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DEDICATED TO EXCELLENCE: SERVICE • QUALITY • INNOVATION
ESTABLISHED 1953
By Lance Thrailkill, CEO of All Metals Fabricating
Since 2025, I’ve had the opportunity to join episodes of the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association’s podcast Next-Gen Metal Fab. It’s been an awesome experience, and I’ve truly enjoyed talking with host Tim Heston from The Fabricator and other leaders in the industry.
The Fabricator is one of the best publications in our field, and I’ve always respected Tim’s work there. So I was honored when Tim asked me to join the podcast as a co-host and share my perspective on trends and challenges in precision sheet metal fabrication. And I have a lot of respect for my fellow co-hosts Caleb Chamberlain of OSH Cut and Cody Lee of Everyday Technologies, as well as the many guests who bring insights from other great shops.
These conversations are not only a great place to share my own perspective, but a forum where I’m able to learn from other guests and refine our shop’s strategies. We talk about the biggest challenges in manufacturing, and I always come away from our conversations with new insights.
Recent episodes have covered everything from quoting to scheduling to annual planning to automation.
You don’t need to own a sheet metal shop to find value in these conversations. If you are a customer, buyer, engineer, or manufacturer who wants a behind-the-scenes view of fabrication, the podcast offers a look at how good shops think through their work every day. You’ll hear how much effort goes into staying cost-efficient and reliable for customers.
For example, consider our latest episode: “Quoting, estimating, and costing in sheet metal fabrication.” At times, it does get pretty in the weeds; fellow fabricators will love that, but I’ll admit that manufacturing buyers may up their podcast speed to 2X through those moments.
But there are still important takeaways for customers who are trying to evaluate different shops:
Both Cody and I discussed our use of digital quoting systems. In the past, both of our shops relied on informal systems that depended heavily on an individual estimator and limited data.
Modern quoting tools help shops take advantage of more information. They can turn that into a more accurate, complete quote that helps prevent any unexpected disruptions in manufacturing:
Preventing Design for Manufacturing Issues: Our quoting and estimating software, Paperless Parts, identifies DFM issues early in the process. If a feature could create unnecessary cost, production challenges, or lead time concerns, we want to catch it before the project reaches the shop floor.
Flagging Key Requirements: Digital quoting tools help us clarify key quality requirements at the beginning of a project, including items such as first article inspection. Both our customers and our shop will face fewer surprises, and our team has a stronger understanding of what the job requires before production begins.
A stronger quoting process also helps us better understand the true cost of a job. During the podcast, Cody explained that one reason his shop adopted digital quoting software was to make better sense of the direct cost inputs that go into creating a quote.
“For me, it was about trying to make sense of all the direct cost inputs that go into creating a quote,” he said. “We could have a true understanding of what our costs are and what our margins are.”
I agree wholeheartedly, and there’s a reason that matters for Cody’s customers and my customers. When we know that information, we put it to use on behalf of our customer. When we quote a part, we have a good sense of how long it will take in our shop.
If we have confidence that it will be an efficient part, we can give customers a lower price because we can take a lower profit margin. But in the past, we often had to account for more uncertainty in our pricing structure.
Cody and I also discussed the challenge of scheduling. Even with a deep understanding of a shop’s equipment and processes, it can be hard to accurately schedule a complex project that moves through several different processes. That becomes especially difficult when you’re growing and changing your capabilities, Cody noted.
“We’ve more than doubled the number of welders that we have in our facility,” he said. “That change has reinforced how important it is to do the due diligence upfront for every project. We need to make sure we have the right fixtures and the right processes and everything is documented.”
At All Metals Fabricating, we have continued investing in modern scheduling technology, including SkyPlanner, to better manage workflow across the shop. The goal is to create more realistic lead times, make better capacity decisions, and give customers greater confidence that their projects will stay on track.
One underlying theme that I felt came through in this episode: if you’re looking for a new sheet metal fab shop, you need to evaluate what’s behind their quote. Do they understand their costs? Identify issues early? Are they continuously improving?
At All Metals Fabricating, we take those questions seriously. It’s why I value the conversations we have on Next-Gen Metal Fab.
If you want to work with a sheet metal shop that is continually improving how we manufacture, request a quote today!
