Metal fabrication is a communication business

The more shops I visit, the more I see the value of people as the true differentiator in metal fabricator. Financial hurdles aside, there’s nothing stopping a competitor from buying a similar or identical laser cutting machine or press brake. But you can’t duplicate people.

Still, saying “we need good people” may not get to the heart of the matter. How exactly do you define a “good person”? When I visited DLC Manufacturing & Fabrication in June, I saw people who were well-taught, who knew how to ask the right questions, and who knew how to make a quality product. When the owner is out on business travel, he rarely needs to call back to the office to keep things running smoothly. The knowledge runs deep into the organization.

When I talked to the operators there, something dawned on me. They weren’t experienced. None had any fabrication experience before stepping foot on the shop floor, in the small town of New Ulm in southern Minnesota.

So how did they end up being such good operators? You could argue that they have a good boss, Brent Donner, who has a knack (some would say a gift) for understanding metal fabrication technology, particularly laser cutting. But I’ve visited other shops that hire people without any experience and have success. What do these shops have in common?

The common thread seems to be communication.

Many industry veterans, Donner included, have told me that when they entered the field, they learned what they could by asking questions, but they often concede that industry veterans often don’t share their knowledge very freely. If these veterans know things others don’t, the thinking goes, they have more job security.

But I don’t think it’s as straightforward as that. Communication is a two-way street. To facilitate communication, shops need to match the right rookie with the right industry veteran. Both need to get along and share communication styles.

It’s a very human problem, much more complex than the many technical challenges operators face daily. The shops that overcome this problem, though, will undoubtedly have a leg up in the years to come. When knowledge runs deep in a fab shop, right down to the front lines, a fabricator becomes something that’s truly unique. In a competitive marketplace, that’s a good place to be.