Metal fabrication has many applications, among them structural fabrication commonly involving steel. Often the “bones” of a project, many layers of the project depend on the integrity of the structural steel elements employed and on the fabrication process itself. Choosing a fabricator that will meet the design standards and testing specifications your project requires is critical for the efficient working of your plan.
To evaluate a facility’s fitness for your next structural steel project, substantiate the company’s response to your inquiries with facts. Remembering that your project will rest on the strength of its “bones,” be prepared to look carefully at several critical factors.
Experience
• Ensure that the fabricators are certified to the most recent ISO standards and can meet design specifications.
• Confirm that the operations team has an excellent understanding of the regulations, and industry standards involved.
• Review the company’s portfolio of completed products and assess your level of confidence after contacting several references.
Capability
• Ask about raw material availability and whether the elements needed for your project are in stock or will be ordered. The timeline for obtaining the materials required for the actual fabrication should be clearly and honestly communicated.
• Ask how your project will be handled with respect to personnel assignments and scheduling to evaluate production capability and how your needs will be prioritized.
Service
• Look for quality in customer service, demonstrated by responsiveness to your questions and concerns.
• Evaluate the method by which you will receive updates throughout the fabrication process. Adequate communication from planning to product delivery is essential.
• Look for a record of handling issues decisively and immediately.
Location
• Always consider the logistics associated with getting the finished product delivered to your site.
• Consider how location will affect communication if problems arise.
A proactive approach to decision-making will effect the greatest success in choosing a facility for your structural metal fabrication. Los Angeles, like other metropolitan areas throughout the tremor-prone West Coast, has good reason to expect quality and strict adherence to standards from structural steel fabricators. Your choice, then, has both short term and long range implications.
For a metal fabricator with five decades of experience and a reputation for precision metal fabrication and exemplary service, visit metalsupply.com. Metal Supply Inc. not only maintains a 75,000 square foot warehouse with an immense inventory of metal elements, but also delivers quality fabrication—on time—to clients throughout California. Contact Metal Supply Inc. for all of your metal fabrication needs.
• Confirm that the metal fabrication facility has experience (decades rather than single digit years is best!) with multiple techniques and a variety of designs and materials.