Everything you look at only fills half your needs. You’ve got a tight budget and tighter timetable. Nothing quite fits.
Does this sound like you? While a stock piece is standardized and available almost immediately, a custom fabrication can meet 100% of your needs.
Custom fabrications have increased useful life since they can be customized to the environment and particular wear pattern. Backward compatible for machinery no longer in production, non-standard processes? No problem.
Are you sure that custom fabrication is what your business needs? Then you need to choose the right company to make what you need. Here’s the breakdown of what to look for in the right custom machine shop.
What’s Their Experience?
You want someone who can execute your ideas or reverse-engineer a worn piece. For that, you need someone with practical experience in your field, whether it is an oil-rig or hospital. There isn’t a field manual for pieces that don’t exist in catalogs.
Experienced metal fabricators know their materials and techniques. They can recommend solutions and handle customization with efficiency. More experience means fewer errors.
Check Their Work
Get to know the quality of a company’s work by checking out their portfolio. Talk to past customers and view past projects. You want to know about the durability and quality of their custom fabrication.
What is their safety record and how do they handle remanufacturing critical parts? It will also give you an idea of how they handle the specs of individual designs and their capacity for large or small size jobs.
Capacity for Work
Can your fabricator build in the material you need? What kind of machinery do they use? For high-quality steel welds that lives depend on, no one wants to see a 90 amp Home Depot special! The right tools and technique can mean lives.
Location is relevant. Consider fuel costs and control over your fabrication. Will you be able to communicate with your machine shop? How quickly can your shop turnaround? Will time and distance affect your costs?
Get to Know the People
You want a long-term relationship with your company. Each project is unique and your business is like no other. You want a metal fabricator who recognizes that!
Compare Quotes For Custom Fabrication
Of course, you have to follow procedures and get quotes from many shops. For the best possible outcome, you want a custom fabrication shop that can give you what you need, at a reasonable price, and on your timeline.
Take the time to get to know your vendor and their capabilities before deciding on price alone.
For more interesting and informative articles, keep reading our blog. If you want to know more about the most qualified and experienced metal machining and fabrication shop, contact your Kor-Pak representative today.