While detail components make up the lowest tonnage of most fabrication workloads, structural steel processing and detailing consistently demands the highest amount of labor to ensure quality. This is often the case for steel supports with intermediate levels that must integrate seamlessly with other components, such as stairs, hoppers, chutes, silos, stacks, and other varieties of steel tank support systems.
To save man hours and increase project cost efficiency, many steel manufacturers, fabricators, builders, utilities, and suppliers prefer to outsource their structural steel processing to a custom metal fabricator with in-house processing automation and detailing expertise.
This article will dive into some of the specific benefits of outsourcing structural steel fabrication processes, including how a custom metal fabricator can save you and your customers time and money.
1: Outsource Structural Steel Processing to Shorten Lead Times
Many of your customers demand nearly 99% accuracy to meet their exact fabrication specifications, which is why structural steel processing takes so much time and effort.
Fortunately, Southern Metal Fabricators can serve as your off-site structural processing center to increase precision and fabrication efficiency for even your most niche structural support projects. Our in-house automation and custom metal fabrication techniques are designed to shorten lead times for processes such as:
- CNC drilling and sawing automation for beams, channels, base plates, stairs, platforms, and ladders
- Railing production, including CNC plasma pipe cutting for handrail segments and complete handrail systems
- Custom sheet metal fabrication and plate production, including laser metal cutting for thin-gauge material cuts or precise features
- Punching and shearing automation, along with other angle and flat line production
Plus, our engineers can save you valuable time by assessing and completing your structural steel drawings per your customers’ needs and specifications. Then your staff can spend more time on the execution of your next project.
2: Get Faster, Higher Quality Output With 3D Modeling Services
When it comes to structural steel fabrications and components, precise processing often requires the ability to read and understand 2D and 3D drawings. Southern Metal Fabricators’ experienced detailers can navigate CAD, 3D modeling, and CAM (computer-aided manufacturing) software to gauge the most time efficient processing method for your support structures and components.
This 3D modeling and engineering expertise is key to ensuring everyone working on your steel project is on the same page to make any needed design optimizations. The goal is to create a virtual walk-through model of your finished product before fabrication actually begins. This prevents mistakes and miscommunications down the road that can negatively impact quality.
Note that your detailer should also be familiar with your industry's compliance standards for durability and safety, especially if the fabricated end product is going to be used as part of a construction project. OSHA, AISC, bearing limits, and other regulatory requirements must all be top of mind for a good detailer.
3: Outsource Processing Automation to Accelerate Production Timelines
Before you outsource your structural steel processing, you want to make sure that your fabrication partner has the in-house automation to deliver a high level of precision, even for large volume detailing. For example, Southern Metal Fabricators can help you move your product out faster while increasing precision for every detailed component with our full suite of processing automation, including:
- The Peddinghaus Anglemaster AFPS-643/Q, the manufacturing and fabrication industry standard for automating angle and flat line production
- The Peddinghaus XDM-630, designed to accelerate CNC drilling, sawing, and materials processing
- The TRUMPF 3030 FiberMetal for precise, labor-saving laser cutting and sheet/plate production
- The Bend-Tech Dragon A400, the automated CNC plasma tube and pipe-cutting solution for accelerated railing production
Plus, your structural steel fabrication partner should have the capacity for large-scale productions and niche detailing. Southern Metal Fabricators’ state-of-the-art facility includes a 100,000-square-foot high bay with 2-ton, 3-ton, and 10-ton overhead cranes, along with five acres of lay-down yard and a 35-ton mobile gantry.
4: Reduce CapEx and Infrastructure Costs for Growing Your Business
Outsourcing your structural steel processing to a custom metal fabricator is one way you can reduce CapEx and infrastructure costs normally associated with expanding the scope of your business.
Processing automation can dramatically increase your company’s capacity to take on new structural steel work, including both high-volume production runs and custom supports for structural steel projects. As noted above, Southern Metal Fabricators’ full fleet of industry-leading automation can serve as your off-site resource for materials processing and your custom structural steel projects.
For example, our Bend-Tech Dragon A400 is the automated CNC plasma tube and pipe-cutting solution to save you time and money for railing production. This makes it possible for you to outsource all of structural projects such as:
- Handrails, segments and complete handrail systems
- Platforms and stairs that require handrails
- Any cutting for carbon, stainless steel, galvanized steel and aluminum
In addition to saving valuable time and labor, automation solutions like these can dramatically increase precision and quality for all your structural steel processing. This is especially the case when partner with an experienced custom metal fabricator who can help you find ways to improve your structural steel design quality,
5: Get More Quality Control Over Your Structural Steel Processing
Details matter in structural steel processing, especially when it comes to overseeing quality. A reputable custom metal fabricator should be able to help ensure quality control throughout the entire metal fabrication process, including materials handling.
Southern Metal Fabricators’ in-house quality control program can help you and your customers get a better return on each structural steel fabrication investment. Just a few of our quality control processes include:
- Conducting safety quality checks from design to installation
- Process documentation to keep a check on costs, labor, and efficiency
- Helping to ensure OSHA compliance, such as for access ladders and staircases
- Proactively communicating with all parties to ensure consistency and reliability
- Inspections and drawings for specifications, welding procedures
Our quality control program is integral to how we approach every project, from regularly updating our QC manual in accordance with industry standards to innovating new ways to improve our QC procedures.
This focus on quality is how Southern Metal Fabricators approaches every structural steel processing project. Visit our structural steel fabrication page to learn more benefits from outsourcing your next detailing or processing project. Or give us a chance to say, “Yes, we can do that!” by contacting us today.
