The Right Time For a New Equipment Investment

I am happy to say that after years of financial stagnation, we are finally taking steps toward growth with our first major equipment investment in years. Business has increased to a point where this decision makes sense, but that is not the reason we are taking on the risk of a major investment. The company has been mulled in a soup of non-growth for many years and it was time to start taking advantage of sexy interest rates and tax breaks to help the business move forward. Currently we are in the process of purchasing a new table plasma cutting system for our little sheet metal fabrication job shop. This would be our biggest equipment investment in many years. However, it would increase our production greatly and make it possible to search out bigger projects in the residential HVAC sheet metal fabrication markets locally. Seeing as our shop doesn't weld and has never owned a handheld plasma cutting machine, we are a bit green when it comes to dealing with consumables and pneumatic tools. The learning process will be educational, very interesting and eventually profitable.

Having the ability to decrease cut time and waste will make fabricating fittings like cold air boots, trunk duct reducers and custom transitions far easier and profitable for our micro-business. After hemming and hawing for a few months we finally took the leap and started heavily researching our new equipment investment.

I, as a business owner, want to create jobs in my community, but in order to make this happen the machinery needed to come first. I need to know I can bring in new business in order to keep a new employee working. The company is not in a position to do this just yet. Increasing productivity first was the most economical way for the company to reach some short and long term goals.

The quoting process is near completion and financing is on the horizon. Best case scenario would be  a initial equipment investment in our new plasma cutting table within a month or so, hopefully having everything installed by the end of the year. Hoping my optimism continues through the process.

Fingers X'd

 

Our HVAC Sheet Metal Fabrication Custom Job Shop Machinery & Equipment

Yesterday I posted the newest video to our YouTube page, showing the various machines we use for fabrication in our HVAC sheet metal custom job shop.

 

Here is a list of what we currently use to fabricate HVAC sheet metal ductwork and fittings.

K & E Sheet Metal Custom Job Shop Equipment:

Sheet Metal Bending

  • (2) 8’ wide manual brakes with bending capability up to 16 gauge mild steel
  • (2) 30” wide hand bench top brakes
  • (1) Cheek bender with 24” bend length & 22 gauge mild steel capacity
  • (1) 30” wide cleat bender with 20 gauge mild steel capacity

Sheet Metal Forming

  • (1) Fourplex Roll Former with button lock and slip/drive capabilities. up to 22 gauge
  • (2) Pittsburgh machines with 22 gauge capacity
  • (1) 36” wide manual rolls with 22 gauge capacity
  • (1) Tabletop Easy Edger with 22 gauge capacity

Sheet Metal Cutting

  • (1) 52” wide foot operated shear with 16 gauge mild steel capacity
  • (1) Bench top hand operated shear up to 20 gauge
  • multiple hand operated long handle and aviation snips

Note: We DO NOT have any welding capabilities

Building Ductwork With Your Hands

Well, we don't go about building ductwork completely with our hands, but when it comes to fabricating a section of trunk duct for installation, our method is as close to handmade as one might get. Most of the mass produced sections of trunk ductwork and duct fittings are fabricated by machines with giant coils of sheet metal that are mechanically fed. Many of the laborers in these shops are there to monitor and assemble the sections or pieces as they come off the line.

Here at K & E Sheet Metal, building ductwork is a little different. The steps we use to fabricate a section of straight trunk ductwork are old school to most of the fabricators you will come across these days.

So where does the whole process start?

Bingo! You guessed it...

Flat_Galvanized_Sheet_Metal
Flat_Galvanized_Sheet_Metal

We start with a sheet of metal. Our shop is equipped with 26 gauge galvanized sheets of metal that we keep on two separate benches in the shop. For this example we will be using a 48" x 96" sheet of 26 gauge galvanized sheet metal that we have placed on our bench of the same size.

