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Content about Barnes MetalCrafters - Page 3
- From The Fabricator
Repeat orders are manna to a job shop
- By Nick Martin
- Nov 29, 2016
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
Job shop business is often cyclical. There are times of feast and famine. Repeat customers and jobs are the lifeblood of most shops. Finding and keeping them is a high priority.
- From The Fabricator
Running a shop in the aftermath of a hurricane
- By Nick Martin
- Oct 26, 2016
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
We hear a lot about disaster preparedness, but sometimes conditions are such that even the best plan isn’t enough. Hurricane Matthew had a devastating effect on many southeastern communities and businesses.
- From The Fabricator
Growing the business within the confines of a small shop
- By Nick Martin
- Sep 26, 2016
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
There’s nothing quite as gratifying to a small-shop owner as seeing healthy capacity levels. However, when limited workspace becomes an impediment to growth, it’s time to think about expanding. Wilson, N.C.-based Barnes MetalCrafters has reached this point.
- From The Fabricator
Poor customer drawings create headaches and costly rework
- By Nick Martin
- Aug 26, 2016
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
Most job shops encounter situations in which the customer provides inadequate drawings and details. You are told, “This is all we have, make it work.” These jobs can be frustrating and costly.
- From The Fabricator
The daily grind in a small fab shop
- By Nick Martin
- Jul 26, 2016
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
A day in a small fabricating shop seldom follows a linear progression. Many things vie for attention, and the ability to multitask comes in handy.
- From The Fabricator
Learning a process is an ongoing process
- By Nick Martin
- Jun 30, 2016
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
How does your shop train new hires and current employees? It takes ingenuity to train while keeping a small shop humming. Here’s how Barnes MetalCrafters does it.
- From The Fabricator
Voting workers off the island
- By Nick Martin
- May 25, 2016
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
Working in a job shop or any small, tightknit organization requires attributes beyond job skills. If you don’t measure up, you might find yourself voted off the island and out the door.
- From The Fabricator
Fabricating a copper chimney cap
- By Nick Martin
- Apr 27, 2016
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
Custom fabricating shops bid all kinds of jobs. Sometimes these jobs involve materials and processes beyond those the shop typically encounters. They make for interesting work that can require brushing up on little-used skills. Building a copper chimney cap was just such a job for Barnes MetalCrafters, one that resulted in a beautiful, functional work of art.
- From The Fabricator
Restoring the USS North Carolina—sharing history with friends
- By Nick Martin
- Mar 23, 2016
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
Think Facebook is the ultimate time-waster? Nick Martin’s Facebook connection to an old classmate and fellow soccer teammate led to an important job preserving history for Barnes MetalCrafters. It also provided a learning opportunity, as many fabricating jobs do.
- From The Fabricator
Be wary of customers that take advantage
- By Nick Martin
- Feb 24, 2016
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
Attracting new customers is an important part of keeping a custom fabricating shop in business. However, be wary of the customer that continually takes advantage of your willingness to produce a small quantity of parts on short notice and sends the larger jobs elsewhere. Remember, you can’t keep calling the same buddy to pull you out of the mud and never invite him to the party.
- From The Fabricator
A job to remember
- By Nick Martin
- Jan 26, 2016
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
Custom fabricators get some unusual requests, both in terms of the job itself and the timeline for completion. Sometimes they go the extra mile to “do the right thing.”
- From The Fabricator
Fabricator wannabees tell us how it’s done
- By Nick Martin
- Dec 16, 2015
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
Continuing a theme explored by Josh Welton in a previous post on thefabricator.com, Nick Martin shares his experience exhibiting his shop’s custom products at festivals and farmer’s markets.
- From The Fabricator
When a machine goes down
- By Nick Martin
- Dec 2, 2015
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
When a machine goes down in a job shop, work can grind to a halt. Getting that machine in working order becomes priority one, and time is of the essence.
- From The Fabricator
Working with “family”
- By Nick Martin
- Oct 28, 2015
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
What is family? In a job shop, it’s more than your kinfolk and, sometimes, more than human.
- From The Fabricator
Underbidding—it happens
- By Nick Martin
- Sep 24, 2015
- Shop Management
- Blog Post
Underbidding happens in all shops. Here’s a true shop story about an underbid job and lessons learned.