7 Ways to Reduce Manufacturing Costs With a Sheet Metal Fabricator

Here’s a shocker: There are manufacturers around who actually want you to pay less for their sheet metal fabrication services. Before your head starts spinning, you should know they won’t lose anything in the deal. In fact, they’re better off if they reduce manufacturing costs for you because their processes get more efficient and they’re in a position to get more business.

To Reduce Manufacturing Costs, Just Ask

Here are seven questions to ask your sheet metal fabricator to get the best deal:

1. Does the fabricator offer all the services you need under one roof?

It’s not hard to see why consolidating services saves costs. After all, metal fabrication requires at least six steps:

• Obtaining raw materials
• Design
• Finishing
• Assembly
• Packaging
• Shipping

If you can have one company, as opposed to six companies, perform these steps, you’ve not only cut your costs, but also your headaches.

2. Are efficiencies designed into the product?

Not all designers -- even those with the best intentions, imaginations, and skills -- understand the fabrication process well enough to design for the greatest production efficiency. They need someone on the “inside” to help.

For example, these are some factors a designer who fully understands a fabricator’s capabilities will look at:

• Gauge: Standard sheet metal gauges are generally best, but thicker gauges can
  
  
• Folds: Are they highly complex? If so, they’re more expensive. Simple bends are better; small bends on thicker parts are not.
  
  
• Bend direction: Reorienting bends is costly.
  
  
• Tolerances: The tighter the tolerances, the more expensive it is to meet them. Tight tolerances are necessary, of course, but it’s best to limit them when doing so won’t affect product performance.
  
  
  

3. Are production processes as efficient as possible?

The most efficiently designed product can fall prey to production inefficiencies and lose its cost-saving potential. Signs of high production efficiency to look for include:

• Tooling that operates with little downtime for maintenance
• Automation used where possible to avoid high labor costs
• Up-to-date, state-of-the-art equipment, including lasers
  
  
  

4. Does the fabricator use the most cost-effective materials for the job?

If a fabricator thinks another metal than the one you choose might work better, listen. If you picked the most expensive because it must be best, your fabricator might suggest a cheaper option that will work just as well.

Your manufacturer might also be able to make a less expensive grade of metal better. There are secondary processes that make metals stronger.

5. Are materials being used most efficiently?

Waste reduction saves money. For a few years now, lean manufacturing has been growing in stature. The processes involved can be as simple as finding ways to get more product out of a piece of metal or as complicated as retooling and entire production facility.

Whatever the strategy, the savings can add up quickly, for both manufacturer and customer.

6. Will the manufacturer work with you to achieve volume production?

Making more components at one time saves considerable coin over doing short runs because volume production eliminates the need for repeated setup.

Your manufacturer should be more than willing to help you find ways to produce your product in larger quantities at once. It allows the manufacturer to take on more jobs and lowers costs for both of you.

7. How about loyalty discounts?

You can get a free cup of coffee at your local Starbucks if you spend enough money. Why shouldn’t the same hold true at your local sheet metal manufacturer?

Once you’ve found the manufacturer you want, ask about a repeat-customer break.

Look for More Ways to Save

The seven suggestions made here are not meant to be the be-all-end-all. There are certainly other ways to reduce manufacturing costs. But it's a good start.

Want to know more? Go to the source. Talk to a sheet metal fabrication company.