3 Things To Know When You Select a Sheet Metal Fabrication Company

Virtually every industry uses sheet metal in one form or another, from the most obvious, automotive and aerospace, to the lesser thought of medical devices and consumer products. Regardless of what industry you are in you’ll probably see products that used sheet metal fabrication. And with all the choices of fabricators, how can you best identify the right one for your needs? All sheet metal fabrication companies are not created equal, and here are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind as you evaluate vendors.

Physical Capabilities

The first thing that needs to be considered is the physical capabilities of the vendor you’re considering. It may seem almost too obvious to mention, though there are a number of points to look into in this general area:

What materials is the company able to work with? All manufacturing processes have different requirements, and you’ll need to be certain that the company works with the materials which you need. There is a wide array of sheet metals, including aluminum, brass, copper, nickel, tin, steel, and titanium, and of course each has its own set of properties and needs to be handled and worked differently. Additionally, there are different grades and gauges of each metal. Stainless steel for food preparation is not the same substance as grade of steel used for construction, for example, nor is the tin used in cans worked in the same manner as roofing tin.

• What kind of equipment do they have? Not only is different machinery required to work on various types of metals, but you’ll need to be sure that the company can perform all the processes required to fabricate the products you need. You may be looking for an end product that requires welding, cutting, drilling, forming, punching, as well as assembly and finishing processes like blasting or painting. Not every vendor is equipped for all of these processes on every metal.

 

• And you’ll also need to inquire about the company’s production capacity. This is not as important when you only need to produce one or two parts or tools, but if you’re doing a large run, you’ll certainly want to have some comfort level that the shop can fabricate what you need in your required time frame.

 

 

Skills And Experience

Equipment makes up the infrastructure of the sheet metal fabricator, its bones and muscles, if you will. But that’s only a part of the whole story. You’ll also want to ascertain that they have the talent to do the work you need, and have hands-on experience at it. This is even more true in these days in which the number of skilled tradesmen is dwindling. A good shop will have some method of knowledge retention and transfer, so the skills are passed on to the next “generation” of workers, and this will make them a valued partner for many years to come. It’s also worth inquiring as to their knowledge of current industry standards, codes, safety regulations, etc. This is also an area in which it will be worth your while to look for references or reviews from customers who have worked with this shop before you.

Location

While this is not necessarily as obvious of a concern as some of the others, it shouldn’t be overlooked. With rising cost of fuel (and therefore shipping), this can become an important factor in the overall cost of doing business with a fabricator. It will hold even more weight (no pun intended) if you’re producing large runs, or if you’re shipping directly to clients that are spread out geographically.

In addition to these factors, as always, we can’t stress enough the importance of finding reviews from companies like yours who have hired the a particular sheet metal fabricator for a similar job.