Fabrication shop plans for the future through carefully staged investments

Anyone starting a fabricating business today has to carefully consider who their market is and how they can prove out their capabilities quickly. The precision results customers expect means that simply picking up second-hand equipment isn’t necessarily cost-efficient. With the challenge of finding skilled press brake operators, for instance, an older-model machine might sound like a good investment, but without a skilled operator, it could end up being a time-consuming process of trial and error to get a few decent parts.

Jamal Naser, principal and manager of Mississauga, Ont.-based fabricator Advance Laser & Fabrication, knew that he wanted to start the business in 2018 demonstrating his ability to produce quality parts with speed and precision. For that reason, he invested in new technology that gives him flexibility in terms of material use and programming. A similar press brake purchase soon followed.

Critical Variety

Advance Laser celebrated its first anniversary serving the Greater Toronto Area in March. The shop received delivery of its first laser cutting machine, an LVD Lynx 4-kW fibre laser table, in February 2018. Full production started March 15, 2018.

Naser has been involved in the fabricating industry since 1997, starting as a process engineering co-ordinator and, through spending time on the shop floor, learning many different skills. For instance, he has become adept at laser operating and programming using a number of different laser machines.

Naser was well aware of the challenges he’d face in a new fabricating shop in 2018.

“Due to the tariff situation, material costs changed from day to day,” he noted. “And as a new business, it can be a challenge to establish strong relationships with metal suppliers. But over the course of that first year we have solidified those relationships and have managed to keep our pricing competitive by running a lean shop.”

There are currently three full-time team members in the shop, including Naser.

The Lynx can cut ¾-in. mild steel and ½-in. stainless steel and aluminum. Equally important to Naser, however, is that the machine can cut copper and brass as well.

“Although all of our work so far has been in steel, aluminum, and stainless, I know that to be competitive as a small shop it is important to be able to offer other services,” said Naser. “The abilities of this machine allow me to do that.”

Advance Laser & Fabrication's Jamal Naser in front of the shop's first machine investment, the LVD Strippit Lynx 4-kW fibre laser. It allows him to cut in not only steel, aluminum, and stainless, but also brass and copper.

Service Options

As business grows, Naser has planned the diversification of his shop.

“Through word of mouth we have developed a good business for laser cutting with our machine, but many customers are looking for a shop that can cut, bend, and assemble more complex parts,” said Naser. “For that reason, we purchased a press brake that can operate in concert with our laser cutting table.”

It was important to Naser that the press brake be able to work in concert with the LVD CADMAN® software he was already using to nest parts for the laser table. For that reason he chose the LVD PPED 220-ton-capacity press brake. This machine has a touchscreen control with 3D simulation, a 4-axis CNC backgauge, and a CNC crowning table.

“It was a very intuitive brake to operate,” said Naser. “After two days of training from the team at Elliott Matsuura, we were quite comfortable operating it. I had a similar experience with the laser. I can program it from my desk in the office, or the programming can be done at the machine. Either way, it’s a very straightforward process.”

Naser invested in these machines in part because of his strong relationship with Elliott Matsuura’s sales manager, Robert Sales. “The technicians from Elliott were also very helpful in setting us up for production,” he explained.

But he also recognized that he could simplify production by ensuring that he could program the machines together.

“It is hard to find skilled press brake operators, so I use the software to help me plan my cutting to ensure the bending process is as simple as possible,” said Naser. “For instance, on some parts I might have the laser mark precisely where a bend needs to be made. It’s little things like that that can speed up production.”

Hands-on Operations

Naser believes it’s his hands-on approach to the business that makes him stand out from some of his competitors.

At the controls of the LVD PPED 220-ton-capacity press brake.

“Many senior managers don’t have experience with running and programming their machines,” he said. “I have a lot of experience with that and can control many processes. I can answer customer concerns and often provide them a better price. I can find efficiencies in programming as well. By saving material, customer costs are going to go down.”

Being close to the customer also is helping Naser expand his capabilities at the speed of client needs. For instance, he is now set up to do gas tungsten arc welding in his shop to meet the assembly needs of one of his key customers.

Starting a business is always a challenge, but smart investments from the start, and having a step-by-step growth plan, can simplify some of the variables everyone has to face. Advance Laser’s Jamal Naser is an example of how this approach can work in your favour.

Editor Robert Colman can be reached at rcolman@canadianfabweld.com.

Advance Laser & Fabricationg Inc., www.advancefabricationinc.com