N-FAB's new manufacturing facility has been up and running for about 10 months now, and they've given us an inside peek into how things are going. N-FAB makes a variety of products, but we at Diesel Tech know them best for the steps they made for our Project LBZ truck, which will be featured in our August issue (on newsstands soon!) The new facility is about 150,000 square feet, with enough acreage to build another 140,000 square feet if they so desire. From the sound of things, they'll get there soon enough.
"We feel like we have removed most of the typical new building hang-ups," says N-FAB founder Thomas Fichter. "We thought when we first moved into the new digs we’d have plenty of space and plenty of time before we consumed all of it. Well almost immediately we were compelled to build an internal second story over the administrative offices for storage space."
The spaciousness is a huge help, according to the product development team. With so much space, they have all the room they need to plan things properly and execute them without a problem. There's also a semi garage for all their trailers, and they're in the process of building a photo studio.
With their new setup, N-FAB can produce upwards of 10,000 finished parts every month, and it's only going to get bigger from here. "As big as this place is we are already forced to increase production capacity. We are tackling that challenge from two different angles," said Fichter. "First we are in the middle of a significant initiative to improve systems aimed at increasing efficiency in build times without sacrificing one smidgen of product quality and second we are looking at additional production shifts."
N-FAB sales & marketing manager Andrew Schroeder adds, “N-FAB has experienced some remarkable growth. Along with that comes a pretty high set of expectations from our customers. We are all focused on making sure we exceed those expectations. Part of how those expectations are able to be met is for N-FAB to evolve. This brand is driven by passion and has been grown to this point by a dedicated group of truck enthusiasts, who understand the end user and have an amazing ability to imagine, design and produce products in the United States that end users want and will buy."
He continues, "The growth is staggering. We are now on a mission to ensure that we have the infrastructure to support our growth. We are looking to add good people and working improving internal systems in all N-FAB departments from sourcing raw materials to shipping and everything in between."
To that end, N-FAB is planning to hire two new product managers in the coming weeks. With this kind of infrastructure, it's no wonder they're growing so quickly. Fichter concludes, "N-FAB works really hard to get it done right the first time. This culture has rewarded us with tremendous growth which has helped us afford this new building and the ‘extras’ that make hitting our aggressive goals that much more achievable. We are happy that our work ethic and loyal customers have gotten us to where we are. That said, there is still a good deal of space between this place and our horizon goals. We are proud of and feel good about all of it."