FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Answers That Go Beyond the Brochure.

Everything clients typically want to know before partnering with DPS — our services, coverage, equipment, methodology, and what makes us fundamentally different from traditional engineering contractors.

— DPS At A Glance
U.S. States Covered
50 +CA
Food & Beverage Split
50 /50
Max Tank Capacity
12K gal
Core Operating Model
D·B·M
01 — About The Company

The DPS Fundamentals

Who we are, where we’re based, and the core model behind every project we deliver.

DPS is a food and beverage engineering solutions company focused on the design, installation, and integration of complete processing systems. Founded in 2020, our mission is to deliver profitable, well-planned projects that drive long-term client success across both mid-market and enterprise manufacturers.
Our headquarters is in Cary, North Carolina, with a West Coast office in Lake Forest, California. We currently run with about ten professionals — a flat, agile structure designed specifically for project-based execution and rapid decision-making.
DPS was co-founded by Brandon Smith, who serves as President, and Chris Skura, who serves as Chief Revenue Officer. Both remain actively involved in client engagements and project oversight rather than operating at arm’s length.
We operate under the Design–Build–Manage model, providing end-to-end engineering and project execution for food and beverage manufacturers. This unified framework connects engineering, construction, and operations into a single integrated process with one point of accountability.
02 — Services & Capabilities

What We Actually Deliver

From feasibility studies to full system commissioning — here’s how our service scope breaks down in practice.

Our scope covers the complete project lifecycle — process engineering and design, capital planning and feasibility studies, owner’s representative services, project and program management, general contracting, equipment manufacturing and supply, along with physical installation and full system integration.
We serve all 50 U.S. states and Canada. Installation services are not geographically restricted, aside from certain local compliance requirements in parts of Canada. Our national partner network allows us to mobilize quickly anywhere within that footprint.
Yes. DPS serves as the General Contractor in applicable states, and in other states we provide all GC functions — some jurisdictions may not include permit filings. Our role is to coordinate and drive execution across every contractor, vendor, and installation team on the project.
Our internal team covers structural, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, process, and controls engineering, including PLC programming, automation, and SCADA — along with project management and project engineering. Beyond our core team, we tap into a rigorously vetted national network of specialist partners.
03 — Industries We Serve

Equal Depth Across Food & Beverage

Roughly a 50/50 split in workload — and a dedicated subject matter expert for each side of the business.

Our beverage division, which represents about half of our business, spans craft brewing, distillation and spirits, wine production, kombucha and fermented beverages, ready-to-drink products, carbonated and non-carbonated soft drinks, juices and functional beverages, dairy-based drinks, and aseptic processing.
Our food division represents the other half, including protein processing across beef, pork, poultry, seafood, and plant-based, prepared foods and ingredients, sauces and marinades, dairy processing, aseptic and retort processing, and contract manufacturing or co-packing operations.
Yes, within scope. We design and implement aseptic systems and support compliance projects aligned with FDA, USDA, SQF, and BRC — along with other regulatory and quality frameworks relevant to specialty and highly controlled manufacturing environments.
Our project design and execution comply with a wide range of food safety and regulatory standards, including FDA, USDA, SQF, and BRC, along with other industry-specific standards. We continually update our practice to stay aligned with evolving requirements.
04 — Equipment Manufacturing

The DPS-Branded Product Line

Tanks, CIP systems, tumblers, and retorts — seamlessly integrated with the projects we deliver.

Yes. DPS manufactures and supplies our own branded process equipment, and we also collaborate with select international manufacturers that are not publicly disclosed. Our product line includes storage and process tanks up to 12,000 gallons, CIP systems, marinating tumblers, and cooking retorts.
Equipment sales currently represent about five percent of our total revenue, and historically we have sold only to existing DPS clients. We are now planning to gradually open the equipment business to the broader market as our manufacturing capacity continues to scale up.
On the beverage side we handle fermentation, distillation, pasteurization across HTST, UHT, tunnel, retort, flash, and HPP, along with aseptic fill, carbonation, hot and cold fill, blending, filtration, and water treatment. On the food side we cover protein processing, sauce and marinade production, retort, dairy, aseptic, and plant-protein systems.
Both — and that is the point. We deliver full integration across CIP, boilers and steam, compressed air, cooling towers and glycol, process water and wastewater, refrigeration, and HVAC, plus automation and controls covering PLC, SCADA, batch control, and energy management. We simply do not heavily market this capability — we let the work speak for itself.
05 — Client Fit & Partnership

Who We Work Best With

We pre-screen every potential client. Here’s what we look for — and what typical engagements look like.

Our best clients are humble and collaborative, focused on long-term success rather than short-term firefighting. They value planning and portfolio management, embrace honesty and transparency, and take genuine accountability for their role in driving project success.
Clients are typically companies with annual revenue above twenty million dollars, and our most profitable partnerships are with enterprises above one billion dollars. Current project budgets generally run from four hundred thousand to five million dollars, and that range continues to grow.
Yes. We will talk with anyone, but we are highly selective on who we formally partner with. Pre-screening protects our success record and ensures that every engagement is with a client who genuinely wants and is committed to a successful outcome on both sides of the table.
Yes. While we prefer planned, strategic engagements, we are also strong at emergency project execution — rapidly mobilizing resources and delivering under pressure when clients face urgent operational needs or unexpected plant disruptions.
◆ Flagship Project

We are currently leading the design and installation of a brand-new beverage co-packing facility with highly flexible production and repacking capabilities. The scope includes the syrup room, boiler systems, air compressors, cooling towers, and all plant utilities. Year-one capacity is targeted at twenty million cases, scaling to eighty million at full production. Beyond engineering, DPS is deeply involved in shaping the client’s business model itself to ensure the facility is profitable from year one.

06 — Methodology & Philosophy

Why DPS Is Fundamentally Different

How we think — about clients, contractors, capital projects, and the ethical line we refuse to cross.

Honesty and transparency, even when it is hard. We act as operational consultants rather than just contractors, refuse to rubber-stamp the wrong direction, pre-screen clients to protect quality, manufacture our own equipment, hold everyone including ourselves to an exceptional standard, and stay lean and agile with strong technology leverage.
Five principles guide everything we do — honesty and transparency, client business first, shared success across every stakeholder, no yes-man behavior, and true partnership thinking where we become deeply embedded in our clients’ businesses rather than acting as external vendors.
Yes. We often find that a client does not actually need a large capital project, and that an operational or programming adjustment is the real fix. In those cases, we would rather forfeit the project revenue and preserve long-term trust, because integrity compounds into bigger opportunities down the road.
◆ Real Example

Yes. A client planned to invest three million dollars in capacity expansion to gain roughly twenty percent throughput. Our analysis showed the real bottleneck was in the PLC programming. With the client’s approval, we adjusted the program and achieved a thirty percent throughput lift at no charge. They later awarded us a six million dollar equipment relocation project in Texas. Long-term trust, working exactly as advertised.

Still Have Questions

Let’s Get into the Specifics of Your Project.

Every situation is different — and the best answers come from a real conversation about your goals, timeline, and operational constraints. Our team is ready to listen first and recommend second.

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Smart capital, meet smart manufacturing.