Chamber tours Cullman's Inland Buildings facility
      The Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce sponsored an industry tour of Inland Buildings' Cullman plant recently, providing those present with a behind-the-scenes look at one of the premier manufacturers of pre-fabricated metal buildings in the nation.
     The Cullman facility houses the corporate headquarters of the 25-year-old company as well as one of the two Inland manufacturing operations. The other manufacturing facility, based in Connersville, Indiana, was opened in 1996 to supplement the incredible production demand from the Cullman plant.
    Inland accounts for 72 percent of the metal building manufacturing market in the U.S., supplying some 280 authorized Inland contractors in 27 states, offshore and internationally. The Cullman plant alone ships between 50 and 70 loads in a typical week; the struts, joists and wall panels stacked high on flat-bed trailers bound for destinations across the country. Upon their arrival, the labeled parts will be constructed according to the design envisioned by Inland's team of engineers in a process Inland representatives likened to "putting together a huge Erector set."


A welder fabricates a steel component that will be used to erect an Inland metal building.
     "Everything is custom-designed to fit the needs of our customers," said Inland Co-President Ken Williams, who shares the responsibility of overseeing the company with his colleague Robert South. "We have buildings you can't tell are pre-engineered metal buildings. We can design practically any building you can imagine."


Alan Arnett, Executive Vice President of the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce; Hanceville Street Supervisor Eric Allred; and Mike Manning of the Cullman Power Board listen as Inland's safety director Todd Burdette (second from right) explains the workings of the Cullman facility.

     Inland designs and manufactures buildings of all shapes and sizes, from farm sheds to airplane hangers to high schools. While many of the more visually impressive structures are showcased in colorful photographs throughout the corporate office, Williams stated that the typical "square metal building is [Inland's] bread and butter."
     "One of the things that makes our company strong is our workforce," Williams said. "We have a low turnover rate."
     Inland currently employs approximately 250 workers in a variety of positions including machinists, engineers, and IT Specialists among others
    Another strength of Inland lies in the one-of-a-kind processes that set them above the competition. Williams noted that Inland uses its own proprietary design software, a fact which makes a well-trained and experienced engineer a much sought-after commodity at Inland.
     Safety director Todd Burdette pointed out another simple yet ingenious feature that helps give Inland its edge: a special loading and unloading process that enables two men to move an entire 45,000-lb. load of steel from an Inland yard truck to a commercial carrier in less than 15 minutes, significantly reducing the wait time between shipments.
      Hanceville Mayor Bobby Brown, one of the guests on the Chamber tour, described Inland's facility as "impressive." Brown stated that he was interested in touring Inland as they recently manufactured Hanceville's new City Garage. 

     
 Chamber Vice President Alan Arnett speaks with Inland Buildings' Co-President Ken Williams prior to beginning the tour of the Inland plant.

      The privately-owned Inland manufactures over 1,000 metal buildings per year. In addition to the manufacturing facilities in Cullman and Connersville, Ind., Inland also has regional offices in Eufaula, Alabama, and Waukesha, Wisconsin. For more information about Inland or the Inland product line, check out the company's website at www.inlandbuildings.com or email them at salesinfo@inlandbuildings.com.

   
Workers in the Inland plant use an overhead boom to stack and prepare metal girders for shipping.


Mayor Bobby Brown of Hanceville and Hanceville Street Supervisor Eric Allred inspect the interior of the Inland facility. 

     
An Inland employee operates a spot-welding machine.


An exterior view of Inland's Cullman plant, located at 2141 Second Avenue SW.

 
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