10 Questions You Should to Know about stamped stainless steel sheet supplier

When starting a new commercial or residential project, you will want the right structural steel fabricator behind you. While there are different types of fabrication materials, structural steel frequently comes out on top when it comes to strength, ductility, and durability. But, it's not just about the material; for project success'especially when it comes to complicated projects with multiple stakeholders and tight deadlines'the fabricator you choose matters. With inexperienced fabricators, small glitches can snowball into more significant issues. Here are ten things to look for in a structural steel fabricator.

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1. How Experienced is the Structural Steel Fabricator?

When you're looking for a structural steel fabricator, experience matters, and the first thing you'll want to check is their current and past projects. You want practical, hands-on experience, and to guarantee it, you'll want to see examples of their work. Can they point you towards similar projects?

You will also want to vet everyone involved in those projects. You'll want to see:

• Engineers ' are they good at translating shop drawings into viable projects? Can they show you examples?
• Tradespeople ' are they certified in their field and dedicated to what they do? Can you see examples of past work?
• Project Managers ' do they understand the process in-and-out? Can they show you how they've broken down past projects?

Vetting structural steel fabricators is a two-part process that includes understanding what they've done and who you'll be working with.

2. What is Their Process?

It is essential for complex architectural metal fabrication and industrial metalwork projects that structural elements arrive at just the right time, demanding close collaboration from detailers, erectors, and fabricators. How does the structural steel fabricator break their process down? For complex projects, you'll want to see a detailed breakdown that covers costs along the way. You can ask:

• Is the process extensive and realistic?
• Does it take into account and add buffers for approvals you'll need?
• Does it include necessary permits that the fabricator is responsible for?
• Does it include visits to the work site to assess the specifics of delivery and installation?
• Does it account for all safety checks and precautions?
• Does it allocate time for communication with each of the different stakeholders?

If the structural steel fabricator brushes over any questions or requests for higher specificity and accuracy, you'll want to look elsewhere.

3. How Well Will the Structural Steel Fabricator Communicate With You?

How does the steel fabricator plan to communicate each step with you and other stakeholders throughout the project? For challenging projects, small failures of communication can snowball into big issues. Ask the steel fabricator:

• Who will I be speaking with for the duration of the project?
• What's the best way to be in touch?
• If I can't reach you, from who and when will I hear back?
• How will I be alerted to milestone achievements or issues?

You're looking for easy, transparent communication with a fast turnaround. If the structural steel fabricator doesn't have an established process for communicating with customers that meets all three needs, you should look elsewhere.

4. What Certifications Do They Have?

What certifications does the structural steel fabricator you're considering have?

• AISC ' AISC issues the most widely recognized standard for quality in the structural steel industry. AISC demands a rigorous evaluation that includes an administrative review, documentation audit, and on-site audit.
• CWI ' Are welders Certified Welding Inspectors? CWI is issued by the American Welding Society (AWS) and helps to validate that welders show the highest level of quality workmanship.
• Local certifications: steel fabricators are typically approved to work in various counties and cities. Make sure that the steel fabricator you're considering is approved to work onsite.

5. Does The Structural Steel Fabricator Specialize?

In structural steel fabrication, it's not about general experience, it's about project-specific experience. Does the structural steel fabricator you're considering specialize, or are they big enough that they've successfully completed different types of projects? If not, they may stumble over the project, leading to setbacks and financial pitfalls.

Structural steel projects can be so large and multi-faceted, that they require an attention to detail that only an experienced fabricator can give. It's important to find a company that can handle the grade, type, and gauge of metal needed for your project, any additional fabrication required, as well as any coordination and communication required.

6. Will They Use a Sub-Contractor?

It should go without saying that any structural steel fabricator you take on for your project has the capabilities to do it, but many may subcontract part of the project out. This doesn't have to be a deal-breaker as long as you make sure that the company you choose can handle the project from start to finish. If they are sub-contracting work out, do a background check of the sub-contractor as well. Whoever is working on your project should have the equipment, skilled staff, materials, and production capacity to complete your project on time and within budget ' whether or not you'll be working directly with them.

7. What is Their Capacity?

Does the structural steel fabricator have the capacity to meet your needs? One recurring issue of smaller steel fabricators is their inability to meet the high supply-demand of their clients. If you have a massive project, you'll need a minimum workforce and allocation of facility tools and equipment. A company may employ 30 employees, but only a fraction of them may be qualified to provide the services you need; similarly, a company may have the right equipment, but they may have concurrent demands from other clients. Ensure that the structural steel fabricator you're considering has enough specialists and equipment to meet your needs for the duration of your project.

8. What Tools And Equipment Does The Structural Steel Fabricator Have?

Speaking of tools and equipment, does your structural steel fabricator have the right ones for your project? Ask the fabricators to give a tour of their facility and workshop so you can see firsthand their tools and equipment. For tough fabrication jobs that require accuracy and expertise, you will most certainly need advanced tools and equipment. A tour is also another opportunity to make sure you have a rapport with your fabrication partners.

