Something is in the air, and business is picking up. Signs are pointing to a takeoff in the manufacturing industry across the country, and it’s time to start talking about it.
Over the last four months I’ve spent time on the Gulf Coast, West Coast, East Coast, and the Midwest. I’ve talked to thousands of employees manning booths at trade shows and expos and I’ve walked into the shops of our customers. I’ve talked shop with folks in manufacturing, agriculture, construction, maritime, forestry, gas and oil, and many other industries, and the good kind of butterflies seem to be starting to flutter for many of them.
No, the painful recession in these industries isn’t over. For some the end is still a ways off. But signs of encouragement are popping up every day.
At Breeza Industrial the phone has been ringing much more over the first quarter than it ever did in 2016. Our customers are starting to see movement on their homefront and they need our help. One of the most encouraging signs has been the many projects we see reemerging that were shelved by our customers over the last 2-5 years. When we’re asked to dust off our quotes on a project that never took off, we get excited.
Breeza seems to be a good gauge for industry movement. Our industrial fans are the flagship of our company and continue to be the large majority of our business, and they are used in dozens of different industries across North America. This allows us to watch each industry to see when it’s picking up steam. We’re encouraged to see the stationary power sector picking up nicely.
So far in 2017 our fabrication division has been the biggest winner. The job list is long, the second shift is up and running, and we’re holding meetings regularly to increase efficiency so we can add more jobs. After a thorough breakdown we’re confident this major uptick is a result of current fan customers realizing that they trust us with fans and choosing to hand over their fab work to us as well. It’s a real confidence builder to see so many customers want to use us to supply other parts.
Our machine shop is also taking on a new variety of jobs. Custom pulleys have become a more regularly ordered item, and our guys are doing a great job with them. We’re also working outside of the power generation industry building plastic and metal parts for the bottling industry. Our skills are opening us up to new opportunity. We relish being problem solvers, no matter the application.
As I said before, we’re not declaring the end of the recession. But there’s enough reasons out there to start getting excited. Is anyone else starting to see positive movement? Is there excitement in your shop?
