Skip to content
MarketScale
‹ Back to IndustriesEngineering & Construction

FABTECH 2023: Finishing Consultants Partners with LestaUSA to Bring Proven Robotic Finishing Solutions

Manufacturers are racing to automate finishing processes as robotics reshape the industry's competitive landscape

This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Engineering & Construction teams put it to work with Partner & Channel Enablement.

By Engineering And Construction · Brenda LasorellaDerek DegeestFabtech 2023Finishing Consultants
Share

Key takeaways

01

Manufacturers are racing to automate finishing processes as robotics reshape the industry's competitive landscape

Get featured

Want to get featured in MarketScale Engineering & Construction?

Create a free MarketScale workspace and get your company's expertise featured across our Engineering & Construction coverage. No credit card, no demo required.

Start free

The rapid evolution of technology in recent years has drastically transformed the manufacturing industry, unlocking new horizons in efficiency, precision, and scalability and bringing forth proven robotic finishing solutions. This transformation into an adoption of robotics and automation is reshaping the realm of finishing solutions within manufacturing. With FABTECH 2023 serving as a veritable showcase of these advancements, the stakes are high as companies race to integrate these robotic solutions to enhance their operational efficacy and future-proof their processes against the necessities of an increasingly competitive market.

In a landscape brimming with potential yet fraught with complexity, the quintessential question looms: How can manufacturers seamlessly integrate robotics into their finishing operations to achieve an unrivaled standard of excellence?

In the latest episode of Manufacturing a Stronger Standard, presented by LestaUSA, host Derek DeGeest, President of the DeGeest Corporation, engages in a riveting discussion with Brenda LaSorella, the COO of Finishing Consultants, and Jason White, the National Sales Manager for Finishing Consultants. Their conversation orbits around the burgeoning partnership between Finishing Consultants and LestaUSA and its instrumental role in delivering proven robotic finishing solutions to the industry.

DeGeest, LaSorella, and White's conversation include the following:

  • The criticality of coupling extensive industry experience with cutting-edge automation to deliver tailored solutions
  • The symbiotic relationship between robots and finishing equipment emphasizing the vital importance of local support and service in navigating the challenges of automation
  • Success stories emanating from this collaborative endeavor, with multiple repeat orders and burgeoning projects serving as testaments to the efficacy and reliability of the solutions provided

Brenda LaSorella, with a venerable tenure in the industry, brings to the table a wealth of knowledge and expertise honed over 32 years at Finishing Consultants, a company renowned for its focus on finishing equipment. Alongside her, Jason White, although new to his role as the National Sales Manager, is fervently navigating the West Coast, assisting sales teams in identifying and leveraging burgeoning opportunities in the realm of automation. Their collaborative efforts with LestaUSA, under the aegis of Derek DeGeest, epitomize a forward-thinking approach to harnessing the power of robotics in elevating the standards of the finishing industry, thus carving a path for manufacturers eager to ascend to new pinnacles of operational excellence.

Your experts belong here

Every story in MarketScale Engineering & Construction starts with a company putting its project engineers, superintendents, and estimators on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.

Owners shortlist firms they already trust, and your field leaders become the reason your name is on that list.

Get your team featuredSee how it works15 minutes, straight to a calendar.

About the author

EA
Engineering And Construction

Follow Engineering & Construction Insights

Get new expert content in your inbox.

Engineering & Construction: are you visible to AI?

Before they reach out, Engineering & Construction buyers ask AI engines which vendors to trust. Explore how your experts, customers, and partners can become useful content for buyers and AI search.

Free plan

You just read one Engineering & Construction expert. Your company is full of them.

This article was produced through MarketScale. The same platform turns your project engineers, superintendents, and estimators into the articles, video, and social content Engineering & Construction buyers are searching for. Create a free workspace and see it with your own people. No credit card, no demo required.

NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries

What you get, free

Your own MarketScale workspace, up to 10 people
One professional video edit a month for qualifying companies
Media requests to your crowd, remote recording, AI writing tools
$0, no credit card, nothing that expires

More Engineering & Construction Insights

Packaging robots can beat labor long term on cost, PMMI argues

Packaging robots can beat labor long term on cost, PMMI argues

PMMI's Tom Egan wrote in Processing Magazine that adding packaging automation and robotics can now be justified as more cost-effective over the long term than the high cost of labor in food, beverage and CPG plants. Separately, Packaging World describes AI-enabled AMRs from ABB and Agilox that automate material movement between packaging stations. The remaining gap is adoption among smaller manufacturers.

  • 01Two reference points for infrastructure-light material movement: ABB's Flexley Mover P603 carries 1,500 kg with sub-centimeter positioning and no floor markers, and Agilox's OFL lifts 800 kg pallets on peer-to-peer fleet software with no central traffic controller, per Packaging World.
  • 02The open ground is small and mid-sized manufacturers: MTC's Mike Wilson counts tens of thousands of UK SMEs with no robotic automation at all and expects cobots to take most of that growth.
  • 03A robotics business case should include procurement, not only line labor: a June 2026 China Journal of Accounting Research study found heavy robot adopters spread buying across more suppliers, gaining resilience but losing inventory efficiency and adding transaction costs.

Sep 18, 2026

Xtellio brings telematics to jobsite tools and heaters

Xtellio brings telematics to jobsite tools and heaters

Xtellio launched a two-tier telematics platform in March 2026: 32 battery-powered Xense sensors for small tools and wired Pro-Xentral devices for excavators, light towers and heaters. The company claims a 10-year battery life. Data is delivered through open APIs, which Xtellio frames as customer ownership of the data, aimed at rental and construction fleets where small assets have gone largely untracked.

  • 01Xtellio’s stated 10-year battery life for its Bluetooth Xense sensors is the key spec to test in the field; if it holds up, tagging hundreds of tools can look like a one-time install rather than a recurring battery-maintenance program.
  • 02For rental houses and contractors running mixed fleets, the sharper question is no longer which machines have telematics but whether the heaters, light towers and hand tools do, and whether that data lands in the same system.
  • 03Open APIs and “data liberation” are part of Xtellio’s pitch, and the coverage frames that as a prompt for RFP questions: what the APIs expose, where data can be sent, and whether customers can take historical data if they switch providers.

Sep 18, 2026

Senate bill would double smart water grants to $50 million a year

Senate bill would double smart water grants to $50 million a year

S. 2388, the Water Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2025, would double an EPA water tech pilot to $50 million a year through 2028. Grants would cover design, construction, training and operations for leak detection, advanced metering and AI analytics, WaterWorld reported. Planning and maintenance stay on the utility's tab.

  • 01Under S. 2388 as WaterWorld describes it, feasibility studies are not grant-eligible, so a utility would have to pay to build the case for a smart water project before applying for help building the project itself.
  • 02The bill's eligible list puts advanced digital design and construction management tools in the same bucket as meters and sensors, which would give a utility's capital delivery team a claim on the same grant as its field operations group.
  • 03The existing pilot program's authorization runs through 2026, per WaterWorld; the bill would extend it to 2028, and its last reported status was 'introduced' as of Aug. 12, 2025.

Sep 17, 2026

Explore More Engineering & Construction Insights

Read more expert perspectives from across Engineering & Construction.

Browse Engineering & Construction Hub

About the Expert

EA
Engineering And Construction

For B2B teams

Your experts could be publishing here

Stories like this one run on content MarketScale captures from real practitioners. See how your team's expertise becomes coverage in Engineering & Construction and beyond.

Book a 15-minute demo

Or call us. No forms required. We pick up. 214-945-2512