Success Story: Pitts & Spitts

A small Texas fab shop specializing in high-quality smokers and grills uses laser welding to cook up big wins.

What’s a Success Story?

There are a lot of reasons why our customers invest in LightWELD: it might solve a specific problem for them, or help them be more productive, or they might just be excited by the technology. Whatever the reason, we love talking to them and learning about their businesses.

Our success stories are a closer look at some of our customers, what they’re working on, and how LightWELD has helped them find success. We hope that their stories can help give you a better idea of how the industry is using and benefiting from LightWELD.

About the Company

After seven years working in banking and finance, Pitts & Spitts owner Ryan Zboril wanted to get back to his family roots. Coming from a small Texas town, he spent his youth welding and embracing the “fix-it yourself” attitude he learned on the farm where he grew up.

When the opportunity presented itself, he exited the finance industry and acquired Pitts & Spitts, a company that specializes in building smokers, grills, and other essential outdoor cooking equipment.

Established in 1983, the company is operated by a small team of fabricators and welders. With a commitment to sourcing materials domestically and building products in the US, Pitts & Spitts has built a reputation for high-quality, handcrafted products that are built to last. The results – not to mention the customer reviews – show that they have created a recipe for success.

Learn more about Pitts & Spitts here.

The Challenge

Pitts & Spitts has traditionally been known for custom trailers and one-off smokers, but Ryan has a bigger vision to expand beyond custom equipment and bring quality cookers to the backyard. While Ryan had a solid foundation to start with, including an excellent team of craftsmen, he knew investing in new equipment and technology was necessary to grow the company.

“Stainless steel is a huge part of our business,” says Ryan, “It’s important to cut down on labor on the post weld clean-up side and anything we can do there is beneficial to us.”

From fire pits and griddles to charcoal grills and smoker-grill hybrids, Pitts & Spitts fabricates a variety of standard and custom BBQ equipment.

According to Ryan, MIG welding processes require several post-processing steps that decrease his shop’s productivity and increase fabrication costs. Improved product quality and shorter lead times would be huge advantages for Pitts & Spitts.

The Solution

Discovering Laser Welding

Ryan first encountered handheld laser welders on Instagram, but he wasn’t initially sold on the products he was seeing. He was hesitant about the level of support available for imported products with little more than small sales offices in the US.

Ryan decided to pass on the technology for another year before discovering LightWELD, which rekindled his interest in laser welding. He recalls, “My first question was, ‘Is this made in America? Yes, it is!’”

His concerns disappeared after finding that not only are LightWELD laser welding machines made in America, but that IPG fiber lasers are also used in many industrial laser cutting systems. Knowing that service and support for his machine would be just an email or phone call away sealed the deal.

With the knowledge that he was working with a top tier laser equipment manufacturer, Ryan was finally comfortable adding a handheld laser welder to his shop floor.

Improvements in Stainless Steel

Since adopting LightWELD, Pitts & Spitts has enjoyed significant improvements when welding stainless steel. “With stainless you want it to look good. With MIG welding you have to grind, polish, and passivate through a multi-step process,” says Ryan. “With a laser weld, you may need to just run a flat wheel over it. So, while the laser may be more expensive, you’ve saved on three or four smaller clean-up tasks.”

As a result, Pitts & Spitts’ small team of fabricators has been able to reduce work in process, get finished goods to the market faster, and deliver a superior product.

Looking to the Future

With successful utilization in most stainless applications, Ryan is looking toward the future with a goal to make 100% of the shop’s stainless welds with LightWELD. This would be followed by the migration of legacy carbon steel products where possible.

Pitts & Spitts also recently added a LightWELD wire feeder to their laser welding setup to improve capabilities in weldments where fit-up is a concern. Ultimately, Ryan’s vision is to have someone on his team dedicated to laser welding full time to develop processes and improve product designs to take full advantage of the technology.

As part of their dedication to growth, the company is also looking into the possibility of automation and adding a laser welding cobot to the shop floor.

Strengthening the Brand

Beyond the improvements in labor utilization and quality, Ryan also sees benefits for the brand’s reputation and image. He is passionate about educating his customers around “how the grill is born.”

While Pitts and Spitts is relatively small, Ryan estimates as many as 70 Texans go into making the product, starting with the steel mill a few hours away. “Being based in Texas, working with American suppliers, and using American equipment – it’s a big part of who we are. And when you tell customers our products are built with laser welding equipment made in the USA, they get really excited. They can see it in the quality of the product we make.”

When asked what advice he would give other shop managers about LightWELD, Ryan says he sees it as the future for several reasons. “It isn’t necessarily easier – you still need to learn a lot and rethink your approach.”

According to Ryan, “I think laser welding is 100% the future. Not only does it create excellent welds, it’s also a great way to get more people into the trades. For smaller shops like us, this is going to be a huge piece of our future.”

You can learn more about Pitts & Spitts and their products on their website.