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Metal fabricator on upswing Bill Thorndike Jr., president of Medford Fabrication, said Thursday that capital goods inventories have fallen to the point where customers are placing new orders. That's good news for the industrial metal fabricator with a broad-ranged customer base. Orders are beginning to come in, while layoffs are hitting a lot of industries. "What we're seeing now is that a lot of the inventories - particularly capital goods - are starting to liquidate themselves," Thorndike said. "We're starting to see orders for things like underground mining equipment. Because it's been a slack time, our customers expect pretty quick turnaround times." He said Medford Fabrication's diversity has enabled it to cycle through the slow times that might have hit a company serving a narrow niche market. "One of the areas we've served has been the energy industry," Thorndike said. Public works projects, backed by bonds, also have been good for metalworkers. Medford Fabrication builds the large metal arms that sweep around sewage tanks, for example. "People have been able to take on more building projects," Thorndike said. "The backlog of orders is starting to build back up a bit. We've been hiring for the past several weeks. We're optimistic that our backlog will be filling through the first quarter of 2002. " Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.