All of our galvanized sheet metal is shipped from the Albany, NY area and needs to be unloaded by hand when it gets to our fabrication shop. We have a table that can be rolled to the front of the shop for unloading, then rolled to each of our tables where it is again, hand distributed to each.

Once the sheets of metal are situated evenly on the tables we can start the process of building ductwork needed for installation.

Hand Tools of The Trade

Sheet_Metal_Hand_Tools
Sheet_Metal_Hand_Tools

No one is ignorant enough to think we can actually cut the sheets of metal with our hands, so obviously some tools are needed to help with this task. For our shop, we use straight cut tin snips for the long cuts, across the metal to cut out flat sheet that will form each L-shape of straight trunk ductwork. If the section was an 20" x 8" x 48" section, we would measure over 20" plus 1/4" for the larger and then from that newly formed line we measure over 9" to  complete the pattern for a half section of straight trunk ductwork.

Why the added 1/4" and 1" you may ask? Well, the 1/4" added to the 20" measurement is for a 1/4" ninety degree bend with our 8' wide manual hand brake and the 1" added to the 8" measurement is for the process of a formed Pittsburgh joint. We will get to both these processes as the post progresses.

We mark the lines necessary in this process with a scribe or awl that etches a fine mark for cutting with the straight tin snips. Once our lines are formed, we make our cut on the second mark that we made because this will eventually be formed into an L-shape of custom straight trunk ductwork. Cutting on the line is crucial and comes with much practice, not to mention building the forearm muscle for making the cuts day after day.

After the main blank of flat sheet metal is cut we can now mark the corners for notching with the proper aviator snips and hand notching tool. The top and bottom of the flat sheet receive a 1" etched scribe all the way across, while the longer, 48" sides get a 1/4" etched scribe on the left side and a 1" etched scribe on the right. After marks are made, each corner and center line--the 20 1/4" mark--are notched for proper loading into the brake and Pittsburgh forming machines.

Rise of The Machines

Our business can be trying enough because we continue to fabricate with an older method. However, the task would be almost impossible if we bent and riveted the straight trunk ductwork with hand tools. Because we are running a business, getting the product to our customers as quick as possible is still a priority, so the rise of some simple machinery is paramount.

Pittsburgh_Cross_Section
Pittsburgh_Cross_Section

Before going any further we should probably chat about the anatomy of a section of trunk ductwork L-shapes. Each L-section has a 1/4" bend and a formed Pittsburgh bend. The 1/4" bend is just a simple 90 degree bend, formed with the brake and it's primary function is to fit inside the marrying Pittsburgh joint.

Pittsburgh_Machine
Pittsburgh_Machine

The Pittsburgh joint is made by hand feeding the flat metal--cut earlier--into what is called a Pittsburgh machine, hence the name. Building ductwork is almost impossible without one of these glorious machines. When the sheet metal is fed through the rollers, the machine creates a pocket with a 1/4" extension that will later be hammered over to form the lock that assembles the finished section of straight trunk ductwork.

Before we do either of the aforementioned bending and feeding, we place the flat sheet metal inside the jaw of our 8' wide manual hand brake to ever so slightly bend a crisscross pattern on the larger, 20" section of the flat sheet metal. After complete, we hand carry over to the Pittsburgh machine and feed the 1" notched, 48" long side through the machine rollers, making sure to keep the flat sheet metal against the fence fixated on the Pittsburgh machine to keep the sheet straight and true.

Brake
Brake

After the Pittsburgh joint is formed we go back over to the hand brake and line up the jaw with our 1/4" scribe'd line that is opposite the Pittsburgh joint. When all is aligned we hand bend and "brake" the sheet metal 90 degrees to form our 1/4" bend. The jaw is opened and we slide the sheet metal out to line up the line we formed in the first measuring process, aligning the jaw of the brake with the line we measured at 20 1/4". The brake is locked down by hand and another 90 degree bend is made to finish one half or L-shape of the complete section of straight trunk duct.

The process is repeated to create another L-shape so that we can finish our section of 20" x 8" x 48" straight trunk ductwork.

