As manufacturers look to retool their operations to become more efficient and compete with competition from abroad, the sector would be wise to take a close look at S&W Metal Products Inc. in Gilbertsville, Berks County.

S&W was one of only 405 manufacturers in the U.S. and one of only 14 in Pennsylvania to be named to the Inc. 5000 list, the annual ranking of high-performing companies from Inc. magazine. When Ed Graefe bought the company in 1999, it was generating almost $1 million in revenue with eight employees. In the last year, with 35 employees, S&W claimed revenues close to $10 million. Steady year-over-year growth averaging nearly 30 percent has become the norm for several reasons.

A production fabrication shop specializing in powder coating, machining, engineering and prototyping for the transportation, furniture, construction and material handling industries, S&W has a competitive vision that starts with Graefe, S&W's president. He says the company has a 99 percent on-time delivery rate, which is basically unheard of in th sector. That's happened through expansion of its laser cutting and robotics capabilities.

S&W's customers include PA's Morgan Corporation, a major truck line supplier, the Department of Defense, and UTC Fire and Security, a Fortune 40 company in Connecticut.

To help maintain its competitive edge, S&W plans on bringing its currently outsourced powder-coating operation in-house. That should help improve its on-time delivery even more and contribute to the addition of about 20 jobs by the end of 2010.