Introducing Our New MultiCam 1000 Plasma Table

Introducing our new MultiCam 1000 Series CNC plasma table!! The last few months of hard work have paid off with the full installation of our new plasma table, finishing up late last week with today being the end of our first full week of production. The table is fantastic and has already saved us time with the multiple jobs that we have already completed. With the installation of our new equipment we can provide customers with faster production times and reduced prices.

Scroll down to see some more photos of the new CNC plasma table and a video of our new toy in action.

 

If you have any questions about your sheet metal fabrication needs or items you may need cut, please visit our contact page to send us your requests.

Thank You to 'The Fabricator' For Featuring K & E Sheet Metal

I would like to thank Dan Davis and The Fabricator Magazine for asking us to contribute to one of their feature article's in this months issue titled "Developing Shop Employees For The Field". I was more than happy to give an interview to a publication that I have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy. My father and I were thrilled with how the article came out, with much appreciation given to Dan Davis and his team. When I first started in the business, working for my father, I was an installer for our residential and light commercial jobs. I learned a lot about how and what was needed to be fabricated for many different kinds of jobs. That was the simplest part of my job installing and working in peoples homes each day. The hardest part was dealing with customers from a business and personal point of view.

Every customer is different, especially when you are working in their home. Their first inclination is to be skeptical about the stranger in their house. Their second is to wonder if this person will ultimately rip them off. Most of these issues are expected to be taken care of during the quoting process, but this doesn't always put the customer at ease.

These kinds of problems are something I explained during my interview with Dan Davis, The Editor-in-Chief and writer of the article. There is definite psychology to working in a persons home; the hardest part for me as an installer.

My father and I work alone now due to economic conditions, but if we bring on new installers, these are the types of things I would pass along to help and develop new employees for our company.

You can read the article below and be sure to subscribe to The Fabricator Magazine. It's FREE:

Click the link to read the full article

Developing Shop Employees For The Field - The Fabricator

Small Time Logisitics

My naive assumption is that logistics was just another word for shipping. The actual definition from Merriam-Webster is as follows: 1 : the aspect of military science dealing with the procurement, maintenance, and transportation of military materiel, facilities, and personnel 2 : the handling of the details of an operation

So clearly, not shipping per se, just dealing with handling of details in a military sense.

Who cares! Something you may be telling yourself right about now. The above is a long winded and relatively interesting ( at least for me, because I was unaware ) way of getting to something I have thought about company wise for some time.

The reality, or non-reality of shipping our products around the country, the logistics if you will are completely foreign to me. Obviously, I understand that packages are shipped, but as far as making it viable for business is surely something new.

To date, we have shipped one, count them, one order to somewhere in the lower 50. That place was Kansas and the whole transaction was a great experience. The customer was willing to be patient with our maiden shipment and the headaches which could undermine the whole project.

I had the fabricated fittings strapped flat to be packed at the nearest UPS store, communication was good with the customer and the shipment went off without a hitch. I didn't want to deal with any complications of securing and packing, so I left it to professionals.

A few days later the package arrived to a thankful customer and a giant sigh of relief from the shipper.

Could this be a viable option for our business going forward, especially with new (expensive) equipment about to be up and running? Are the costs of shipping and time needed for packing worth the trouble? Would only advertising local shipping to a mile radius work better for a smaller company like ours? These are just a few of the questions I have been asking myself over the last few weeks.

To be perfectly honest, the shipping costs alone are something that could sink the whole idea. In order to ship a small supply air plenum and two small transitions, flat packed to Kansas, the total shipping cost was roughly $44 for packing, materials and shipping. That's a tough pill to swallow for customers that are used to free shipping from the likes of Amazon. Not to mention the fact that this was a small order of minimal size fabricated fittings. What would that shipping cost ring up on something a bit larger? Would we be looking at freight costs instead?

The UPS and FedEx commercials make the whole process seem so easy with their no nonsense marketing of packages flying all over the world with seemingly minimal problems. However, when you go to the websites of either the process can be very confusing. It's not just as simple as zip code and weight.

We are moving toward a non-localized world which depresses me as a very local business. Nevertheless, these are things we need to take into account as a business that builds items for customers. If we can find an economical way to get our products into the hands of people that need them, why shouldn't we try? The trick is not to inflate your greedy little head and understand the limitations of the business. There is one thing I have learned over the years in our very niche micro business. Getting too far ahead of the game can be disastrous in the long run, bogging you down and making everything seem insurmountable.

