Made With Soul in the ATL

I did a factory visit to watch the production of a batch of the Large Pizza-Porta units. Christmas exceeded our forecasts so we are catching up on manufacturing. The laser cutting had all been completed and the parts were in fabrication. METCAM, our Alpharetta GA based manufacturing partner has been fantastic to work with and helped make this product a reality. I was quite the sight at the factory with my camera but got some shots of the various parts.

There are too many safety guards and obstructions to take an actual shot of the laser, but this is how the parts are cut out of stainless steel. (photo credit cannonind.com)

This photo on the other hand is a real photo. This giant press brake takes flat blanks and bends them precisely into the final shape. Wouldn't it be great to have something like this in the garage for that occasional bend that you need to make?

This batch of the aluminum heat shields is cut with our logo and the holes for the handle. These pieces are complete and ready to go to packaging.

Parts are laid out for the next steps of forming. That box in front holds the largest caliper I have ever seen (And the team pointed out a larger one three machines over). These flat 2D pieces will be folded origami style to make a 3D Pizza-Porta.

METCAM is ISO9001:2008 so there are systems for tracking everything in the factory. Each item has a number and a version as shown on the tracking sheets. Pretty amazing.

Each component of the Pizza-Porta was designed and custom machined for this purpose. Only the washers and bolts are "off the shelf" parts. We make every piece out of stainless steel (except the heat shield which is aluminum) for weather and heat tolerance. The fasteners and washers are all stainless as well to avoid any rust over their lifetime.

I am a big geek about manufacturing operations. When there is a huge pile of flat steel on one end of a building and intricate, assembled consumer products coming out the other end it is like magic.

This batch of Pizza-Porta units is almost complete. The entire product, including the wooden handle and even the box, is made right here in Georgia. I have looked at other options including India and China that would bring the cost down, but choose to keep the production here.

Proudly made in the USA

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Cortlandt

Biz TopicsCortlandtJanuary 25, 2017big green egg accessory, grill accessories, kamado accessory, Made in the USA, manufacturing, pizza oven, pizzadashporta, stainless grill accessories