The prototype for a successful fab shop

There’s certainly no one right way to run a metal fabricating business.

I wrote a note in the December 2015 edition of the “Fabricating Update” e-newsletter about the need for shops to focus on on-time delivery of jobs because that metric is likely the one area where a shop can stand out from nearby competitors. A couple of fabricators responded that they follow the same logic, because when everyone uses similar CAD tools and fabricating technology to produce quality metal parts and assemblies, they are all equal in a sense. Being responsive is the diffentiator.

“We have found the demand for even shorter lead times is often the difference between landing business or not. The ability to provide short lead-time prototype runs usually leads to the larger production runs,” said Tom Felch, J&D Tube Benders, Schofield, Wis.

That statement about prototypes caught my eye only because I know that’s not a universally accepted thought. Some shops want to stay as far away from that business as possible while other small operations focus solely on that work. Such is the nature of the fabricating business.

It was only a few weeks ago that a job shop owner was telling me that he tried to minimize business from companies seeking prototyping assistance. He said he found that the upfront work hardly paid off down the road. His estimator might invest hours in design and back-and-forth tweaks only to see the project disappear like an unclaimed doughnut on a lunch table.

That’s not a bad business strategy: Focus on the customers that provide the largest percentage of the overall business. Small, demanding customers can quickly chew up resources and draw focus away from important revenue-generating activities. Any job shop can share a tale or two about these customer relationships.

But that doesn’t mean the small fish don’t deserve attention. The job shop that takes such work just has to be in a position to handle it.

As its name suggests, J&D Tube Benders is involved in tube bending. When customers knock on the door, they are looking for a specific type of assistance. Felch said that the prototype work is an important part of his shop’s fabricating activity.

“I agree that the prototype orders don’t always turn into production orders. However, refusing to do any prototype work never turns into new work,” he said.

Another certainty in metal fabricating is that no business plan is certain. A prototype shop might expand into full production runs, and tomorrow a large contract manufacturing shop might decide to open a small prototyping operation.

Just add “flexibility” to the list of traits that make for a successful fabricating business.