The team for Lawrence Fabric & Metal Structures gathers in St. Louis, Mo. The company has been 100 percent employee-owned since 2015. Photo: Lawrence What happens to an owner’s company when they retire and no successor is available to take the reins? The answer might be all around them — on the shop floor, among [...]

Capture various angles and details in your photographs, so the judges get a full picture of the craftsmanship that went into the project. Photo: Chicago Marine Canvas The Marine Fabricators Association (MFA) holds the MFA Fabrication Excellence Awards for fabricators to submit their top-quality jobs to be judged by their peers and demonstrate the very [...]

Oyster Creek Canvas likes to use straps to support the mid bows pulling from the fore and aft. There are many different types of frames that are used in the marine fabrication industry — some common, others not so much. Some shops only work off existing frames, others mainly build one type of frame and [...]

MFA regional workshops offer opportunities to see how other fabricators operate their shops. Photo: ATA Networking is a crucial part of being in any industry, and fabricators truly benefit from in-person connection. The Marine Fabricators Association (MFA), a member group of Advanced Textiles Association (ATA), hosts several events each calendar year. We focus on the [...]

Snug-fitting bolster and seat covers stay in place when the boat is underway with minimal use of fasteners. My employees have heard me say many times “I’d rather make new canvas for a 53-foot Sea Ray® Sedan Flybridge than to do a 25-foot center console.”  Why, you ask? Simply stated, the larger boat is easier [...]

Industrial sewing machines can cost $3,000–$8,000 each, and inflation doesn’t help. Photo: Jim Robert For years, I viewed insurance premiums as a necessary evil—an expensive line item that seemed to grow annually without tangible benefit. That perspective changed dramatically when fire tore through our marine canvas workshop. What I learned in the aftermath could save [...]

The clarity of polycarbonate glass is unsurpassed. If I were to have a class on sailboats, it could be a very short class: “Welcome to sailboat class. Remove all snaps, turn fasteners and lift-the-dots® around the dodger. Replace them with flex-track and zippers. Use polycarbonate glass in windows. Don’t hit your head. Class dismissed.” Years [...]

If you’re like most people, the thought of giving a presentation ranks somewhere between a root canal and rush-hour traffic on the list of things you’d rather avoid. In fact, studies estimate that nearly 75 percent of the population experiences some level of anxiety about public speaking. The good news, though, is that with the [...]

Your most valuable asset may be your business. A business owner can spend decades building a business and reputation. As they approach retirement age, they likely have questions such as: How do they value their business? How do they maximize the value and minimize taxes upon sale or succession? Determining value So what is the [...]

Nelson Valderrama asks Claude AI to create a sample of a cost optimization analysis, based on a simulated small shade fabrication shop. The numbers in this graphic do not represent real data, but rather it illustrates what Claude can produce. Photo: Nelson Valderrama Most companies likely would welcome an employee with a doctorate who works [...]