Mar 17, 2024
Miller Fabrication marks 60 years of operations
A Miller Fabrication Solutions employee welds a frame for a heavy equipment manufacturer in the construction industry. BROOKVILLE — This year, 2023, marks 60 years of operations for Miller Fabrication
A Miller Fabrication Solutions employee welds a frame for a heavy equipment manufacturer in the construction industry.
BROOKVILLE — This year, 2023, marks 60 years of operations for Miller Fabrication Solutions (Miller), a strategic metal fabrication partner for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in heavy industries like construction and forestry, transportation, material handling, and engine and turbine equipment. Since its inception, Miller has grown from three to 400 employees across four western Pennsylvania plant locations comprising 675,000 square feet.
David R. Miller started the company as a three-person welding and machining operation in 1963. He later branched out to serving OEMs. By the 1980s, the company had added industrial fabrication capabilities and, in the 2000s, expanded into assembly and finishing. Today, the organization provides a full suite of metal manufacturing and value-added solutions for innovative OEMs with worldwide operations.
Few businesses reach their 60th anniversaries. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, only about 30% of small companies are still operating in year 10. The Small Business Administration’s nonprofit resource partner SCORE reports that only 13% of family-owned businesses remain in the family more than 60 years, while just 12% survive the transition from second to third generation. So, Miller is beating the odds.
Eric Miller, David’s grandson and the company’s third-generation president, credits the business’s longevity to the solid foundation his grandparents built, with a core purpose to improve lives and work with exceptional people. Over the years, Miller has had dozens of employees who remained with the company for decades, testament to the organization’s commitment to maintaining a workplace where people thrive.
“We’ve been fortunate to have the help of so many people along the way,” Eric Miller said. “Suppliers like the good folks at Global Shop Solutions, customer partners such as the Nassif family owners of Hanco Ltd. — with whom we’ve worked for more than 59 years of our 60-year history — the Brookville community and, of course, our employees. I can’t overstate the quality of our people over the years or the impact they have had on the company’s success.”
The family-owned and -operated company is committed to timely and efficient production of high-quality machine parts, providing a safe and rewarding work environment, leveraging advanced technology, and building long-term relationships with customers and suppliers through professional and ethical conduct. Those factors enable Miller to adapt to ongoing manufacturing industry changes and have helped earn the company billing as one of the top metal fabricators in the United States by The FABRICATOR® magazine for the past six years, underscoring the company’s industry-leading capabilities.
“Hanco’s founder, my grandfather, wasn’t able to establish a solid fabricator relationship – until he started working with Miller,” Jim Nassif, president of Hanco, said. “Counting on Miller’s craftsmanship, machine tools and experience, we know we can hand off projects to Miller and completely trust their quality and efficiency. Hanco wouldn’t be where it is or what it is without Miller as a true strategic partner.”
The total integration of manufacturing solutions into the OEM supply chain sets Miller apart from a typical job shop supplier. Miller continually evaluates existing and new equipment capabilities, technologies, processes and standards to ensure the company can efficiently and effectively handle virtually any OEM customer project.
As a learning organization, Miller cultivates a workforce with the right skills to continue delivering products the customer and the market need. The company acquired its newest plant, the Pine Creek facility in Brookville, in 2021 to streamline production and facilitate its future automation vision. Going forward, Miller will continue to invest in new technology and automation – something future success requires – its people and the communities it serves.
“Congratulations to everyone at Miller Fabrication Solutions on 60 highly productive and successful years of building invaluable community partnerships and, most importantly, creating family-sustaining jobs as Jefferson County’s fifth-largest employer,” state Sen. Cris Dush (R-25) said. “I am confident that the entire Miller corporate family will continue to partner and engage with our local schools and regional economic development groups to attract and support a robust workforce, while offering real-world, in-house apprenticeship programs that give area residents opportunities to advance their careers. Here’s to 60 more years of Miller Fabrication Solutions putting Pennsylvania on the leading edge of technology.”
“Miller cares” could be the company motto, based on Eric Miller’s summary of why the 60th anniversary milestone is meaningful: “I hope we’ve helped people,” he said. “That’s so important. Our products have to benefit our customers, our people, our community and the market. They have to improve lives. It’s why we do what we do.”
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