Spec building begins to take shape

By CHARLES W. JOHNSON / News Editor for the Southern Standard

Morrison Tool & Fab owner Ron Wilson stands in a spec building which has undergone a considerable change under his direction in the last few months. (Charles W. Johnson photo)

Morrison Tool & Fab owner Ron Wilson has spent the last three months watching the former spec building evolve, under his able direction, from a gravel-floored shell to a well-appointed and modern manufacturing facility that will soon house the local company’s assembly operations and corporate offices.

Since leasing the building in late June, Wilson has made considerable progress and says plans are to move machines and personnel into the facility and be working there by next week.

“Our manufacturing is actually going to move their operation down here this Friday,” Wilson said. “So as of Monday, the assembly part of our operation will be in the spec building.”

The offices in the front part of the building are well under way, but will take a bit longer, according to Wilson.

“The corporate office will be moving down here probably somewhere around mid-November,” he said. “Engineering and manufacturing offices will be staying at the original location.”

The corporate office suite will consist of six to seven offices which will house Wilson’s new office and those of his support personnel and company officials. Wilson is pleased with the way the building has turned out, though it took a fair amount of work and planning to get it to this point.

The spec building will actually be the last stop for the company’s product before it goes out the door to customers.

“It’s what we call our finished goods,” Wilson said. “Where we do our final assembly, installing detailed machined plastic and foam, pouches, things that it takes to complete the product. Once it’s welded and painted, typically about half the work is done. Then we have to do the finishing of the product, which is pretty labor-intensive, and that’s where this plant will be instrumental.”

Wilson’s current labor force will be divided between the original building and the new facility, but as business increases, plans are to increase the work force.

“We’re going to have somewhere around 40 to 45 people in this building,” he said, “and then as our customer base and production grows over the next two or three years, we’ll increase that accordingly.”

This will leave around 70 workers at the original facility, Wilson said, giving him a total of approximately 115 employees, many of whom have been hired within the past few months.

Wilson said his business is still growing which is one of the main reasons for his expansion.

“It’s going really well,” he said. “A lot of new vehicle launches from all the expansions of Nissan and Toyota, and Honda’s expanding their plant in Alabama. A new Mitsubishi plant is being built in Alabama. All that’s key to us being able to expand our business.”