Every smart business owner wants to reduce costs wisely in order to improve profits. And really, no business owner wants to waste money. If metal fabrication is an expensive line item for your business, then saving money will be important to you—but not by utilizing low-quality materials or by using fabricators who produce shoddy, compromised work.

Benefits of Metal Fabrication

The metal fabrication industry has become a significant factor across many industries and consumer products, including automotive, aerospace, construction and energy. It offers ideal processes for creating single items to high-volume production runs, including:

• Efficient production processes.
• Products that are highly durable.
• Products that can be highly precise.
• Processes that can use different metal materials, in different shapes and thicknesses.
• Processes that include excellent project design for specific functional purposes.

What to Look for in a Metal Fabrication Company

When you are looking for a metal fabrication company, review the following key areas, then choose wisely in order to engage with the most cost-effective production partner:

• Go for reputation. In this industry, quality and longevity are very important.
• Go for experience with both depth and range of production skills. Look at the credentials of their designers, engineers, and fabricators. Review past projects that will be relevant to you.
• Consider the range of equipment available to produce your project. Is it up to date for optimum production efficiency? What production capabilities and functions are available to you?
• Identify how the company is structured to service your needs.
• Ask how much consultative insight they will bring to your projects.
• Evaluate the size of their workforce, relative to your needs.
• Review the types of materials that they can use.
• Ask about their design services and capabilities.
• Ask about their approach to pricing.

Ways to Reduce Costs on Your Next Metal Fabrication Project

Here are important ways to reduce costs and save money on your next metal fabrication project:

• Choose a local company that can meet your needs. This will save you time and can save significantly on shipping costs.
• Find a fabricator who has cutting-edge equipment and production skills, as well as the range of equipment that can produce all of your needs.
• Select a fabricator who can meet your production needs in one stop, instead of job-hopping to get parts and pieces done elsewhere.
• Choose a fabricator who has superb design skills. That will make your production more cost-efficient as well as getting the work done at a better total cost.

Consider the materials that you use:

• Material selection is a significant cost driver.
• Can you save money on a standard thickness or standard stock size?

Consider if there are ways to simplify production design:

• Can you simplify folds, bends or design shape?
• Can you reduce any tolerances?

Get the advice of your metal fabrication partner regarding any appropriate design or functional cost-saving ideas.

Seek Proven Expertise for Your Metal Fabrication Needs

Contact Velocity Metalworks, serving the Greater St. Louis area and the Midwest. We have been recognized as a valuable partner in the metal fabrication industry for our strong tool design and build competency. With our metal stamping capacity, precision machining services and EDM capacity, we provide the superior experience and range of precision equipment to meet your needs. Further, our design and engineering team has extensive training and experience which enables us to tackle the most challenging assignments.