Vendor: Productivity Fabricators
Address: 2332 Flatley Rd, Richmond, IN. 47324
Email: jonodom@cyberprofab
Phone: 765-966-2896
Productivity Fabricators is a private family owned and operated billboard structure fabricator located in Richmond, Indiana. The company has 16 employees and a 40,000 square foot plant. Productivity Fabricators is a member of the OAAA and the IBOUSA. Billboard Insider talked with President Jon Odom.
How did you get into the out of home business?
I always knew I wouldn’t be happy unless I was making something. I worked for a machine tool builder after getting my engineering degree from Purdue. One of the companies I worked for after that wanted to sell its sign manufacturing business in 1994 so I bought it and changed the name to ProFab.
Tell us about your plant.
We have a 40,000 square foot plant with lots of computer driven machinery. We also have a paint booth. We’ve worked with Sherwin Williams to develop a unique water-based paint to protect billboard structures.
On the Out of Home Industry
The thing that has always impressed me about the out of home industry is that it isn’t afraid of change. It wasn’t afraid of the switch from paint to vinyl. It’s not afraid of digital conversions.
Wood
Almost all our new structures are steel but wood isn’t going away. Many municipalities refuse to allow non-conforming wood structures to be replaced with steel. We recently worked on the design of a 20′ by 80′ wood structure. We had to go to Oregon to source the wood.
Digital conversions
Digital conversions account for 30-40% of our business. Many old static steel structures aren’t built to handle the extra weight so you have to replace the head. In addition, building codes have been tightened. A structure might have been built to withstand an 80 mile an hour wind but today’s building codes require a structure to withstand 115 mile an hour winds.
The billboard construction process.
We typically have 4-5 signs under construction in our plant at any time. Plate steel and columns come in and are stored. This column is for a large digital billboard.
We have several computer controlled cutting machines and strive for tolerances which are within 5/1000’s of an inch.
Our plant has a paint booth which coats signs with a special water based paint developed in consultation with Sherwin-Williams. The paint can last up to 10 years.
Packing and staging is key. The sign has to get there undamaged and has to be easy to unpack and assemble. Heavy beams go on the bottom. Small parts are assembled and packed inside walkways so they don’t fall out. Productivity fabricators matches nuts and bolts and washers before shipping to make the install easy.
What trends are you seeing?
More and more monument or marquee signs. Beaver Creek for years prohibited billboards. Now Beaver Creek has a digital billboard. It’s a monument sign which we built for Key-Ads. The city gets to use one face. It’s at the entrance to a soccer park and the sign points to the entrance.
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