How Contract Metal Fabricators can be a solution to small business and manufacturers.

What do Metal Fabricators Do and How to Choose One!

 

Metal fabrication is the business of producing metal parts, components, and products out of metal. In business and manufacturing it is sometimes better to subcontract part of your work to a company that can more affordably produce the part or product you need. Small businesses may find they made need a shelf, rack, or cart to better run their operations and many find that generic standard products don’t solve their problem.

Enter the contract metal fabricator turning sheet metal into usable products not only requires the right set of tools and equipment but employees skilled and experienced in how to combine various operations and processes into a finished quality product. There are many factors in metal fabrication that most of us are not aware of and don’t realize the impact the create. Good metal fabricators take the time to understand not only the product you need made but how you are going to use it and make recommendations on how to best produce the item.

Some of the processes metal fabricators use include:

  • Metal Cutting or Shearing
  • Laser Cutting for thinner materials and Plasma Cutting for thicker materials
  • Bending (using a brake press) or Stamping (a hydraulic or mechanical press that shapes metal)
  • Machining (Typically CNC Machining) which removes material to make the shape or dimension accurate to the print.Painting and Powder Coating provides a protective and attractive finish to the final product.

How to Choose a Good Metal Fabricator!

As John Nelson from NSMC points out in our pod cast, you need to do your homework. Go to their websites, look up reviews on Google, and look at testimonial of clients who use them and contact them. Another key element that shows documented quality is an ISO 9001 2015 certification certificate. These certificates document that the certified company not only has met all the required quality certificates but is continually audited by an independent auditor to ensure their processes, inspections and documentation all meet the certification requirements. It’s a standard that is recognized throughout the industry and demonstrates a high level of commitment in process improvement.

A good metal fabricator should also ask you questions about what you want done, they should be able to provide an estimate and timeline for the work requested and may even offer recommended options or modifications to improve your part or product. Most contract metal fabricators employee a team of estimators who can work out all the details prior to your acceptance of the quote.

A good fabricator will also know when to say, “that’s not something we produce” and be upfront and honest. Great fabricators will understand what you need and offer alternative metal fabricators that may specialize in the process or part you are looking to have made.


 

Many Thanks to John Nelson, President Nelson Sales & Marketing: https://nsmc-steel-racks.com/index.html