How New Technology and a Growth Mindset Can Drive Manufacturing Success

Jeff Rich remembers when Midlake Products began transforming from a company known primarily for one product into a one-stop fabrication shop.

Rich is the owner of Midlake Products in Louisville, Ohio, an FMA business member and one of several manufacturers who opened their doors recently for The Fabricator’s Technology Summit. For many years, Midlake manufactured custom hinges almost exclusively, supplying a wide variety of customers.

Investing in a New Direction

That all began to change around 1999, when Rich bought out his brother, with whom he shared company ownership equally at the time. The hinge business was good—healthy margins, solid customer base. But with foreign competition, it wasn’t going to scale the way Rich wanted it to.  

So, looking to expand more into general fabrication, Midlake bought its first CO2 laser that year—a huge departure for a company that until then relied mainly on dozens of stamping presses to fabricate its parts. That first step put Midlake on better footing to do a much wider range of jobs, but it also risked putting the shop in direct competition with some of its key customers. 

“That was probably my biggest fear—our customers are now going to become our competitors,” Rich said. 

Looking Beyond the RFQ

Fear gave way to joy when Midlake made a decisive second step into the future, securing a contract to make what Rich described as high-end medical toolboxes for orthopedic specialists. When the initial order came through, it was just an RFQ from an OEM in Indiana searching for a specialty hinge. The person who got the fax was looking at the hinge; Rich was looking at the entire product—an enclosure that could hold medical instruments and implants or even be used in autoclave (steam sterilization) procedures. 

“We said, ‘We can certainly help you with the hinges, but we’d really like a shot at the fabrication of those boxes,’” Rich recalled. “Thank God it worked out the way it did—they needed somebody at the time who could handle fabrication. They were looking for somebody outside of their immediate backyard because everybody was doing work for everybody else over in that part of Indiana.  

“We developed an amazing relationship, and that’s where a tremendous amount of growth came in the early 2000s, through the medical industry. That’s really what catapulted us into the metal fabricator we are today.” 

Since then, the company has invested heavily in technology, punctuated by the fairly recent addition of a combination punch-laser machine with automated tool changing fed from a 300-tool crib. Primarily a fabricator of flat sheet metal, the company also is preparing to branch out into tube and pipe with the likely addition of a tube laser in 2027. 

That instinct to maximize the opportunity at hand—exemplified by that original medical toolbox RFQ—really stems from Rich’s desire to make the most of the time he has. His advice to other fabricators: Step on the gas. 

Don’t Get Too Comfortable

“It seems like we have a very finite amount of time here to do something,” Rich said. “How do you propose to use that time to the best of your ability? For us, it was to say, ‘Let’s go for it.’ It was just basically that ‘What do we have to lose?’ mentality.  

“That’s the lesson that I try to teach now to the next generation. We only have a certain amount of time here. We need to get after it. So, sitting back and resting on our laurels, I think, is very dangerous. I think you have to feel uncomfortable. I think you have to try to be willing to grow. And I think you can’t be afraid to do that and get after it. To me, that’s what it’s all about.” 

The Value of a Professional Community

Midlake’s story shows that building a more diversified manufacturing business takes more than investing in the right technology. It takes the willingness to make strategic bets, explore new opportunities, and get uncomfortable along the way.

Those decisions are easier to navigate when manufacturers can learn from others who have been there before. Events like The Fabricator’s Technology Summit give FMA members opportunities to see technology in action, exchange ideas with fellow manufacturers, and learn directly from business owners about the decisions behind their investments.

Ready to connect, learn, and find your next opportunity? Explore upcoming FMA events and learn more about FMA membership.