October is Manufacturing Month, and for a lot of quarries it is also the stretch where the season starts winding down and the to-do list for winter starts growing. It is a good time to show you where much of PMI’s work actually happens: our manufacturing and service facility in Shelbyville, Kentucky.
Many producers know PMI as the people who show up with parts or a service truck. Fewer have seen how a conveyor, a chute or a screen tower goes from an idea to a piece of steel that is ready to ship to your site.
It Starts With How Your Material Flows
Every custom build starts with understanding the customer’s material, tons per hour and production goals. Our engineering team, which includes licensed Professional Engineers, looks at the process flow first, then designs the structure and equipment around it.
Plant layouts and structural frameworks are built in Inventor 3D, and AutoCAD 2D detailing turns them into the drawings our shop builds from. The 3D model lets everyone see how a new conveyor or screen tower will tie into a plant’s existing equipment before any steel is cut. That is where most fit-up problems get caught.
Cutting, Forming and Welding
Our 100,000 square foot facility is set up for heavy steel fabrication. A few of the tools that do the heavy lifting:
- Plasma table: cuts plate and parts precisely from the drawings, so pieces fit together the way the model says they should.
- 400-ton press brake: bends heavy plate for chutes, hoppers, skirting and other formed parts.
- Welding and fitting bays: our welders and structural fitters build everything from a single section of conveyor truss to a large screen tower, with structural components ranging from a few hundred pounds to tens of thousands.
Want to see finished work? Browse examples of our engineered plants, conveyors and installs on our Projects page at processmachinery.com/projects.
Blasting, Painting and Getting It Out the Door
Before anything ships, it goes through our sand blast system and is painted, so the coating holds up in a quarry environment. Steel that is properly prepped lasts longer between touch-ups, which means less maintenance for your crew later.
We are also growing. In October 2025 we broke ground on a nearly $11.5 million expansion of our Shelbyville facility, and construction is now underway. When it is finished, the expansion will add more than 28,000 square feet, including additional manufacturing space and a new paint facility, and is expected to create 30 new full-time jobs.
The People Behind the Steel
Equipment is only as good as the people building it. Our shop includes welders, structural fitters, CAD technicians and engineers, many of whom have been with PMI for years. Training never really stops here, from welding skills to safety. Our field and service crews are MSHA certified, and our install teams are certified for above and below ground work, with NCCCO-certified crane operators.
That same team is part of why Process Machinery was named the 2024 Kentucky Manufacturer of the Year by the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers. We are a family-owned company, founded in 1979 and now run by the third generation, and we are proud to build in Kentucky.
Join Our Team
We’re always looking for skilled people to join our team. If you or someone you know wants a career in the aggregate industry, email your resume to DisponetteJM@emailpmi.com with the position you’re interested in in the subject line, or visit our Careers page at processmachinery.com/careers.
Why It Matters for Your Operation
Having engineering, fabrication, service and installation under one roof means fewer handoffs. The people who design a conveyor talk to the people who build it, and the crew that installs it can come back to service it.
It also means support long after startup. Our service department handles crusher and equipment rebuilds, and our MSHA-certified technicians help keep the equipment we build and sell running season after season.
Thank You for a Great Manufacturing Month
Manufacturing Month is a good reminder of how much goes into every piece of steel that leaves Shelbyville. Thank you to our welders, fitters, engineers, service techs and everyone else at PMI who makes it happen, and to the producers who trust us with their plants.
Want to see more of our work? Visit our Projects page at processmachinery.com/projects, and follow PMI on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram for more from the shop and the field.