In defense of the wall between sales and production in metal fabrication

Besides capacity, job shops sell their ability to overcome technical challenges. In an indirect way, the wall between sales and production helps everyone push the envelope and tackle those challenges head-on. Getty Images

I recently spoke with a production manager at a custom precision sheet metal fabricator in the Midwest—the kind of operation where plus or minus 0.005 in. is par for the course—and he had an intriguing insight. He conceded that there was a bit of a “wall” between his sales team in the office and his production team in the fab shop. They collaborated, of course, but overall, his company kept the two areas somewhat separate.

That was fine with him. He preferred the separation, in fact. I asked him why. I mean, wouldn’t any manufacturing operation want seamless collaboration between design, engineering, and manufacturing—no metaphorical walls or silos to be found?

Let’s say a company doesn’t have in-house fabrication, so it explores its options. If certain components are fabricated or assembled in a way that differentiates the product in the marketplace, then the company could partner with a custom fabricator to work through the fabrication challenges. Beyond these components, though, the OEM would work to make all sheet metal components as easy to make as possible with equipment available at virtually every metal fabricator. Simpler fabrication gives the company more supplier options.

I told this story to that job shop production manager, and, well, he had a good laugh. It’s a great theory, he said, but real life is messier—and this is where that wall between sales and production plays an important role.

First, my story assumes that we live in a world where designers, engineers, and buyers at all levels of the supply chain know their way around sheet metal and other aspects of manufacturing. They don’t. In fact, the buyers and engineers with decades of sheet metal experience are retiring.

Second, the ability to work with customers on design-for-manufacturability (DFM) sounds great in theory, but it’s rare in practice, at least in certain sectors. Part of this has to do with the nature of the sales function. A salesperson with technical expertise might suggest a design alternative, if he senses the customer is open to options. But a salesperson also might avoid talking about DFM if he sees it hindering his ability to win bids for work. If a salesperson doesn’t win work, he’s not doing his job. And if a shop’s sales pipeline dries up, it’s in serious trouble.

This reminded me of another recent conversation I had with Jason Ray, co-founder of Paperless Parts, about sales and estimating departments establishing “guardrails” defining jobs that fit the fabricator’s sweet spot. The guardrails widen and narrow depending how the shop’s capabilities evolve and how busy the floor is at a given time. A slow shop floor can absorb the scheduling uncertainties of a challenging job, but that same job can throw a major wrench into the works of a busy shop floor. The best custom fabricators work to keep those guardrails as wide as possible. The guardrails might narrow a bit during busy times, but not by much. Regardless, that ability to keep the guardrails wide helps a custom fabricator’s reputation and sets it apart from the pack.

In a way, the metaphorical wall between sales and production keeps everyone pushing those guardrails apart. Sure, the wall can’t be too tall; production and sales need to communicate. But they need to reach outside their comfort zones too. A job shop that can perform manufacturing miracles—without a ridiculous amount of overtime or costly waste—sets itself apart.

An OEM sells products. So what do sheet metal job shops sell? It’s more than just reliable manufacturing capacity. It’s their ability to handle just about anything (within reason) that’s thrown over the wall to production—a wall that, at least indirectly, helps both sales and production push the envelope and grow the business.