Moving into metal manufacturing

By Emma Peterson. 

Four areas to consider before making the move into sheet metal forming and bending. 

The metal industry is growing with each day, and it is a lucrative market to jump into. But there are considerations before making the leap, which Ken McLauchlan and Chad Rowe went over in the RoofersCoffeeShop® Lunch & Learn! Ken is MetalForming’s vice president of architectural sales and Chad is their outside sales rep and they highlighted four key areas to think about before joining the metal market. 

1 - Market 

Identifying your market is the first step to joining this sector of the industry. As Ken explained, “You really start by dissecting what your market is, who your customer is, whether it's yourself, whether it's an outside supplier, whether it's a vendor that you're dealing with or whether it's custom fabrication.” 

2 - Operations and space 

From there, you have to figure out what you can do operations-wise. Operations includes things like delivery routes and schedules, but it all begins with the physical space you have, Chad explained, “There's a lot of steps in between and space is a vital piece, ask yourself, ‘What can I do in my operations based on that space?’” Ken added, “Ask yourself, ‘Am I doing this in my location or do I have to do this on a job site? Do I have to have the flexibility? Do I have space?’” 

3 - Finances  

It's important to make sure your financial systems are properly planned out. One of the big advantages of working in the industry today is the portability and customization options available for finance programs. Ken explained, “Most successful contractors have an accounting system. It’s important to see how that ties into their other systems. Do they want to have something they can import details into, rather than just carry out?"  

4 - Labor 

The last area they highlighted was the labor involved in the sheet metal industry. The technological shifts that have pushed the financial part of this business have also affected this area. Ken explained, “30 years ago there was a lot of math that was involved back then and a lot of layout that was done by hand and building templates. In today's world, there's software solutions that can help that contractor do what they need to do.” Finding the right programs and people with the knowledge of how to check and operate them is key to a successful entry to the metal roofing industry.  

Read the transcript or Watch the full Lunch and Learn to find out more about getting into the sheet metal industry!