Specialty Piping Products: Supporting Pipes with Pride

About 6,000 residents call Theodore, Alabama home. Less than ten miles off the coast of Mobile Bay and just south of the City of Mobile, the community’s gardens and antiques can make time stand still for citizens and visitors alike.

At Specialty Piping Products (SPP) in Theodore, skilled tradespeople make sure U.S. Navy submarines move ahead by producing key parts, literally securing what sailors aboard need to survive. But another need – to exceed the current pace of submarine production – has made it essential for companies like SPP to produce more, and they took that challenge head-on.

Since 2005, SPP has served the industrial and marine industries with pipe hangers, supports, and specialty items. Providing vital parts for military shipbuilding has become a huge portion of their portfolio. Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a prime builder of Virginia Class submarines, is one of the recipients of SPP’s output.

“Lots and lots of what we do, the small components that we build here, are used all over in various areas of the vessels, the ships and the subs,” SPP Owner and President Tommy Wilder said.

Among those key parts produced in Alabama and sent to Virginia’s NNS is a Z-stock hanger. Even if you consider that a submarine stretches beyond the length of a football field, you might still be surprised that tens of miles worth of pipe are contained within each vessel’s hulls. Carrying air, water, fuel and other essentials, those pipes must be secured to ensure the integrity of the ship and the life of its sailors.

“They have to have the proper supports, the proper clamps and hangers,” said Wilder. “We see hundreds of different styles, and it’s important that they’re built right or your piping systems are not going to be able to withstand the tremendous amount of stress that can be placed on these vessels.”

Z-stock hangers do heavy lifting, and SPP has been providing those lifts and more. However, as the need for new submarines has grown, so too has the need for the company’s parts. Thanks to supplier development funds co-invested by BlueForge Alliance in partnership with the Navy’s Maritime Industrial Base, SPP purchased new equipment which went into operation in March 2024.

“The figuring out what we truly need, what types of equipment we need, we certainly looked around to the find the best bang for our buck,” Wilder said of his team. “I couldn’t be more blessed, couldn’t be more pleased with what they’ve done. They stepped up and helped us to really make this a great thing.”

The manufacturer’s goals were to increase production of Z-stock hangers by 50 percent by running multiple presses simultaneously with an increased throughput, processing more parts through powder coating, and shortening lead times to NNS.

With the new equipment and by optimizing processes, SPP has met and exceeded expectations, significantly boosting formed product output, powder coating batch size, and coated parts produced daily, while also slashing unit cycle time. It’s progress that reflects a commitment to strengthening the industrial base and driving impactful change.

“I think it’s a big step forward as far as what we can produce, and we’re getting better every day,” said James Williams, a team leader who has been with SPP for 14 years. “It’s learning experiences on a lot of things, but as far as the company, the morale is really good when you put out good production.”

For Wilder, defense manufacturing is a passion and a family affair. Son Thomas leads the company’s business development efforts. Daughter Ramsey is a key fixture in the shipping department. Wilder’s father was at Pearl Harbor when the December 1941 attack took place, adding an extra level of pride that Tommy’s company is a part of ensuring the nation’s defense today. It’s something he works to ensure his employees feel, too.

“They’re proud of the products that they make, and I try to make them as aware as possible of what we do is so important, and it’s something that you need to be proud of,” Wilder said.

SPP’s speedier creation and delivery of critical, quality components to NNS and other Maritime Industrial Base suppliers aren’t just ensuring pipes’ security and sailors’ safety. They’re contributing to faster production of the nation’s top deterrent, all from a small business in a small community making a big difference.