Yesterday I visited an Atlanta-area fabricator that moved into a new facility two weeks ago. The company name says it all, really: Mitchell’s Specialized Fabrication.

It’s a specialized fabricator of industrial tanks, pressure vessels, and piping run by Scott Mitchell, a no-nonsense, get-it-done manager who doesn’t hesitate to tell you how it really is. About 60 percent of company revenue comes from field service work, the remaining from in-shop fabrication.

His company just installed its first plate roll in a new facility that’s double the size of the fabricator’s previous home, on the other side of Douglasville, Ga. When I arrived, Mitchell was out on the floor operating a Hi-Lo. Equipment needed to be moved, and he didn’t hesitate to step in and help. In the front office, the phones kept ringing. Business is on a tear.

This was indicative of many of my shop visits of late. Cell phones are ringing. Work abounds. Time’s money, and as this recovery picks up steam, there’s more money to be made.

Just as I was touring an Atlanta fabricator, our president was walking through the Master Lock plant in Milwaukee. Manufacturing, it seems, has taken center stage.
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