Metfab Metals, LLC
A Partner with the GREATEST Metal Companies in America
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WORKING TOGETHER WITH ALL OUR CUSTOMERS AS A “TEAM PLAYER”
In the November, 2018 issue of Glass Magazine it set out an industry report on the largest metal companies in America. We are proud to have worked with---and are working with now---many of these large suppliers to the grandest projects throughout the United States. We have teamed up to supply essential fabricated steel parts and assemblies to jobs from Boston to Miami and from New York to San Francisco. This article also added important textual content, as it outlined recent trends in our industry and the overall construction industry that impacts us and all suppliers and sub-contractors so directly.
These “Top Metal Companies” include many familiar names that we have worked with, such as YKK AP America, Inc.; Kawneer Company; Wausau Window and Wall Systems; Oldcastle Buildings Envelope; and more. Of course, we have also worked for (and still work for) all the biggest curtainwall and architectural metal companies and suppliers. [As we will report in an upcoming eMessage, we are again seeing an uptick in decorative metal facades, entrances and storefronts, especially for the retro-fit/retro-clad jobs in older areas of our cities.]
This November, 2018 Glass Magazine article confirmed the expansion of the architectural metal industry in 2017-2018, but noted the adverse effects of skilled labor shortages as well as steel and aluminum tariffs. But the article seemed to underscore what we already appreciated in recent years: simply the need for better efficiency and shorter turn-around times. One industry expert was quoted as saying “We try and turn shop drawings and engineering faster so that we can get submittals returned sooner…..We also concentrate on doing it right the first time.”1 This sounded like something our owner and COO, Jim Murray, might well have said as he directed the investment over the last two (2) years of real-time money to expedite our quotation process and implement speedy, non-paper communications among all our staff. This then was extended to suppliers and customers, so we are always spot-on with the most recent changes in the drawings and the fastest report of completed work. We can even now share our daily progress on your jobs electronically, as it is accomplished.
Finally, the Glass Magazine article reported which areas of the country are growing most (in revenue) in the metals industry. Not surprisingly, the Northeast and West grew the most, followed closely by the Southeast. When you factor in how many retro jobs are in these areas, this is not at all surprising to us. From nearby our shops, we can see the ever-changing skyline of New York City. This series of new spires and construction cranes well-illustrate in clear relief all the work recently-completed and in progress. The article closed with a brief summation of observed trends. These were not surprising to us either as Jim has remarked how our orders reflected this almost perfectly. To put it succinctly, the repeated plans we saw over the last two years were focused on better thermal performance, the incorporation of pre-fab systems (to meet compressed job schedules), unique custom designs, larger glass and steel panels, and surface finishings in striking colors married to glass apertures to let in the natural light.
In short, we were happy to read this report as a good deal of our work relates to glass (in the form of mullions, curtainwall anchors and miscellaneous specialty steel parts), That the industry is growing is, of course, welcome news. But that we rightly anticipated what we needed to do to meet the demands of these jobs was even more welcome. We are now computerized, communication-enabled, staffed and fully prepared to nimbly meet the 21st century industry demands we foresaw. This planning should dovetail with your needs and your job specs so that together we can “turn shop drawings and engineering faster so that we can get submittals returned sooner….(and) concentrate on doing it right the first time.”2
Metfab Metals can again rightly say we have decades of experience and skills in all manner of fabricated metals (and all the needed technology to support these) so that we can help YOUR jobs go smoothly from its earliest stages-----------------and end successfully!
Call us; you’ll soon see we produce.
Updates:
Hudson Yards, NYC, NY-----As we have said before, we have been working here throughout 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and now into at least 2019. We recently finished our work on the most incredible concert venue, “The Shed” which is about to open to the public. Since 2105, we supplied to this sprawling new “mini-city” both the sophisticated and the mundane. This included the whole spectrum of fabricated specialty metal fabrications, including common anchors, as well as classic AESS solid steel mullions. This is one venue you will want to visit when you are next in Manhattan,
Call me for ALL your METALS questions. If I can't answer it,
I have all the needed "sources" to do so!
Jim Murray, C.O.O. 973-675-7676
We always offer to work with our customers from the job concept
stage to anticipate issues before fabrication, to suggest better ways
to order, extrude, cut, drill, paint, finish, even stage and deliver and
always to save time and money.
[1] Glass Magazine November, 2018 “Top Metal Companies” at p.27
[2]Glass MagazineNovember, 2018 “Top Metal Companies” at p.27 (again)