provider for FABTECH 2010. Blocks
of rooms have been reserved at the
Westin Peachtree Plaza, Sheraton
Atlanta, Hilton Atlanta (AWS HQ
hotel), Omni Hotel at CNN Center,
Hyatt Regency Atlanta (CCAI HQ
hotel), Atlanta Marriott Marquis,
and Hilton Garden Inn Atlanta
Downtown. All are within a mile of
the Georgia World Congress Center.
Free shuttle service is provided to and
from all hotels except the Omni Hotel
at CNN Center and Hilton Garden Inn,
which are within walking distance of the
GWCC. Call 800-974-3084 (U.S. and
Canada) or 847-996-5876 (international)
to reserve a room.
Halls B and C. The organizers expect
22,000 visitors and more than 1,000
exhibitors to participate.
MAKING PLANS
The organizers have also made it easy
to prepare for the expo. Get started
by visiting www.fabtechexpo.com.
Register. The expo is free to
everyone who registers online, by
fax, or by mail. Anyone who refers a
colleague to register can enter a
drawing for a chance to win a prize, such
as a laptop computer, 32-inch LCD TV,
Apple 32GB iPod® Touch, GPS navigator,
or a Flip Video UltraHD camcorder.
Register before the show and avoid
the on-site registration fee, which is $50.
Plan. Go to www.fabtechexpo.com and
click on the My Show Planner quick link.
From there you can search for exhibitors
and products, put together a schedule, and
view maps of the halls.
Book. Experient is the official housing
Keynote speaker: Any time is a good time to diversify your business
No matter how you look at it,
most fabrication shops are small—
a small staff, a handful of fabrica-
tion processes, and a short cus-
tomer list. The most recent down-
turn was brutal, and the survivors
know they need to diversify if
they’re going to thrive in the
future. But when? The worst is
over, so is it already too late to
think about diversifying?
According to Paul Veryser, a man-
ufacturing consultant with Novitas
Advisors and FABTECH keynote
panel moderator, the answer is an emphatic “No!”
“There are always opportunities to grow,” he said.
An interest in diversifying is the first step, but success takes
quite a bit of planning, strategic thinking, and goal-setting.
“Two ways to diversify are to break into a new industry by
bringing your existing processes to new customers, or come up
with new products or processes for your existing customers,”
Veryser said. Although most manufacturers stick with the
equipment and processes they already know and understand,
both approaches require some investment. Breaking into a new
industry might require additional salespeople to call on new
companies, while rolling out a new process would require a
capital investment, Veryser explained.
Other decisions include market location (domestic or international?) and timing (boom or bust?), and every decision
comes with risks and potential
rewards.
Persistence is probably as
important, if not more important,
than timing a market entry just
right, according to Veryser.
“Everyone wants to be at the
forefront of an emerging market,”
he said. “But that’s when volumes
are low, and the new market can
have its own peaks and valleys.
Many companies give up, but it’s
important to stay in to develop
long-term relationships.”
Even though it sounds extremely challenging, Veryser noted
that some fabricators might have an easy time diversifying. A
fab shop might have capabilities that potential customers sim-
ply aren’t aware of.
“Many have capabilities that they just need to advertise,”
Veryser said. “For example, there is knowledge and expertise
in many automotive companies—processes they do every
day—that could be extremely helpful in other industries.”
Get more insight from Veryser by attending “Diversify Your
Business or Die,” a keynote panel discussion, Tuesday, Nov. 2,
9:30-10: 30 a.m. in the Solutions Showcase Theater, Hall B. For
other presentations on diversification, see the events listed
under Keynote Presentations and Solutions Showcase accom-
panying this article.
A TPA PUBLICATION
SEPTEMBER 2010 • TPJ 23
