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

The Mercy of Others

If you follow this blog or our Twitter feed you have heard about our little company purchasing a new CNC plasma table. The process has been exciting, especially since it's the first time in years the business has taken steps to move forward and grow. When last I updated the optimism was flying high and I expected the machine to be running sooner than later. Sadly, it's later and the plasma still sits gathering dust waiting for the final hookup. The waiting game continues for a step down transformer, exhaust fan and final electrical installation.

My hands are tied. Everything in my control is complete and for now I am at the mercy of others to get the ball rolling again. The last word I had was this week was looking good for receiving both the transformer and exhaust fan. Whether or not I hear the glorious beeping sounds of a truck in reverse will remain to be seen.

My optimism still reigns true, but the waiting game is growing tiresome.

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.

Someone Has a New Vanity Short Link...keshtm.tl

Over the last few days you may have noticed that many of our Twitter, Google+ and Linkedin links had a little more K & E panache than ever before. Well, your sharp eye could not be more accurate. Friday I decided to invest in a new short domain for all of our social media short links with the intent of helping to grow our brand as much as possible. For a $40 yearly investment I secured keshtm.tl as our new vanity short link. Therefore, when you're perusing our social media pages and see our new link, you can trust that you will be led to our website kesheetmetal.com or a trusted article sent out by my father or I. Who am I kidding...I would be the only one sending anything out :)

My nightly reading has focused more on branding the business and making sure that our web presence is as consistent as possible. The short link is just another step in that direction. We may be just a tiny local HVAC sheet metal fabrication shop in the physical world. However, with the internet, we can be as big as we wanna be, spreading our wings and finding new business wherever it is hiding.

Walking that same line we must keep in mind not to over extend ourselves, losing focus on finding new business and keeping our new investment running at all times. Marketing the business is new territory, so we must keeep things in perspective and not spread ourselves too thin.

The Start of a New Era at K & E Sheet Metal LLC

A new era has begun here at K & E Sheet Metal. If you have been following us on Twitter ( if you haven't, shame on you ) you know that our new CNC plasma table has been delivered and should be up and running in a few short weeks. The addition of the plasma cutter help us to increase our current production of HVAC duct and fittings, allowing us to search out new opportunities. Below are a few pics from delivery day. The process went much smoother than I had originally thought and aside from some forklift issues, our new equipment was moved and placed in no time.

First option was to slide it off the truck.

I don't think this is going to work.

Change of plan

Now comes the hard part

Good idea. Let the oldest partner do the heavy lifting.

Almost there!

Slowly...slowly

Just a couple more feet and we're there..lookin' good

Everything worked out well and the new machine should be up and running after the new year. We are waiting for delivery of the air compressor to set up dates when the machine and software techs can come to make the final setup complete, teaching us what we need to know about our new toy.

We can't wait to make the first cut!