Your job description may fall under various headings; plant maintenance, purchasing agent, technical buyer or plant engineer.
No matter what your position is, your job is not only to keep the production line moving, but improve it, and make it better.
At one point or another during this process, you will eventually require the skills of a custom sheet metal fabrication shop.
Admittedly it can be hard to find a sheet metal shop that can work within your deadlines and scheduled downtime, but with a little work… it can be done.
There is a wide variety of machine shops to select from in any region, and they are all remarkably different.
It stands to reason that small to medium-sized machine shops many times focus on the needs of small to medium-sized businesses.
While larger machine shops tend to cater to, and pursue business from large-scale businesses.
So with all sheet metal fabricating companies being remarkably different, how do you go about choosing a suitable sheet metal fab shop?
Here are 3 tips to get you started.
Sheet Metal Fabrication Requires Experience with a Variety of Metals
Experience with a wide variety of metals is a must.
Working with a variety of metals will require your preferred fabricator to have a wide range of skills.
Each and every component will call for different tolerances, finishes and always have to conform to a certain budget.
And remember, the process for working with stainless steel is much different that the process for working with bronze or aluminum.
So to best serve your company’s manufacturing needs, you would want to select a sheet metal fab company that had experience working with an assortment of metals such as steel, stainless-steel, copper, brass, bronze and aluminum.
Sheet Metal Fabrication Requires a Variety of Equipment
In order to properly work with a wide assortment of metals, the preferred machine shop will have a wide assortment of tools at their disposal that can handle a wide range of metals.
For instance, it takes different tools and techniques when working with steel than it does when working with copper or brass.
You must have the correct tools for the job, whether you are punching steel, drilling aluminum, welding copper, or forming brass.
Each of the above precision manufacturing techniques requires specialized tools, and if you manufacturing partner doesn’t have them, then your facility may suffer the consequences.
But a wide variety of metals and ultra-modern tools will only get you so far, you’re going to need one more thing to put it all together.
Sheet Metal Fabrication Requires Smart and Talented People
It is the job of a custom sheet metal fab shop to attract talent and collect extremely talented people into their organization.
Most modern CNC machining tools are very smart, but they don’t program themselves.
Nor do superior product designs and solutions come to life without help.
It takes a team of designers, CNC programmers, product engineers and craftsmen, all working in unison, to produce quality precision manufactured parts for your business.
If the sheet metal fabrication manufacturer you are considering doesn’t have this combination in place, then perhaps you should reconsider including them on your short list.
Group Manufacturing Services, Inc. (Aajogo) specializes in sheet metal fab and custom CNC machining and can handle short runs and quick turn-around times.
Group Manufacturing Services their preferred manufacturing partner.
Group Manufacturing Services, Inc.