For 30 years, engineers and managers at leading manufacturing companies have trusted Impact Fab, a full-service custom fabrication shop with two locations in Holland, Michigan, to construct the high-quality parts they need for business success.

Don’t let the name fool you; The Bucket Shop (TBS) does not deal in mop buckets. The company’s name has seen it through its humble beginnings in the early 1990s, operating out of a garage as a smaller welding shop, all the way to its transformation into a modern-day mining equipment operation with over 100 employees. The family-owned business run by Ross and Paul Woodward with Sharon Michaud, President and Vice Presidents, respectively, has continued to expand its offerings.

Being the best in one of the most competitive industries in the world means being technologically more advanced and faster than competitors. Famous for introducing myriad industry firsts, Eddyfi Technologies leverages leading technology, some of the industry’s brightest minds, and strategic acquisitions.

Christmas may well and truly be behind us now, but for fabrication leaders in the know, there is a new Nutcracker Prince on the block. MiConnect, next-generation application-building technology, is the hot new toy—Caron Engineering’s sophisticated technology toolbox that answers an urgent industry call.

Zierick Manufacturing Corporation (ZMC) is a third-generation, family-owned manufacturing company with over a century of expertise in electronics and semiconductors. Zierick began life as a small company in southern Manhattan off Canal Street, an industrial area close to the famous Wall Street, and first worked as a parts fabricator for early radio sets. Then known as F.R. Zierick Machine Works, its early specialty was in cat’s whisker receivers, so named because of the thin and fine wire it was made of.

While the economic and supply chain mayhem of recent years meant nothing but struggle for some businesses, others soared. One such superstar is Wisconsin Plastic Products, Inc., a profile extrusion leader that expanded its sales by around 60 percent from 2020 to 2021—a phenomenal growth trajectory followed by a 34 percent rate in 2021/2022. Naturally, this has made tremendous company history and brought continued success, contrasting a healthy traditional annual growth of 10 to 15 percent.

The current manufacturing landscape has very little in common with the state of the industry four decades ago. Today, it is a highly competitive global industry, not one for the faint of heart. Leaders of manufacturing businesses have a decision to make: is the only option to compete on the basis of price with low-cost manufacturers overseas? Or is it better to focus on innovation, using the best technology and talent available to provide a high quality product at the best possible price?

Gravotech is celebrating its 85th anniversary. As the global leader in permanent marking solutions, the company designs, manufactures, and distributes market-leading engraving, marking, and cutting products. With more than eight decades of growth and success behind it, the company maintains an active presence in 18 countries and serves customers in over 70 countries around the world. Its global headquarters is located in Lyon, France.