The metal fabrication field has changed enormously over the last 20 years. The equipment that is available, the software to hand, the AI-capabilities – so many advancements have been made.
But change brings with it both winners and losers. Those who integrate these new breakthroughs with their hard-won industry expertise in fabrication often find success. Those who avoid them may struggle to find new business. Hence, the program for FABTECH 2026 has been designed to bring you up to speed with all the latest developments, technologies, and strategies.
At FABTECH 2025, for example, we introduced Jag Reddy, President, Maryville Engineering Company (MEC), a fabricator with 2500 employees that operates 25 locations, mostly domestic. The company has grown both through steady expansion as well as acquisitions. To continue its growth trajectory and obtain higher margins, the company has diversified by getting into the data center and power business.
Its acquisition of Accu-Fab in 2025 was strategic. That company had an established fabrication footprint with some of the big names in the power and electrical space such as Eaton, Schneider, and ABB. Reddy said this has opened up large amounts of new business due to rapid growth in the data center construction industry. MEC is currently working on large campuses in Chicago and other areas of data center expansion.
To keep up with demand, MEC is adding manufacturing and fabrication capacity in the U.S. But the data center business comes with its own set of challenges. Such is the pace of that industry, customers expect to move from RFQ to decision is 2 to 4 weeks and to be into production in eight weeks.
“From 24 months to four months is the cycle in data centers,” said Reddy. “We have had to completely change our efficiency and speed from traditional industries like trucking which operate two years out.”
With MEC obtaining so much additional business, standardization has been key. The company has streamlined and standardized its workflows and now operates 24/7/365. No vacations, three shifts. Additionally, it has introduced many more COBOTS across the company to assist in machining, welding, and bench presses. In his experience, the return on investment (ROI) on this equipment is fast.
What about AI? MEC is evaluating various AI tools to discover the best use cases.
“We need to discuss whether AI is best in finance, HR, payroll or in operations; time will tell,” said Reddy. “We are investigating where are we using human capital in processes where AI could help the most.”
That’s a brief summary of just one session from FABTECH 2026. You will find many more sessions like this at FABTECH 2026. Register now.