Barnes MetalCrafters makes the big move to its new metal fabrication facility

The Barnes MetalCrafters' Cincinnati press brake is moved out of its old shop in Wilson, N.C., in preparation to haul it over to the metal fabrication company's new facility. The business had been previously operating out of its old shop for 50 years.

The move to a new facility has been brewing for quite a while. We’ve seen the new building come to life. Eventually, we knew we were going to have to make the leap and cut the chords from the old building. But it never really hits home until it actually happens. Well that day came, and we took everything in stride.

Maybe it was just in my head, but I kept telling myself that the move was not going to be as bad as other people said it would be. I knew it was going to be a lot of work, but you will never know until you have that experience. Equipment (big and small), office equipment, junk, junk, more junk, and materials beyond what we ever knew we had. Throw in a few dead mice and a 50 years’ worth of dirt and dust in every nook and cranny, and you will have the move of Barnes MetalCrafters.

Honestly, any job shop that has been at one location for a long period of time goes through the same thing when they move.

The weekend before the big move we decided to move the office. Our intent was to get as much of the bigger stuff out of the office, leaving only our computers, phones, and a printer behind. We reached out to friends and family to see if they would be interested in helping. Luckily, we had several volunteers that showed up and took a load of stress off our shoulders. With four trucks, three trailers, and a van, you can accomplish quite a bit. We made four trips with loaded pallets. There were several comical moments which is usually what happens when other people go through your stuff.

If one thing stuck out on that day, it would be a secret mission to outfit my Dad’s office with furniture. We had a secret “ca-caw” signal that meant to meet in the warehouse next door to get a large desk ready for my dad’s office. If you’ve ever been to the shop, you know that my Dad has quite the pile of documents, catalogs, and business cards on a fold-out table. The kind of table you would see at a picnic or church function. He’s not ashamed of it, but we had to put our foot down. This was not coming to the new facility.

We had all the stuff we needed in place at the new facility, so we used a decoy to get him to the other side of the building. With him occupied, we managed to get his office completely setup without him knowing. When the time came to show him, he was happy about it. It was quite strange seeing him sit at a real desk with his paperwork at least semi-organized.

As for the big move, the riggers came on a Monday morning. When they needed to move machine equipment, our guys were not ready to unplug. They were trying to work ahead and probably didn’t have a real date in mind for when they would be making parts again. Our goal was to get as much stuff done as possible in preparation of being down for at least a week. Truth be told, we lost about three weeks of production in the end.

On the first load were our press brake, the welding robot, and shear. We had plenty of parts waiting on the press brake, so this was our biggest priority. The new shop was only a few miles away, so the riggers were quick to get the machines off-loaded and spotted in their new home. Meanwhile back at the shop, our guys were welding away; doing anything they could with welders and hand tools.

When I say “spotted,” I want to emphasize how important it is to have your shop layout done ahead of time. We did make some small changes on the fly. For the most part, though, the operation flow was well thought out by nearly everyone that works at Barnes. We had duct tape on the floor for our major machines that couldn’t be moved without riggers. Seeing the tape helped get a feel for how things were going to look before it was too late. You can look at an overhead view on a computer screen or drawing all day long but sometimes you need to see it come to life.

For power, we had the electricians lined up to be there first thing that Tuesday morning. They had a good jump on everything, and we had the press brake stroking after lunch time. That was a relief for everyone.

Barnes MetalCrafters' bulk oxygen tank is crane-lifted onto a trailer.

The laser was a bit more of a task than just pulling the plug and picking it up. The manufacturer had a guy fly into prep the machine for the move. He would eventually stick around the remainder of the week and weekend to make sure we were properly up and running.

The riggers were with us from Monday to Thursday, and pretty much got everything that we couldn’t put on a trailer of our own. They handled our bulk tanks, ironworker, large fabrication tables, chiller, and the dust collector.

The dust collector was an interesting challenge since they had to back a huge crane down a muddy alley next to the shop. They picked up the dust collector and laid it down on a flatbed trailer. Things went smoothly until the crane rolled away, leaving some pretty fun looking ruts. They ended up having to get the lull to pull it out. Maybe it was the redneck side of me coming out, but I enjoyed seeing that.

During all the moving excitement we got as much office work done as possible during the first couple of days. But it turned out to be kind of pointless. I say pointless because whatever work we threw out to the shop wasn’t going to make much progress since we were going to be shut down for several days. So, my Dad, Doug Teets, and I ran trailer loads back and forth between shops. While we were gone, the guys would get as much stuff prepped as possible being sure to wrap anything loose in cellophane.

To make things easier on everybody, we rented another forklift for loading and unloading. There were several contractors on site at the new shop, running air lines, gas lines, power, and ductwork. I think at one point we had six rented JLG lifts being used throughout the shop. They were everywhere. To be honest, I never knew how annoying and loud they were until there was a constant beeping sound coming from all angles of the shop. But, to be honest, I’d rather listen to beeping instead of nothing getting done.

Although we are still not fully done with the move, I think the final step is going to be the hardest part. The old shop is like a morgue. It is so eerie when you walk in, see no activity, and smell the dead air. We’d been pumping parts out of there for a long time. We have some material and other odds-and-ends left. We technically don’t have to be out of the old shop right away, but we need to just complete the task. We have a lot to look forward to at the new building. It’s kind of like the last episode of Cheers except our new shop is like going to a better bar with better antics and better beer (and more of it).

We are looking at the positive side of this. And as we get acclimated, I look forward to sharing plenty of the lessons learned along the way. Hopefully it could benefit you in your current shop or the path to a different one.

All in all, it was a good experience.

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