clients. Directly comparable to DISHER in Innovation & Design and Product Development service offerings.
- Product Development Solutions (PDS): PDS is a US-based engineering services firm providing product design, development, and manufacturing engineering support to industrial clients. It is a direct peer to DISHER with a comparable multi-disciplinary engineering services model and enterprise customer base.
- Synapse Design: Synapse Design is a US electronics and embedded systems design services firm. It is a direct peer in DISHER's electronics engineering pillar (PCB hardware design, WCCA, embedded development) and serves similar enterprise OEM customers.
- Stress Engineering Services: Stress Engineering Services provides engineering consulting, testing, and analysis across energy, medical, aerospace, and industrial sectors. Comparable to DISHER in its cross-industry engineering consulting model and focus on hard-to-solve technical challenges.
Broad incumbents
- Apex Systems: Apex Systems provides IT, engineering, and professional staffing services to enterprise clients across multiple verticals. Its embedded-engineer and staff augmentation model closely mirrors DISHER's GTM, although its portfolio is much broader than DISHER's mechanical/electronics focus.
- Belcan: Belcan is a large US engineering services and workforce solutions provider serving aerospace, defense, automotive, and industrial markets. It is comparable to DISHER in core mechanical/industrial engineering services but operates at materially greater scale and breadth.
- Stantec: Stantec is a large global engineering, architecture, and consulting firm with significant product and industrial engineering services exposure. Comparable as an engineering services incumbent, though much larger and broader than DISHER.
Regional players
- Planet Innovation: Planet Innovation is an Australia-based product development and manufacturing services firm serving medtech and industrial clients. Comparable to DISHER's integrated design-through-manufacturing model, but operating primarily in a different geography.
Others
- Moog Inc. Moog is a designer and manufacturer of high-performance precision motion control products for aerospace, defense, and industrial markets. Comparable as a motion control and electromechanical systems peer relevant to DISHER's electronics and automation engineering work, though Moog is a product manufacturer rather than services firm.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
DISHER social profiles
Digital presenceDISHER financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
DISHER leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles12 records
DISHER subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
DISHER funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
DISHER M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about DISHER
What does DISHER do?
DISHER is an engineering design and product development services firm that delivers cross-functional engineering support across three pillars: Innovation & Design (product strategy, ideation, conceptual design), Product Development (design engineering, electronics engineering, project management), and Manufacturing Solutions (manufacturing engineering, automation engineering, capital project management). Engineers integrate directly with client teams onsite, hybrid, or remote under fixed-bid or time-and-materials engagements. Complementary offerings include facilitated Whiteboard & Innovation Workshops and DISHER Talent recruiting services.
Is DISHER a public or private company?
DISHER is a private company. It is classified as management employee owned and is currently operating.
When was DISHER founded?
DISHER was founded in 2000. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is DISHER based?
DISHER is headquartered in Zeeland, United States, in the North America region.
How does DISHER make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Professional Engineering Services are the primary driver. The others are talent Solutions.
Who are DISHER's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are RCO Engineering, Leverage Design Group, Product Development Solutions (PDS), Synapse Design and Stress Engineering Services. Broad incumbents are Apex Systems, Belcan and Stantec. Planet Innovation is listed as a regional player. Moog Inc. is listed as an others.
Does DISHER have an API?
No public API is recorded for DISHER.