OVER 50 YEARS OF CONNECTICUT MANUFACTURING HERITAGE

Built in Connecticut.
Engineered to Endure.

For more than five decades, Fabtron Incorporated has stood as a cornerstone of precision contract manufacturing in Plainville, Connecticut. Led by Owner and Principal Garret J. Maino, Fabtron unites heavy capital automation with master-craftsman passion—eliminating multi-tier subcontractor chaos by housing high-power laser cutting, precision brake forming, robotic welding, and automated powder coating under one roof.

Submit Project RFQ → Meet Leadership & Team Inspect Capital Equipment

Corporate Founded: 1970s Lineage

Principal Direction: Garret J. Maino

Raw Sheet Buffer: 561,000 LBS ASRS

Plant Focus: 100% In-House Turnkey

CRAFTSMANSHIP DNA • MOTORSPORT RIGOR

Where High-Performance Automotive Passion Meets Aerospace Precision

At the heart of Fabtron’s five-decade success is a mechanical philosophy forged by owner Garret Maino. Long recognized throughout the Connecticut manufacturing and regional automotive enthusiast community for a deep passion for high-performance cars, custom vehicle engineering, and precision fabrication, Garret built Fabtron on an uncompromising standard: if it isn't strong enough, true enough, and beautifully finished enough to race, it doesn't leave the floor.

In competitive automotive and motorsport design—just as in Tier-1 aerospace flight hardware—vibration fatigue, thermal cycling, and micro-defects mean the difference between triumph and failure. Automotive enthusiasts and racers understand:

Zero-Warp Chassis Bending

Just as a race car roll cage demands flawless tube notching and bending, aircraft chassis require exact springback calculation and angular precision (±0.25°).

Race-Grade Fusion Welds

Puddle control, argon shielding, and heat dissipation learned in high-vibration headers and suspension mounts power Fabtron’s certified AWS D17.1 aerospace fusion welds.

Flawless Seam Blending

Automotive bodywork demands seamless panel joints. We use our Kuhlmeyer long-belt gantry to blend stainless corner welds until the grain is invisible.

Chip-Proof Powder Coating

Track-proven powder durability requires thorough multi-stage chemical pretreatment, deionized rinses, and calibrated cross-hatch adhesion testing.

The Garret Maino Standard: “When you build something out of metal—whether it’s a suspension bracket taking 2G lateral cornering loads or an aerospace radar chassis flying at 30,000 feet—you never cut a corner. You measure twice, run the proper tooling, verify the weld penetration, and cure the finish properly. Our customers trust us because they know we treat every part as if our own name is stamped on it.”

Manufacturing Philosophy Plainville, CT

Why Single-Facility Integration Matters

Most sheet metal shops are simply laser-cutting jobbers. When a part needs complex press brake forming, certified robotic welding, and automated powder coating, they ship it to three separate vendors.

The Typical Multi-Vendor Trap: Parts get scratched on flatbeds between job shops. If a bend angle is off by 0.5°, the powder coater blames the bender, and the bender blames the laser cutter. Lead times blow out to 12–14 weeks.

✓

The Fabtron Unified Solution: All stages happen under Garret’s supervision at 80 Farmington Valley Dr. Raw sheet leaves the 561,000 LB STOPA tower, enters the 4000W laser, moves to the TRUMPF 5130 brake, indexes through the robotic welder, and travels directly onto the conveyor powder line. Turnaround collapses to 2–3 weeks.

Experience the Fabtron Difference →

SUPPLY CHAIN COMPARISON • VELOCITY & ACCOUNTABILITY

The 14-Week Outsourced Trap vs. The 2.5-Week Fabtron Velocity

Why do prime contractors in aerospace, defense, and heavy transit fire fragmented job shops and consolidate their sheet metal manufacturing with Fabtron? Here is an unvarnished look at what happens when a complex enclosure is outsourced across four different jobbers versus built inside our single Plainville facility.

Fragmented Supply Chain (4 Jobbers)

The Multi-Tier Nightmare

12 to 14 Weeks • 4 Shipping Legs • Zero Direct Blame

Weeks 1–3: Raw Stock & Laser Shop Freight Leg 1

Jobber A waits 10 days for raw aluminum from an external service center. Laser cutting produces rough edge burrs; parts sit on wooden skids waiting for pallet freight to Jobber B.

Weeks 4–7: Bending & Forming Shop Freight Leg 2

Jobber B sets up standard press brakes without automatic angle compensation. Parts bend 0.75° out of tolerance across 8-foot lengths. Jobber B blames Jobber A's laser burrs and grain direction.

