5 Point Fabrication / Isuzu Trucks

Custom Fit

How Kriete Truck Centers became the partner behind an 85-person custom metal shop — one introduction, two Isuzus, and a seamless service relationship. 

At most fabrication shops, a hundred-piece run is a warm-up. At 5 Point Fabrication, it’s a big order.

That’s the tell. 5 Point is a custom metal fabricator, and Mike Cole — one of its five owners — wants you to hear the word custom.

“When I say custom metal, a hundred-piece order is a large order for us.”

They cut and form stainless steel, mild steel, and aluminum into components for industries that don’t tolerate close enough — wastewater, food and beverage, military, and more. Small batches. Tight tolerances. Every piece measured.

The Shop

Eighty-five people work at 5 Point. Ask Mike what the company is without them and the answer is quick.

“Without them, we wouldn’t have anything.”

The culture he describes is work hard, play hard. Everybody on the floor knows there’s a job to do — orders that have to be right, on time — but there’s room to have some fun getting there. It’s a shop that takes the metal seriously and itself a little less so.

Tight Spaces

For a while, the fleet was whatever they could get — a couple of different makes, some used trucks. About a year and a half ago, 5 Point decided it was time to upgrade.

Mike already knew what he wanted. He liked Isuzu trucks because they were easy to drive and maneuver, with a cab-over design that gave drivers a clear view and kept the truck compact. For a shop whose trucks are constantly threading tight parking lots and cramped delivery bays, that wasn’t just a preference — it was a safety decision.

“With that cab-over design, you’ve got a very good view of everything around you, and a very tight turning radius,” Mike says. “That just made sense for what we do.”

The people who drive them agree.

“It just seemed like a nice vehicle for anything.”
- Pat Guns, Driver

Comfortable on longer trips and easy to maneuver around town, Pat describes it as a truck that can handle just about anything.

The Introduction

Here’s the part nobody plans.

Mike first heard about Kriete through Facebook. An old friend kept sharing Kriete posts, and one featuring an Isuzu truck caught his attention. When 5 Point was ready to buy, Mike reached out. His friend introduced him to Tom at Kriete, and 5 Point purchased its first Isuzu from him. They later returned to Kriete for a second.

A social-media post. A personal introduction. Not a sales pitch — a connection.

Seamless

What turned one truck into a partnership was what happened after the sale.

Kriete services both of 5 Point’s trucks, and they don’t route it through Mike. They deal directly with his shipping team — scheduling the preventive-maintenance visits and any service the trucks need, working around a shop that can’t afford downtime.

“It’s been a very seamless transition. A very good partnership.”

That’s the whole thing, for a shop that lives on precision. 5 Point measures every piece it makes. It found a truck that fit the way it works, and a dealer that fit the same way — quietly, exactly, without making the customer do the work.

Custom shops don’t settle for close enough. Neither did this one.