Breaking ground and moving forward

Barnes MetalCrafters' Owner Tim Martin scoping out the land after breaking ground for the new shop.
Photo courtesy of Barnes MetalCrafters.

If you work in a small shop, you know that there are several perks, but you are always looking at the grass on the other side, meaning, in this case, that you want more space to build things and put equipment or material. I have mentioned several times in the past few years that our shop is tight on space. Well, that soon may be a thing of the past, at least until we need to level up … again.

I am proud to announce that my dad, Tim Martin, the owner of Barnes MetalCrafters, has broken ground on a new building. He has known for years that this needed to happen and the time has come. I can’t tell you how many times that someone has come into our shop and said, “Y’all are out of space.” We are asked frequently, “Do you have room to expand on this building?” That answer is no. We fill around 7,000 sq. ft. to the gills with people, equipment, and material. I like to call the routine as playing Tetris with a forklift and carts.

We also have two out of three industrial units next to the shop that we use mainly for storage. Total square footage is about 9,000 to 10,000, and there is no room to add on to our current building.

All the “stuff” seems to fit in our shop, but you have to remember to leave room for the shop truck. We aren’t in the best area of town and have to make sure nothing valuable is left outside when the sun goes down. If you’ve read my earlier post about our notorious theft, then you understand. Other shops likely identify with our need for growth.

We had been looking at buildings around town for several years, but could not find one that fit our needs. They all seemed to have columns every 20 feet or a wall full of roll-up doors. We are trying to move vertically, not sideways. When you look for a new house, everyone says you will know when you’ve found the right one. We didn’t have that luxury, but when we saw the building on paper, we knew it was going to work out.

I remember telling dad that if he expands just a little bit right now, in a short period of time I will be stuck in the same position as he is now when I take the reins. That sounds like I am telling him to bite the bigger bullet now so I can have it easier on my time. But, it is the truth. We have been growing, and if I am here to help make the upgrades and make things happen, then why not go ahead and do it.

My mom, Diana Martin, did not want to hear us talk about this at family gatherings, but I think my dad was pretty set on it. Everyone at the shop knew things were changing. You could feel it. We needed something to break free, and the new building is what is going to help take us to the next level.

I am confident our productivity will increase. We won’t spend nearly as much time moving material around. Everything will have its place, and certain aspects of the business won’t depend on whether it is raining or cold. The plan is to air-condition the whole shop and heat it during the winter. I am looking forward to a comfortable place to work. Not to mention we are going to 25,000 sq. ft. with a couple of loading docks. That is a big change from strapping a cardboard roof to the forklift to keep dry while loading/unloading trucks.

We met with the builder several times to get the site layout established before we worked on the interior layout. Equipment placement and flow were very important. We proposed three different options for the office layout to the architect. He took our ideas and made them come together. We are sheet metal guys. I’m not used to drawing walls and doorways.

After we received the design, dad and I marked it up and changed one key flaw. We did not want to make it easy for customers to come into our office and stroll out to the shop floor. Our current shop is small, and some of the veteran customers and “walk-ins” like to stroll on out there. It bugs the heck out of me, and we have to wrangle them back to the front and figure out what they want.

Land on which Barnes MetalCrafters' new shop will be located.
Photo courtesy of Barnes MetalCrafters.

A lot of our communication is verbal, so we wanted the engineering department to be close to the guys on the floor. Our new office will be set up so that we can see the floor and the majority of what is going on without leaving the office.

The new shop will be much more energy-efficient as well. The plan is to have A/C and duct the laser’s chiller air back into the shop in the winter. We currently deal with some very extreme temperatures, but I would have to say that summer is the worst. I’ve seen temperatures in the low 100s. This high temperature combined with the humidity is pretty bad in the South. Your clothes instantly become a part of you if you break a sweat. So, yes, the new building will be built like a YETI cooler, and the comfortable environment will make everyone more productive.

It has taken a long time to get to the groundbreaking. I would say roughly six months passed since making the process official. Many approvals and much red tape had to be gone through before moving any dirt. I’m sure we still have a lot of work to do on our end, much like picking out decor and fixtures for a new house. We did get to pick out exterior colors recently and went with an overall white with blue corner accents. The building should look clean and sharp.

We also planned ahead and will be able to expand another 20,000 to 25,000 sq. ft. off the backside. It is pretty liberating to see this all come to life, as we have been locked down in our area for a very long time.

Dad has been pretty excited during this whole process. He thinks so far ahead that you almost need to reel him back in and talk about the “now.” That’s not a bad thing. It is nice to think about all of the possibilities with the new building. I for one am very excited. Dad has talked about this for years and I’ve watched it all unfold.

The new location also will knock about 10 minutes off our commute. It’s also fitting that I’m sitting here telling you about this when Father’s Day has just passed. So, Dad, when you are reading this, I just want to say, “Thank You.”

A lot more work still has to be done. It will be worth it in the end knowing that the grass definitely will be greener on the other side. Now, we just have to mow it.