Looking back at FABTECH 2021 from a job shop’s perspective 

I recently had the opportunity to join The FABRICATOR Live at FABTECH 2021 with thefabricator.com Digital Editor Gareth Sleger and fellow blogger and Brown Dog Welding owner Josh Welton. Several weeks leading up to the show, Gareth reached out and asked me if I would be interested in appearing, and I said heck yeah! It sounded like a fun opportunity, and he said it would be pretty laid back in a professional atmosphere. He gave us a good idea of what we were going to be talking about and I was looking forward to doing so. I wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into, but as the discussion went on, I found it was very easy to talk about something that you enjoy and are passionate about.

FABTECH, as well as several other tradeshows and events, were canceled last year. So, needless to say, everyone in the industry was ready to get back in the mix. The show was in Chicago this year (my favorite show location), and after Gareth told me the time of the interview was going to be at 2 p.m. CT, so I knew I was going to have to leave town pretty early. My dad and I hopped on the first flight out of New Bern, N.C., and got to Chicago before 9 a.m. CT. We checked into the hotel and figured we might as well go to the show and kill a few hours before the interview.

I’m glad we did. You could feel the excitement coming from every booth we stopped in. People looked like they weren’t messing around. Ready to do business. There for a purpose. I liked it.

The more I walked the show, the more I noticed that companies had bowed out because of COVID concerns. On the other side of that, I realized that it was good for the companies that did go to the show because they were getting a lot more traffic and a lot more visibility. Good for them. There were huge names in the industry that decided not to exhibit and their spots were taken with pride. Companies were ready to capitalize on the opportunity. You could feel it.

When it came time to do the interview with Josh and Gareth, I showed up to the booth about 30 minutes early to get prepped for whatever I got myself into. I caught up with Gareth for a few minutes, and then Josh and I had a chance to catch up and compare stories. It really is a great feeling knowing that everyone in the industry has similar stories and we can all relate.

Josh and I sat down to let them dial in a few settings with the mics and cameras while we chatted about our shared passion for cars and trucks. After the interview started, we talked about our backgrounds, the labor shortage, and steel prices. I haven’t been on camera much, so I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, but I felt comfortable talking shop. Hell, I’m there every day and have a genuine excitement for the field.

One thing we discussed that really stuck out to me was about how machine manufacturers are simplifying the way their machines operate and function with advanced automation. I want to elaborate a bit more on that here.

A lot of failsafes are put into place that give any operator or owner a little more comfort in knowing a machine won’t crash or break. I have been in the shop a lot lately training and helping work the kinks out of machines and processes. Knowing that there are limits or alarms set in place can give anyone a little peace of mind.

Having a machine fail or crash is inevitable, so when that time comes, the means of servicing have evolved. Teleservice has greatly improved. Taking that a step farther, a service tech can remotely connect a networked machine to a computer. I have personally used this on our laser and press brake. It really is a great feature to use and learn from. It can turn into a brief training session if you take advantage of it and ask some good questions.

Machines are a lot smarter now, and having that knowledge put before a new operator is very helpful. Having to dial in cut conditions or feeds and speeds is almost a thing of the past. You will still have to tweak things here and there, but out of the box you have a great starting point. A lot of machines in many industries are going that way. Tooling companies supply 3D or 2D CAD models so everything you need to know is right at your fingertips.

Nick Martin of North Carolina job shop Barnes MetalCrafters looks back at his time at FABTECH 2021 and participating in The FABRICATOR Live. From left to right: Gareth Sleger, Josh Welton, and Nick Martin. Images: Nick Martin

We also touched on the skills gap, something that’s been around for a while. I think that taking trades out of schools was and is a large part of why we have a skilled labor shortage to begin with. The younger generations don’t know some of these jobs or careers are out there, while the older skilled workers are slowly retiring, leaving behind a priceless knowledge base. A lot of skills that are learned in a shop are not taught from a book. They are learned on the job, doing a job. I’m not exactly revealing a big secret here; most people in the industry know the predicament we’re in.

As I’ve written about before, the worker shortage has hit close to home. We've had a heck of a time finding a press brake operator with something between their ears. Nowadays you often need to find a worker out of trade school who has an interest in learning. For what it's worth, I talked to a guyat FABTECH who told me that he would hire 100 guys right now if he could find them. He said the skilled workers were not there. His shop was slammed, and even needing to hire five or 10 employees is a great problem to have, all things considered.

Aside from the great discussion during the live interview, the rest of the show went great! Chicago is an awesome city and the architecture is amazing. FABTECH will be back there in a couple years and I am definitely planning to go!

The Bean in downtown Chicago. By far one my favorite metal pieces.