At Robinson, we believe in building smarter, not just in the products we fabricate, but in our operations. Six years ago, we set out to simplify our structure, align our capabilities, and unify our vision. That transformation didn’t just streamline our organization; it redefined what we could deliver for our customers. Today, as a 100% employee-owned company and one of the nation’s top fabricators, we’re scaling up with purpose; investing in technology, expanding facilities, and creating career paths through our Robinson Training Academy.
The article below, originally published in The Fabricator, offers an inside look at how our strategic shift has enabled growth, agility, and long-term success. From rethinking facility layouts to embracing smart automation, it captures the mindset that drives everything we do: simplify to amplify.
2025 FAB 40: Robinson designs metal fabrication plants for flexibility
When it comes to scaling up, simplicity is sometimes best. About six years ago, the org chart at Robinson Inc. wasn’t so simple. The fabricator was split into six divisions, each focused on a market niche, from pipes and vessels to custom enclosures to HVAC components.
“Within most of those divisions, we’d bring in raw material and turn it into something. We began to realize that all those divisions served as a distraction as we listened to what customers were asking for. So, we shed all that and put it under one umbrella. We’re still flexible, and we still have directors that lead different segments of the business, but we do it all with one goal. We’re all pulling on the rope the same way.”
That was Sam Thomas, vice president and COO of the De Pere, Wis.-based fabricator that’s No. 7 on this year’s FAB 40.
“We used to look at ourselves as one of the largest custom fabrication job shops in the country,” he said. “That’s how we were structured. We still have that background of custom fabrication, but we now position ourselves to be more of a production-minded contract manufacturer. That has allowed us to home in on industries that really have a need for that.”
This mindset has driven Robinson to revamp plant layouts. The size of doors and the space within bays really matter. The fabricator serves a range of sectors—energy and power generation, heavy equipment manufacturing, utilities and infrastructure-related work—that demand large workpiece sizes: generators the size of truck trailers, piping skids, modular enclosure manufacturing, and large weldments that undergo radiography.
“From a growth standpoint, our facilities weren’t as flexible as they could have been,” Thomas said, “especially for our power generation work. The size of those tanks, skids, and enclosures continue to get bigger. So, we started sizing all of our paint booths, lasers, forming capacity, and the plant layouts themselves to handle the largest products that come in the door. That dictated the size of our bays in assembly and fabrication, the door sizes on the end of the facilities, even the lifting capabilities for our cranes.”
The company has large-format cutting and bending, and another facility has immense powder coating capability, recently doubling in size from 90,000 to 180,000 sq. ft. Robinson’s third De Pere location, a 310,000-sq.-ft. facility that is slated to open soon, will focus solely on welding and assembly.
Within the next six months, Robinson plans to install systems that will automate most aspects of its cutting, forming, and welding. “We have seen this kind of automation before, but until recently it just wasn’t flexible enough for us,” Thomas said. “That’s changing. Now, with the volume of backlog with certain products, we feel comfortable moving forward.”
At this writing, the systems are far from being finalized, but the goal is to have products cut, bent, then carried directly to welding. The first time someone touches the product will be at the powder coating line.
Projects at Robinson can be extraordinarily various in nearly every respect: workpiece sizes, project deadlines and timelines, supply chain complexity, assembly. But they all shared the common thread of metal fabrication. To that end, Robinson plants today are designed with two realities in mind. First, the space projects consume varies, from small workpieces to giant assemblies. The plants need space to transport and store them all. Easy transportation improves flow through the value stream. Meanwhile, the need for inventory space has to do with the nature of Robinson’s project-oriented business. Robinson needs space to store even its largest projects, should the unexpected happen.
“We’re essentially trying to help our customers by being the center hub of their supply chains,” Thomas said. “We might work with a customer to fabricate a large generator and have it ready to go, knowing full well that the site won’t be ready for it for another few weeks. But our customers know that the generator is ready to go. They know, should the project schedule change, that they won’t have to rush or hold up a project. For our customers, there’s incredible value there.”
Robinson’s fiscal year ends June 30, at which point leaders expect annual revenue to reach about $275 million. With a third facility in De Pere—one with some serious acreage for product storage (again, to absorb that supply chain uncertainty)—the fabricator is expecting revenue next year to exceed $350 million. That’s good news for employees, all of whom now have a stake in the business. In 2023, the company became 100% employee owned after introducing an employee stock ownership plan.
“As we look out over the next few years,” Thomas said, “with potential expansion opportunities and strategic partnerships with our customers, it’s quite possible that by 2027 we become a half-billion-dollar company.”
Thomas conceded that the tariffs have added a level of uncertainty. At this writing, projects are on schedule, so the fabricator hasn’t experienced any immediate impacts. But if global supply chains become strained—especially in the battery technology space—the business landscape could shift.
That said, Robinson is building itself to react and pivot. Its largest projects involve immense logistical costs. The fabricator bills itself as the final stopping point before large fabrications reach their destination.
“We know we can help our customers reduce their freight costs if we’re strategically placed throughout the country,” Thomas said. “We’re looking at an out-of-state facility right now, in fact.”
Finally, the company has launched a dedicated education facility, called the Robinson Training Academy, training people on all production positions, from welding and assembly to powder coating. “We want to train ‘the Robinson Way,’ so to speak,” Thomas said, “and really create career paths for people. We want to show people they’re not just coming into a job. They’re starting a career.”