This doesn't mean stunt ambition, goals or growth of the company. These are the reasons we invested in our new CNC plasma table and why we have struggled with the possibility of adding shipping to our normal business repertoire.

The last few years have been a challenging time for our company, more positive then negative however in regards to understanding the business from multiple angles. Ideas like the one I have briefly outlined in this post are something that never happened for our company, keeping us stuck in neutral. The goals have changed, the attitude has changed and ideas are bandied about frequently around the shop.

Whether or not we decide shipping is viable for us is still up in the air. However, we have run a successful test and know it's something that can be done.

Logistically speaking.

Fabricating Nested Sheet Metal Paper Holder

Because we are a small shop and I fabricate mostly by hand ( changing soon ), I am able to accommodate many small, personal requests from many of our customers. Lots of times these are in regards to fabricating shelves and other items for their offices or HVAC service vans. In the past I have made dividers for shelving in a customers truck for PVC and black iron fittings.

This week I received an order for a sheet metal paper holder that would reside on the inside of a van door for contracts and service forms. Honestly, I don't know what they are called exactly, but they are like the nested plastic version you can find at any Staples or Office Depot.

These kinds of orders help to keep my creative mind working, making the job more enjoyable. I encourage all my customers to bring these types of things my way as long as they have the time. All of these projects are done at the end of the day or on the weekend so as not to take away from our main source of revenue.

Custom Secondary Drain Pan

Custom secondary drain pans are something we fabricate for many applications. This particular pan will be placed underneath a washing machine, but most are for under a new air handler or hot water tank. Many of our customers like the basic blank drain pan without an outlet installed so they can add the drain on the job site. Because we don't weld in our shop this option works well, but we are able to install a basic drain if necessary. The fabrication process for our custom secondary drain pans is rather easy and we can knock them out within 24 hours. Two of the sides are Pittsburgh joints, which we seal with high temperature sealant to make sure the pan is waterproof.

Need a custom secondary drain pan? Go to our contact page and send us an email.

 

You can see more photos on our fabrication photos or Flickr pages.

Shipping Container Fabrication and Assembly

This is a great video depicting shipping container fabrication and assembly from beginning to end for the company Big Steel Box. I thought we made metal boxes...wrongo! These are some serious containers with a very systematic and efficient use of man and machine to fabricate and assemble. Very cool.

Fabricating Custom Ductwork in Glens Falls NY For Over 20 Years

K & E Sheet Metal has been fabricating custom ductwork in Glens Falls NY for over 20 years and we are doing our best to grow the business into the future, providing even better service to new and existing customers. We are a father and son business focusing on residential HVAC sheet metal fabrication along with residential heating and air conditioning installations. Our goal has and will forever be providing customers with quality, affordable duct fabrication and installation service. Helping home owners who need custom sheet metal fabrication with the products that will help them finish their ductwork installation properly. No job is too small for our shop when it comes to providing quality custom ductwork fittings for each and every one of our customers. We fabricate everything from standard custom ductwork to the smallest of sheet metal boxes or flat sheet metal for the everyday walk-in customer.

Because we have been fabricating custom ductwork in Glens Falls NY for so many years we have built a nice following of happy customers and relationships with area vendors. Our business was built on word of mouth advertising and customer recommendations are the catalyst to gaining an evolving local customer base. Our product speaks for itself locally and we work hard daily to continue the service that has kept the company alive over the last 20 years.

If you are looking for custom ductwork fittings or custom ductwork in Glens Falls NY, we are the place to call. We work with our customers to make sure they get the duct needed to finish the job properly.

Replacing your old furnace?

Are you replacing an old broken down furnace and need some custom transitions to fit the new furnace unit to the old duct? We can work with you to provide the custom transition needed to finish the job right, going over measurements and drawings or coming out to take measurements ourselves.

Need a custom supply air plenum or return air plenum?

These are our specialty and can fabricate your new supply air plenum in less than 24 hours from the time you place your order. Return air plenums take a bit longer but we will do our best to finish your order as soon as possible for an affordable price, helping you get the job done right.

Not sure what custom ductwork you need?

Do you live in and need custom ductwork in Glens Falls NY and your not sure what you need? Shoot us an email or give a call to see if we can help with your custom ductwork fabrication needs.