Weeks 8–10: Contract Welding Shop Freight Leg 3

Jobber C attempts manual TIG welding without specialized fixturing. Excessive heat input warps corner flanges. Seams are hand-ground unevenly, leaving visible gouges in cosmetic faces.

Weeks 11–14: Off-Site Powder Coater Freight Leg 4 • REJECTION

Jobber D skips thorough acid deoxidizing. Cured powder coating blisters over weld seams. During final dock inspection, prime QA rejects the batch due to warped tolerances and missing material trace certs.

Total Cycle Time: 14 WEEKS (98 DAYS)

Inter-Facility Freight Legs: 4 Flatbeds (\$4,800+ waste)

Scrap & Rework Risk: Extremely High • No Single Custody

The Fabtron Turnkey Standard

100% In-House Integration

2.5 Weeks • 0 Flatbed Legs • Garret Maino Oversight

Days 1–3: ASRS Tower & 4000W Laser ✓ 0 Transit Days

Certified alloy sheets retrieved from our 561,000 LB STOPA automated storage tower in under 2 minutes. High-speed nitrogen-assist laser cutting leaves dross-free, oxide-free edges ready for immediate forming.

Days 4–7: TRUMPF Hydraulic Bending ✓ In-Line Flow

Parts roll directly to TRUMPF TruBend precision press brakes equipped with laser angle sensor technology. Dynamic hydraulic crowning maintains ±0.25° angularity across full 10-foot stringers on first strike.

Days 8–12: Robotic Welding & Seam Polish ✓ In-Line Flow

FANUC dual-turntable robotic weld cell applies millimeter-repeatable GMAW/GTAW beads with zero warpage. Heavy-duty Kuhlmeyer long-belt stroke grinder polishes outside corners to a seamless #4 satin grain.

Days 13–17: Automated Powder & FAI Signoff ✓ Dock-to-Stock

Direct transfer to continuous overhead conveyor: 5-stage iron phosphate chemical wash, automated electrostatic powder application, and 400°F cure. CMM verification, AS9102 FAI report, and custom protective crating.

Total Cycle Time: 2.5 WEEKS (17 DAYS)

Inter-Facility Freight Legs: 0 Flatbeds • 100% In-House

Quality Assurance Guarantee: Full Traceability • Single Accountability

Have a Drawing Package Stuck in Multi-Tier Jobber Delays?

Send us your active prints. We frequently rescue stalled defense and industrial programs by consolidating fabricating, welding, and finishing onto our Plainville floor.

Fast-Track Your Program →

FIELD-PROVEN CAPABILITY • MISSION-CRITICAL HARDWARE

Where Fabtron Precision Operates Every Day

From North America's largest passenger rail systems to high-altitude propulsion test cells, our components perform under extreme structural, thermal, and mechanical cyclic stresses.

MASS TRANSIT • SECURITY OEM 30+ Year Partnership

Perey Turnstiles • OEM Chassis, Rotor Mechanisms & Transit Barriers

Fabtron has served as a core contract manufacturing partner for Perey Turnstiles—the pioneer of turnstile mechanisms safeguarding world-class stadiums, metro subway systems, and high-security government facilities.

Engineering Requirements: Heavy 10-gauge satin-finished 304 stainless steel housings, precision CNC notched internal ratchets, and zero-deflection barrier arm mounts engineered for 10,000,000 continuous passenger cycles.

Fabtron Manufacturing Scope: Complete turnkey fabrication: high-speed nitrogen laser cutting, multi-axis brake forming, robotic TIG/MIG welding, Kuhlmeyer grain restoration, and pre-wired mechanical sub-assembly.

Alloy: 304/316 Stainless Turnkey OEM →

PROPULSION • GROUND TEST High-Temp Severe Duty

Turbine Ground Support • Test Cell Exhaust Ducting & Vibration Mounts

Serving the greater Hartford aerospace propulsion corridor, Fabtron manufactures specialized test cell ducting, sensor harness brackets, and heavy engine cradle fixtures for gas turbine development and overhaul facilities.

Engineering Requirements: High acoustic vibration dampening, extreme thermal gradient survivability up to 1,200°F, and certified AWS D17.1 aerospace fusion welds with complete argon back-purging to prevent root oxidization.

Fabtron Manufacturing Scope: 321 stainless steel and Inconel 625 laser cutting, heavy-plate rolling, certified manual GTAW puddle control, and hydrostatic / dye penetrant weld inspection.

Alloy: 321 SS • Inconel 625 AWS D17.1 Certified →

ROTARY WING • AVIONICS Lightweight Flight Hardware

Helicopter Cockpit Consoles • Vibration-Dampened Avionics Trays

Supplying precision structural chassis for Connecticut’s rotary wing prime ecosystem, Fabtron produces complex multi-bend avionics enclosures, radar mounting brackets, and cockpit instrument sub-panels.

