Bettis Fabrication
Photos by: JOHN BURNS
Bettis Fabrication, a division of Bettis Contractors, has been in business for three years after starting construction in 2018 and becoming operational in 2019. They employ about 25 workers.
“Business is good and busy,” said Craig Hillman who is in his fifth year as president of Bettis Contractors. He adds, “there’s a lot of demand outthere.”
One of Bettis Fabrication strengths is how they can handle demand in very short time frames. Hillman said his shop can produce a product in a much quicker manner than other suppliers that might have a six-month lead time.
“A lot of the work opportunities we get is because we have the ability to fast-track some items and get them out the door, which is what they need,” said Hillman.
TURN-KEY SOLUTION
In the beginning Bettis mostly fabricated conveyor components to meet the heavy parcel handling world. Now Bettis is a one-stop shop where they can fabricate the components in the fabrication division and then install them for clients. Hillman said the other business component of the Bettis Fabrication shop is maintaining, fixing and modifying equipment used in all the companies under the Bettis umbrella.
The fabrication shop gives Bettis the ability to quickly make improvements, whether it would be a new mezzanine or an equipment access support platform. Before, Bettis would have to schedule that work with someone else and hope for a quick turnaround.
“We can do it much quicker internally, and in many cases, we can provide a better service to our clients,” Hillman said. “It’s really about synergy.”
CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT
Whenever a new facility opens, a business will find operational opportunities throughout the first year.
“You build it first on paper, and you think you have accounted for every scenario. When you actually start using the facility and meeting the demand of the work in front of you, that’s when you really learn what you need and what changes to make,” he said. “While we didn’t have to make a lot of changes, the little changes we made have resulted in significantly better production out of the facility. I wouldn’t say we did anything investment-wise to it. It was more about investing in the process, keeping organized, and ensuring better quality control.”
Hillman said his team figured out how to handle the pandemic disruption and they did what needed to be done to make it through.
“It was business as we had never known before, but we still had to continue working,” he said.
The other consequence of the pandemic that Bettis is dealing with is the cost of steel, which tripled in price at the end of 2020.
“That was a huge impact to us as a business,” he said. “It was unprecedented the rate at which steel prices rose. And now they’re in an extremely volatile period. It has made estimating and bidding work much more difficult in this environment. Certain materials that used to be delivered to your shop in a couple of days, now are not available. There are no certainties, especially in material procurement.”
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
As Bettis Fabrications looks to the future, Hillman feels they are in a good spot. As opposed to constantly bidding for their next job with an open set of plans, Bettis is working with their clients directly to solve their needs.
“Our goal is to establish relationships with clients that have continuing needs. We have made and maintained long-term relationships with industrial clients, and we are applying that model to the fabrication division,” Hillman said.
Hillman said he enjoys the small business approach, and being Midwest born and raised, he likes Midwestern values and work ethic.
“We have a lot of great industry and manufacturing in town. I could make a list from the J.M. Smucker plant to the Mars facility, to Frito Lay, to Reser’s, to Hills, to Evergy. There is a lot of good industry here, which creates a wonderful market for the services we provide,” Hillman said. “Those industries are valued by the community, and the Topeka area has a strong workforce of people with great work ethic that want good jobs.