9. How Highly Do They Value Customer Service?

Do you feel like you're at the center of the steel fabricator's attention and that they're committed to your satisfaction? No matter the fabricator's size, look for guiding principles that include customer service at the heart of their organization. For this, you can assess your treatment during the vetting phase and validate your impressions by checking with references ' great steel fabricators won't hesitate to send a few references your way.

10. How Seriously Do They Take Safety?

Finally, does your steel fabricator take safety seriously? Ask the fabricator:

• Do they meet the latest OSHA requirements for design and construction?
• What is their safety record?
• Do they have a comprehensive safety program that protects their employees?
• When is the last time OSHA inspected them?

It is also possible to look at recent OSHA citations in the metal fabrication industry to better understand how fabricators are focusing their compliance efforts.

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The Bottom Line When It Comes to Structural Steel Fabricators

Not all structural steel fabricators are created equal, so do your research when choosing a fabrication company. Large or small, contractor or subcontractor, there's a lot to consider! Use these 10 considerations to help you choose the best fabricator for current and future projects.

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Q: I recently read your article 'Stamping thin, hard stainless steel' from . In the article, you mention the challenge of feeding thin material, but I still have some questions. Can you provide more explanation?

A: Speaking from a progressive die build standpoint, push-feeding thin material through the tool is quite tricky. Steel that is 0.002 to 0.004 inch thick will buckle against the slightest resistance. The material guide liners must support the material top and bottom very tightly, with only a small space for applying lubricant before the material enters the die.

Here are two important tricks to reduce material resistance:

1. Relieve the surface area of the plates with a series of undercuts along the length, called scalloping. When completed, less than 1% of the total surface area of the plate should touch the material.
2. Drill and tap a hole in the center of the bottom liner to connect an air line so that an application of light air pressure will cause the material to float.

Push-feeding light-gauge material is very doable, but there's also the option of pull feeding. Let's take a look at the three basic types of raw material feeds.

Servo Feeds

If you need one feed that will handle all materials, I recommend a servo feed, although it can be the most expensive option depending on the model.

Servo feeds can handle a variety of stock thicknesses and widths, and they can be programmed for individual jobs. You pull up the program and the pitch (the length of the coil stock fed on every press cycle), and the pilot release is preset. These feeds are fast, handling 600 to 800 strokes per minute (SPM) on very short pitches.

Our jobs are relatively small, and so are the servo feeds we use, so we designed a bracket to mount a servo feed on the exit side of the press for pull feeding. If we need to run a push-feed job and the servo feed is not in the way, we leave it as-mounted and use the standard feed mounted on the entrance side. If the servo is in the way, we can remove it within 30 minutes.

Servo feeds have a nearly infinitely adjustable feed cycle. For example, mechanical feeds usually have a set feed cycle of 120 or 180 degrees of the press cycle. If the strip is only free to move for, say, 90 degrees of the press cycle because you are doing in-die tapping, which can require much more of the press stroke, you can program this on the servo feed.

One of the biggest benefits of a servo feed is that it senses the force required to feed the material. When it senses a spike in that force, the servo will stop and pull back to the previous pitch. This prevents an off-pitch misfeed in case the press does not stop before making the next hit, saving many thousands of dollars in broken tooling. I'm not sure if this would work on very thin material, but using pull feeding would increase the odds for success.

Air Feeds

Air feeds are a cheap, reliable option. I have run coil stock from 0.005 to 0.060 in. thick and 0.375 to 5.0 in. wide very successfully up to 400 SPM, and their limits are even broader. Air feeds are not as accurate as servo or mechanical feeds, but the stamping tool pilots often make up for slight variations in feed length. This tends to occur when the force to pull the coil stock varies because of changing loop control conditions at the infeed.

The biggest challenge with air feeds is timing them, as there's an inherent lag because they are air-driven. As you speed up the press, you have to advance the signal to feed. I have run jobs at 400 SPM with my signal to feed set just before bottom dead center of the stroke'when the punches were still in the raw material. Because of lag time, feeding occurred at about 270 degrees on the press cycle.

While timing an air feed at high speed is an art, it's also quite a challenge to lace up at low speed. The feed is so advanced that it wants to drive the coil stock while the tool is still closed.

Mechanical Feeds

In general, mechanical feeds are supplied by the press builders. These feeds are, by far, the fastest and most accurate. They can run at more than 2,000 SPM in the right conditions.

In addition, with mechanical feeds, you can customize the feed grippers with a clearance slot if the strip you are pulling has raised features.

Remember that regardless of the type of feeder you choose, lubrication can create a lot of drag between the raw material and the liners, so proper lubricant application is critical. High-end lubricators are available that allow very precise control of a light mist of lubricant, then suction off the excess, leaving a perfect, even coating on the material.

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