South China International Industry Fair
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Forward from The FABRICATOR
By Tim Heston
Indiana-based Fabricator finds success in the heart of RV country
Many in the FAB 40 share a similar growth story. They build a core competency—from the smallest precision sheet metal components to the largest industrial assemblies—to serve a diverse range of market sectors. Rock Run Industries has taken a different approach. The company launched in 2007 out of a garage, and over the past 20 years has grown into a large, automated operation that focuses most of its effort serving the recreational vehicle industry. Today, the company—No. 35 on this year's FAB 40—has four material handling towers and seven lasers feeding a host of downstream processes.
“We started as a hobby shop. But piece by piece, building after building, we've grown until where we are now, where we have 150 employees and between $45 million and $50 million in sales every year."
That was Brandon Esh, marketing manager at the Millersburg, Ind., operation. He added that the shop has diversified to some degree, serving new opportunities that come in the door, busthe organization hasn't actively sought to diversify its revenue.
The Amish-run enterprise serves the three major RV players as well as the smaller operations in and around Elkhart. The fabricator has a host of automated equipment, including welding robots (as well as a cobot), a large-format panel bender, laser cutting with a material handling tower, and automated powder coating.
Recent investments also include a tube laser. As Esh explained, Rock Run purchased the system to help address some significant opportunities that arose in the structural space. “We can cut up to 12- by 12-in. shapes and 16-in. round, ” Esh said. “We've cut some massive extrusions and structural shapes. That work dried up, though. Still, we pivoted. We used that tube laser to expand our capabilities to serve our parts-making capabilities for the RV industry.”
The fabricator won some work cutting tubular parts, but it also redesigned some parts slightly to increase throughout and simplify part flow. For example, some sheet metal parts that used to be laser cut and then formed on the brake are now done-in-one on the tube laser. “We found it made those parts much more affordable, and we could improve part quality,"Esh said.
Few think of buying an RV if the economy is down or interest rates are up. The industry is notoriously cyclical. How then has Rock Run grown so steadily? According to Esh, the shop has been slow just six months over its 18-year history. The fabricator had to cut hours, but that's about it. It didn’t dare lay off anyone.
“The RV industry once again is pretty slow overall, " Esh said, “but we're still extremely busy. So now, we really feel obligated to take care of our core customers. The overhead that goes into diversifying while we're still busy is hard to justify. If our history teaches us anything, even if the RV industry slows down dramatically, we're still theirpriority fabricator.”
Esh conceded that the company may well need to diversify down the road, and company leaders are strategizing ways to redeploy resources to serve another industry. As its tube laser cutting experience shows, however, being able to pivot quickly has tremendous value.
Rock Run's story proves that there's no one way to grow a metal fabrication enterprise. Diversification can work, but so can specialization. One common thread remains: the ability to pivot quickly to uncover new opportunities. Doing so in ways competitors can't, and a metal fabricator can build a business that lasts generations.
