We build marketing from the inside out.
Black Foundry Digital was founded by someone who has spent years inside the manufacturing and industrial services landscape — on the business development, quality, and customer relationship side. That experience changes how we think, how we write, and what we build for clients.
Shane Smith
Shane has spent years inside the manufacturing and industrial services landscape — supporting quality systems, developing customer relationships, building sales processes, and traveling nationally for client meetings, consulting visits, and industry events. He has worked directly with the procurement engineers, quality managers, and project owners who buy and spec industrial services for a living.
That work sits at the intersection of quality assurance, technical sales, and business development: representing industrial service companies, writing capability statements, preparing proposals, and helping technical teams communicate what they do with more clarity. His background also includes hands-on time in inspection and non-destructive testing — the kind of firsthand familiarity that means he doesn't need an industry glossary to write your capabilities sheet.
That path gave him a specific perspective: most industrial companies are far more capable than their marketing suggests. A company with NADCAP approval, AS9100 certification, and 30 years of precision machining experience often has a website that looks like it was built in 2007. That gap between internal capability and external presentation is what Black Foundry was built to close.
Today, Black Foundry Digital builds branding, websites, sales materials, and content systems for the same kinds of companies Shane has worked alongside — companies that do technically demanding, high-stakes work and deserve marketing that reflects it.
Built for companies that do hard, important work.
We work exclusively with industrial, technical, and manufacturing companies. If your work requires precision, qualification, or expertise — and your marketing doesn't reflect that — you're who we built this for.
Machine shops, precision manufacturers, job shops, and contract manufacturers competing on capability and quality.
Structural, custom, and specialty fabricators working to code, spec, or customer qualification requirements.
Level II and Level III shops providing certified inspection services across multiple methods and industry sectors.
AS9100, NADCAP, and Tier 1/2 suppliers that need a digital presence that matches their certification level.
ITAR-registered, DoD-aligned companies supporting military and government programs.
Structural, mechanical, and specialty engineering firms that need clearer positioning and better sales tools.
Field service, maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) companies that sell expertise and reliability.
Subject matter experts and consulting firms that need their credentials and methodology to speak for themselves.
The principles we don't compromise on.
Capable companies deserve credible presentation.
If your company has decades of experience, a stack of certifications, and a track record of delivering precise, high-stakes work — your marketing should communicate that. An outdated website and inconsistent branding create a gap between what you are and what you look like. That gap costs you business.
Marketing should reflect real expertise — not invented personality.
Most industrial companies don't need a brand overhaul or a creative campaign. They need their actual capabilities presented clearly and professionally. We don't invent narratives. We find the truth inside the company — the qualifications, the track record, the process — and build marketing that makes it legible to the people who need to see it.
Design is a business tool, not a decoration.
Every decision we make — layout, typography, color, copy — is in service of a business outcome. Does this website help a procurement engineer make a confident decision? Does this capability statement hold up at a trade show? Does this brand identity communicate stability and precision? If the answer is no, we redesign it.
Industrial buyers deserve to be taken seriously.
The people who buy industrial services are technically sophisticated. They read capability statements, check certifications, and evaluate suppliers with real scrutiny. Generic marketing doesn't move them — and it shouldn't. We build materials that respect the intelligence of the buyer and give them what they actually need to make a decision.
Black Foundry Digital is the first operating division of Black Foundry LLC, a Michigan limited liability company. The current focus is entirely on building and growing Black Foundry Digital.