Jeff Fuller comes from a family of leaders — or at least a family of entrepreneurs, which is often the same thing.
“I think everyone in my family now is an entrepreneur. My father is, my brother is, my aunts and uncles — everybody,” he said.
Fuller himself won a Northern Ontario Business Award for Entrepreneur of the Year in 2013.
“I guess growing up in an entrepreneurial family, you don’t realize it, but you learn by osmosis. The bug gets in you.”
Fuller started his career working for his father, Bill, who founded Abraflex in Sudbury in 1980. The younger Fuller left the company in 2004 to open his own venture, Fuller Industrial, which concentrates on pipe fabrication for industrial processes, particularly in the mining industry.
“We’re like pipe-system ninjas. We’re really good at project management and big, nasty, short lead-time projects,” Fuller said.
These aren’t your average steel pipes. Fuller Industrial specializes in making abrasion- and corrosion- resistant components with protective linings. These linings usually consist of rubber or ceramic, but may also include urethane or hardened steel.
“We’re the best in the world for fabricating pipe systems lined for abrasion or corrosion. It’s not very romantic, but it’s a niche that allows us, as a small company, to be internationally recognized as the go-to people,” Fuller said.
“We recognized a long time ago that the mining projects were getting bigger and further away, so we set up to accommodate that. We have the most advanced pipefitting manufacturing plant in North America.”
Fuller said the plant, which is based in the Sudbury bedroom community of Lively, follows Toyota’s philosophy of lean manufacturing to maximize process flow and productivity.
Much of the production is CNC-controlled including pipe profiling and welding.
“We’re literally competing with the rest of the world. You have to have the most productive methods, the best quality, and the best customer service. There’s just no choice…you get in front and stay in front.”
Innovation is another way the company stays ahead of the rest of the world.
Fuller Industrial developed the leak prevention system that can monitor both inside and outside pipes or vessels. The process can be programmed to do a range of tasks if a leak is about to occur, from automatically alerting process managers of a problem to closing off valves to isolate the breach. This way, parts can be ordered ahead of time and repairs conducted during scheduled shutdowns.
“There are a lot of systems out there that tell you that you have a leak, but there are not many that will tell you in advance. Also, the beauty of this system is that it isn’t invasive — you don’t need any probes,” Fuller said.
The system was spun off into its own company called Leak Prevention, Ltd.
This past year, Fuller branched into technology: creating a global online network for steel buyers and sellers.
Initially, he and his business partner in the venture, Joe Graci, were going to develop the software from scratch.
Then they heard about Metal Networks, a Texas-based company that is already connecting steel buyers and sellers to increase productivity. So, they bought the company.
Fuller said the business idea came out of the frustration of jumping through hoops to buy pipe. He compares the system to the travel industry.
“People say, ‘How come I can book a flight on my phone in five minutes, but if I want to buy a thousand feet of pipe, it takes me two weeks?’ The answer is, it doesn’t have to.”
Fuller spent most of his time in Toronto this year, mostly because it was easier to be there to close the Metal Networks deal and attend to other business. However, he said he plans to spend most of his time in Sudbury in the coming year.
“I love Sudbury. Living in the North — there’s something special about it,” Fuller said. “I’m a big cheerleader for Sudbury and Northern Ontario for the mining supply service sector.”
