Whether you’re looking for a bespoke steel component or require the skills of a fabricator for a large-scale project, finding the right fabricator for your needs can be difficult. Your reputation and the success of a project may rely on the quality of a good fabricator, so it is vital that you choose the right one for your needs. A trusted, reliable fabricator can quickly become someone that you work with on a regular basis – provided that they can meet your needs and provide quality fabrication work on time.
In this article, we are going to outline 3 things to look for when choosing fabricators. Look out for these attributes in a fabricator and you should be able to find one that you can depend on.
Robust fabrication services
One of the first things that you should consider is what type of equipment the fabricators have at their disposal, as this will generally govern what they can do for you. Depending on your needs, a smaller fabricator that offers a few select services may be enough. For other, more complex projects, you need to source a fabricator that can deal with large scale or complex projects.
As well as their equipment, you should consider what additional services you might be looking for. Some fabricators offer prototyping, which could be an essential part of your project. Are they able to offer advice or support throughout the design process? There are lots of additional services that you might need for your project, so make sure that the fabricator you choose can provide what you require.
One of the best ways to cover your bases and find the right fabricator for your needs is to hire someone who provides a wide range of services in-house and under one roof. Things like inventory management, product design, prototyping and fabrication can all be provided by a single fabricator. This has the added benefit of streamlining your project by channelling all of your fabrication services through a sole third party.
Superior quality
If you’re looking to source a fabricator for an upcoming project, their quality of work should be excellent if you intend to use their services. The problem is that almost all fabricators will claim they offer excellent quality fabrication solutions. So how do you spot superior quality fabricators?
A good rule of thumb is to find a fabricator that holds an International Organisation of Standardisation (ISO) certification, specifically ISO 9001. ISO certified fabricators will be constantly developing and improving upon their business processes. ISO 9001 specifically focuses on quality management, so if a fabricator holds ISO 9001, you can trust that they will be dependable and offer a superior quality service.
You might want to ask a certified fabricator about their metrics for quality performance, as this will give you a good indication of how they track and monitor their work. Moreover, it will let you know if their quality standards will be suitable for your project.
Reputable customer service
Bringing a third-party service into your project is always a risk, even if they are a trusted fabricator with extensive industry experience. That is why you should try to assess their level of customer service before taking them on. Speak with them about your budget constraints and how their work will fit into that. If they seem committed to the work and are happy to progress with your budget, then you are getting closer to securing an excellent fabricator.
Reputable customer service needs to include more than a commitment to a project, though. Excellent fabricators are honest in their work, invest in their customers and strive to continually improve their services. Finding all of this out takes some good character analysis and a keen eye for quality, but the time taken to find the right fabricator for you is well worth it.
If you’re looking for trusted, reputable steel fabricators for your next project, contact our specialists at Restoric Design today.