Engineering Requirements: Weight-optimized lightening hole arrays, tight bend radii without stress cracking, and precise hole-to-bend alignment (±0.008") to accommodate automated mil-spec wire harness assemblies.

Fabtron Manufacturing Scope: 6061-T6 and 5052-H32 CNC laser profiling, precision press brake forming with radius ground tooling, MIL-DTL-5541 chemical conversion coating, and conductive powder masking.

Alloy: 6061-T6 Aluminum AS9102 FAI Verified →

NAVAL SUBMARINE • MARITIME Mil-S-901D Shock Capable

Watertight Bulkhead Cabinets • Marine Electronics Support Skids

Serving the Groton naval shipbuilding supply chain, Fabtron fabricates heavy structural steel and marine-grade stainless steel assemblies for submarine auxiliary systems, pumps, and power distribution racks.

Engineering Requirements: Complete hermetic sealing, extreme resistance to salt fog corrosion per ASTM B117, and high mechanical yield strength to survive Mil-S-901D high-impact shock testing.

Fabtron Manufacturing Scope: 0.250"–0.500" 316L plate cutting, heavy structural channel welding on our 12'x35' FANUC robotic cell, weld ultrasonics, and epoxy primer undercoat with Mil-Spec polyurethane topcoat.

Alloy: 316L Stainless • A36 Steel Naval Defense Standard →

CHRONOLOGY OF CAPITAL INVESTMENT

Evolution of an Industrial Powerhouse

From our founding in the 1970s tool-and-die era to today’s fully integrated smart-factory automation, Fabtron has continuously reinvested into premier German and Japanese capital equipment.

FOUNDING DECADE 1970s–1980s

Precision Stamping & Toolmaking Heritage

Established in Plainville, CT, providing mechanical stamping, manual forming, and precision tooling for Connecticut’s booming defense, aerospace, and electromechanical equipment manufacturers.

• Bridgeport Mills & Toolroom Lathes

• High-Tonnage Mechanical Stamping

• Mechanical Assembly & Toolmaking

Root of Craftsmanship →

CNC TRANSFORMATION 1990s–2000s

TRUMPF CNC Automation & Perey OEM

Pioneered the integration of TRUMPF CNC punch presses and press brakes. Acquired long-term contract manufacturing partnerships for high-security pedestrian turnstiles, including Perey turnstile mechanisms.

• TRUMPF TruMatic 260 Rotation Punch

• Perey Turnstiles Contract Manufacturing

• Multi-Axis CNC Brake Tooling

Precision CNC Shift →

SMART FACTORY ARSENAL 2010s–Present

STOPA ASRS, Robotic Cell & In-House Powder

Commissioned the 561,000 LB STOPA automated material handling tower, 4000W CNC laser with LiftMaster, FANUC 12'x35' robotic weld cell, and complete automated overhead conveyor powder coating.

• STOPA 51-Pallet Automated Storage Tower

• 4000W High-Speed Nitrogen Assist Laser

• Automated In-House Conveyor Finishing

Today’s Tier-1 Platform →

STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE • FARMINGTON VALLEY

10 Minutes from TRUMPF North America HQ • Central to New England Defense Primes

Our facility at 80 Farmington Valley Drive in Plainville is strategically embedded in Connecticut’s premier precision machining corridor. We sit only 10 minutes south of TRUMPF’s North American Headquarters in Farmington, CT—giving Fabtron unmatched direct access to factory application engineers, rapid optics replacements, specialized tooling, and certified field technicians.

Pratt & Whitney • Collins Aerospace Corridor: Direct 25-minute transit via I-84 and Route 9 for flight-critical propulsion and avionics chassis hardware.

Sikorsky Aircraft • Rotary Wing Supply: Rapid logistics down Route 8 / Merritt Parkway for airframe brackets, titanium weldments, and helicopter enclosures.

General Dynamics Electric Boat • Submarine Force: Heavy structural steel skids, radar weldments, and watertight marine cabinets meeting strict Mil-Spec standards.

PLANT SPECIFICATIONS PLAINVILLE, CT

Total Land & Facility Industrial Campus 80 Farmington Valley Dr

Freight & Loading Direct Truck Bays 53' Semi-Trailer Capable

TRUMPF HQ Proximity 10 Minutes Farmington, CT Hub

Security Clearance ITAR Ready US Persons Restricted

Schedule a private facility audit: Contact Garret Maino →

Built in Connecticut. Engineered to Endure.