THEVOICE • rockfordchamber.com
August 2021
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Piranha: SINKING ITS TEETH INTO INDUSTRIAL FABRICATION SUCCESS
By Paul Anthony Arco When it comes to industrial metal fabrication equipment, one of the industry’s leaders can be found right here in Rockford. Piranha is a worldwide manufacturer of industrial metal fabrication equipment that includes a vast portfolio of product lines ranging from cutting and shearing, punching, bending and roll forming. Customers vary from small fabricators to bigfoots like Caterpillar, Case IH and Great Dane. Piranha has more than 25,000 machines installed across the world. Piranha is based in Rockford with sales, service and engineering offices located throughout the U.S., Canada and China. In 1974, the Piranha ironworker machine was launched by Mega Manufacturing in Hutchinson, Kan. In 2003, Mega acquired Bertsch Co., a bending roll manufacturer founded in 1879 and based in Cambridge City, Ind. The following year, Mega acquired Rockford’s W.A. Whitney, founded in 1907 and known for its rich history with plasma, punching and laser cutting machines. In 2015, the company made the strategic decision to consolidate all brands under the Piranha brand name. “It’s been an interesting revolution,”
said J.P. Claxton, president of Piranha. “We were really a platform of three niche product categories – ironworker, punch plasma and bending rolls. After the great financial recession in 2008, we changed our focus to expand our product portfolio into more mainstream segments of the market by developing a complete line of fiber laser and plasma cutting tables, press brakes and shearing machines – all capable of processing thin gauge sheet metal to over 1” plate. We effectively repositioned the company to have one of the broadest product lines of metal fabrication equipment in the world.”
Robust Growth Plan Claxton’s entry into the metal fab world took place in 2007, when he joined Piranha. Claxton’s background was in mergers and acquisition work. “I knew nothing about fabrication equipment when I joined the company, but I rolled up my sleeves and got to know and develop the team,” said Claxton, who was named president five years ago. “Working with our team and executing our strategy is the fun part.” One of Piranha’s toughest decisions came in 2009, when the company
decided to consolidate and relocate its manufacturing operations from Hutchinson to its current 200,000 square-foot facility on 14 acres along the Rock River, just south of downtown Rockford. Sixty of the company’s 80 employees work at the facility, while the rest are scattered around the world. “We looked at the strategic implication of moving,” Claxton said. “But we felt like it was the right decision to leave our hometown for Rockford. It was difficult, but in the long run, it was the right thing to do for the business and the brand.” Piranha’s team in Rockford includes technical, operational engineering and customer service positions, while human resources and accounting teams work from Hutchinson. “I feel like the team in Rockford and the rest of the organization have risen to the challenge,” Claxton said. “They are really supportive, dedicated and focused on the brand.” On average, Piranha sells 500 pieces of equipment each year. Most sales ship from inventory while certain larger machine orders can take up to six to nine months. “We produce everything from punch and
die sets to 12-kilowatt fiber lasers and everything in between,” Claxton said. Piranha survived the COVID pandemic with a few bumps and bruises. “March and April were a big challenge, but we navigated it and had a pretty good second half of the year,” Claxton said. “We saw a pickup of insourcing production by our customers. They were bringing more business in house instead of sourcing product from down the street or overseas.” Claxton predicts Piranha will be adding employees, due to the company’s anticipated growth in the future. “We started executing a robust growth plan 10 years ago, which has gained traction thanks to several new products,” he said. “We have the capacity to add more labor that we will need to expand the business down the road.”
PIRANHA President: J.P. Claxton 650 Race St. 815-964-6771 piranhafab.com
