FABTECH reporter’s notebook: A reason to smile

From left, Marlin Steel Mechanical Engineer Chris Elwood, Sales Engineer Michael Aldinger, and President Drew Greenblatt, all smiling after a long day at FABTECH in Atlanta.

Drew Greenblatt probably wouldn’t be surprised by manufacturing data from November, showing sustained growth even as much of the rest of the world is putting on the brakes. Several weeks ago, standing at his booth at FABTECH 2014 in Atlanta, the president of Marlin Steel, based in Baltimore, Md., with his voice hoarse after a day of conferences and networking, kept on talking.

“We’re very optimistic,” he said. “In the next couple of weeks, we’re going to be busting down the wall and adding 53 percent to our factory floor space. Our existing customers are getting more bullish, and we’re seeing a lot of stuff coming back from China. There are huge signs of optimism and growth.”

Such expansion usually doesn’t make Bloomberg or The Wall Street Journal. The shop, which produces wire baskets and custom sheet metal components and assemblies, employs only 32 people, and is growing from 28,000 to 43,000 square feet—a big expansion, but it’s still not a huge, headline-grabbing factory.

But it’s this ground-level activity that makes November’s Purchasing Manager’ Index reading from the Institute for Supply Management not surprising. In October the PMI reached a three and a half year high of 59, and last month activity slowed only slightly, to 58.7.

Greenblatt’s company is running seven days a week, and even started a weekend night shift, just to keep up with all the work. And he’s even increasing his electrical service. “We’re going to have 600 percent more power than we currently have, just because we’ll be buying so much equipment in the near future.”

After a long day at FABTECH last month, Greenblatt may have been tired, his voice cracking, but he was smiling all the same.