Fabrication versus the service tail

Definition

One-time fabrication against the recurring maintenance and repair on everything already installed.

Why It Matters

The service tail, not the fabrication, is the durable half. Recurring maintenance on an installed base is stickier and better margin than winning the next build, and it does not disappear when construction slows. Ask how much of the installed base is under a service agreement rather than called on when something breaks, because those are different businesses, and only one of them is predictable enough to lend against.