Fabriweld Corporation 2012
As the 1970’s began, Norwalk, Ohio was home to a large number of growing manufacturing companies. Construction, assembly, prefabricated concrete and automotive equipment companies all shared a common void. They needed a quality fabricator.
Enter, Fabriweld.
Fabriweld Corporation was founded in 1971 by David Price, a Norwalk native who demanded high quality welding and efficient working procedures. The combination worked. Customers sought out Fabriweld for projects ranging from conveyors and machine guards to custom truck bumpers and hitches and repair work. Fabriweld began expanding quickly, hiring engineers designing the equipment and master craftsman in the shop manufacturing. Price oversaw both sides of the equation, combining a knack for knowing how to put things together with a skill which demanded quality, speed, and precision. The customer base soon grew from Norwalk neighbors to companies across Ohio, including the pillars of the rust belt, Toledo and Cleveland. In the early eighties, Fabriweld began constructing automotive headliner equipment. Manufacturing larger, heavier machines allowed Fabriweld to expand further, adding a machine shop and 50,000 square feet of manufacturing space. It would not be long before Fabriweld would double in size again.
In 1989, Fabriweld divided the engineering wing of the company with the manufacturing, creating David Price Metal Services (DPMS). DPMS became the sole manufacturer of the custom machines Fabriweld designed.
In 1991, David Price’s son, Chris, joined the engineering staff. He began making crucial changes which would exponentially expand the customer base and the technology of the machines and tools. Chris implemented a software system which tracked employee production down to the minute. This allowed DPMS to quote with greater accuracy, and allowed the company to expand even further in both physical space: growing to 100,000 square feet in 1994; and skilled workers, growing to 60 employees in 1995. During the 1990’s, Fabriweld’s brand of industrial presses and production headliner equipment became known for quality, durability and serviceability which brought customers back for additional projects. But even more, the name Fabriweld became synonymous with quality.
As the century turned, Fabriweld served a vast array of industries, including food processing, construction, automotive, asphalt maintenance, and specialized equipment for the assembly of lawn service equipment. In 2002, Chris launched a company called Pinnacle Powder Coating (PPC), to serve a void in the finish coating for its customers. PPC offered Fabriweld and DPMS customers the durable, tough, cost effective finish which powder coating provides. The operation quickly grew into its current location within the city limits of Norwalk, just a few miles from Fabriweld.
Throughout the first decade of the new century, Fabriweld grew as a result of management determination to manufacture in the most efficient manner using the best tools, the highest capacity equipment, and the most skilled employees. When the world economy fell into recession towards the end of the decade, Fabriweld simply expanded its services, adapting to the changing culture of energy and found new customers in the field of alternative, renewable energy. Today, Fabriweld manufactures load centers for solar fields, electric car charging stations for hotel and restaurant applications, and towers for wind turbines. When the automotive industry recovered, Fabriweld found itself continuing to expand.
Fabriweld of Tennessee opened in the summer of 2012 to service the growing number of customers located in the southern United States. Fabriweld’s fourth location will quickly become a sister to the Norwalk, Ohio facility, manufacturing high quality machines with an efficiency known in the industry simply as Fabriweld.
