America Rebuilds Its Factories
Shraced@shraced
−2.7%
since Oct 15
The idea
I believe automation has finally made it cheap enough to rebuild complex manufacturing in America, and the next decade will see announced factory projects turn into real plants. I own the picks and shovels of that buildout: automation and controls makers, electrical gear and grid builders, and the engineering firms that design and construct the plants, plus suppliers that keep them running. A smaller slice bets on domestic rare earth refining and nuclear power, since new factories need magnets and electricity.
What it owns
- Every new factory needs electrical gear and grid connections, supplied by these companies. · Eaton CorporationIt makes the switchgear and power equipment every new factory needs before it can run., Quanta ServicesIt builds the transmission lines and substations that bring power to new factories and data centers., GE VernovaIt builds gas turbines, grid equipment and a small reactor design, the power infrastructure new factories cannot run without., HubbellIt makes the wiring, connectors and utility hardware that hook plants to the grid and run power inside them.23%
- These firms design and build factories, so they get paid when announced projects become real. · EMCOR GroupIt is one of the biggest US electrical and mechanical contractors for factories and industrial sites., Comfort Systems USAIt does the mechanical and electrical work inside new plants and data centers., Jacobs SolutionsIt designs and engineers complex facilities, so it gets work early when companies plan new US plants., Fluor CorporationIt builds giant projects including chemical plants, mining sites and nuclear work for US industrial customers., Sterling InfrastructureIt clears and prepares land for big plants and data centers, the very first step of factory construction.20%
- These companies sell the robots, controls and vision systems that make American factories competitive. · Rockwell AutomationIt sells the controllers and software that run factory lines, so it gets paid for every new US plant regardless of what it makes., Emerson ElectricIt sells the control systems and instruments that run process plants like chemicals, energy and pharma., TeradyneIt owns Universal Robots, which makes collaborative robot arms that small and mid-size factories can afford., CognexIt makes the cameras and software that let robots and production lines see what they are handling.19%
- Running factories constantly buy tools, parts and industrial gases from these suppliers. · FastenalIt stocks the bolts, tools and supplies factories use every day, often through vending machines on the plant floor., W.W. GraingerIt supplies the parts and maintenance gear that keep running plants operating as new factories come online., LindeIt supplies the oxygen, nitrogen and specialty gases that chip, metal and chemical plants need, usually on long contracts.12%
- Small reactors and nuclear fuel could power the next wave of factories, a riskier long-dated piece of the bet. · BWX TechnologiesIt makes nuclear reactor parts and fuel for the Navy and power plants, the established way to own a nuclear build-out., CamecoIt mines and processes uranium, so it gets paid whichever reactor design wins in the market., OkloIt is developing small reactors meant to power factories and data centers directly at the site., NuScale PowerIt designs small modular reactors to power factories, the mini nuclear reactor concept in its purest form.11%
- Robots and motors need rare earth magnets, and these companies are building that supply chain in America. · MP MaterialsIt runs the main working rare earth mine in the US and is building out magnet making to scale in America., USA Rare EarthIt is building a US magnet factory for robots and motors that would rely on American-made rare earth magnets., Energy FuelsIt processes rare earths at its Utah mill alongside uranium, one of few US places doing that refining work.8%
- Cash7%