Why They Call Us Tin Knockers

The building ductwork process is not complete until we assemble both of our fabricated L-shape sections. The task is simple but time consuming and keeping with the handmade narrative, we use an 8oz. ball pein hammer to get the job done.

Pittsburgh_Hammer_Lock
Pittsburgh_Hammer_Lock

First, we place one L-shaped section of trunk duct on the fabrication bench, Pittsburgh joint up. Next, we flip the other half section, placing the the 1/4" male side into the female Pittsburgh joint pocket. You will be left with a 1/4" sticking straight up in the air. Now we take our hammer and pound over or knock down that 1/4" at a 90 degree angle to finish the Pittsburgh lock joint.

Finish the full section by flipping it over and repeating the latter directions, completing the assembly of a full straight 20" x 8" x 48" trunk ductwork section.

We have been building ductwork for over 20 years and the entire process described takes 10 minutes from beginning to end. Seems short, until an order of 80 to 100 feet of straight trunk ductwork hits the wires.

Clearly we don't actually fabricate the finished product completely with our bare hands. However, in an industry that looks for speed and efficiency like any other, finding a shop that fabricates completely like we do is rare.

Twenty years ago more shops like ours existed, building ductwork the same way we do, but have slowly been going extinct because of lower price and speed. Not being able to keep up with mass production and the lower price points has forced many small job shops out of business. We are still kickin', but there is a daily pressure, questioning what we need to do in order to keep existing business and make it last.

Pretty common in any industry I would imagine.

Learning The FACTS About Manufacturing

Currently I am in the process of researching and acquiring prices regarding larger capacity manufacturing equipment for our micro-business. Although, until this morning, I did not know the FACTS about manufacturing for a business our size or TYPE as stated in a great post on Manufacturing.net by Mike Collins titled "Small Manufacturers Aren't Little Versions Of Major Manufacturers" In the piece he lays out a compelling argument that many manufacturing improvement products are made and marketed to larger companies, but bought and implemented by all. Because of this, these particular programs are abandoned due to lack of results and consultants later ca vetch and make excuses--my conclusion--as to why certain companies couldn't implement the system. However, Mike lays out a better, more logical reason to these issues. Laying out the FACTS about manufacturing systems and process for the range of companies in the industry.

From Manufacturing.net:

I think there may be other explanations as to why many of these process improvement programs fail.

  • Management perceives that the cost of implementation exceeds the expectant results.
  • Tools and program are viewed as too complex and requiring extraordinary amounts of indirect labor hours.
  • The manufacturer is told they must swallow the whole banana bunch (continuous improvement program) to achieve results rather then get incremental results.
  • Smaller manufacturers are told they can use the same program used by Toyota or Caterpillar, no matter what shape their systems or resources are in.

To better understand why many manufacturers back away from these programs you must first understand that manufacturing companies in the U.S. are not a homogeneous group. From more than 30 years of working with manufacturing companies of all sizes, I suggest that there are at least four distinctly different types, and there are logarithmic differences between these types, in terms of resources, knowledge, experience, staff, and the where-with-all to deal with change....Keep Reading

Mike later mentions particular FACTS about manufacturing for companies smaller in size, something I had never heard before and it fits our company to a T.

The second point is that all small and midsize manufacturers are restricted by resource limitations. "FACTS" is an acronym that best characterizes the reality of the small manufacturing environment, described as:

             F - Fear of making a wrong decision

            A - Limited Access to capital.

            C - Cash flow problems

            T - Time constraints

            S - Small or no Staff.

Going forward, as I look into what manufacturing system will fit us best, I will remember the FACTS about manufacturing systems and implementation. The last thing I want to do is make my company machine poor, investing too much in something that will eventually bankrupt us as opposed to helping increase production, customers and cash flow.

Source:

Small Manufacturers Aren't Little Versions Of Major Manufacturers (Manufacturing.net)