Struggling to stretch the budget for your next metal fabrication project? We get it. It’s expensive, between the cost of tooling, labor and sheet metal. There’s a lot of pressure to keep costs down and ROI high.

Your choice of a metal fabricator could be the solution to decreasing your metal fabrication costs while retaining a high-quality product. Below are four ways your metal fabricator can lower your costs, contribute to sales growth, improve profit margins and optimize your cash flow. If you choose the right partner, that is.

1. Engineering Services

Look for a metal fabrication partner that offers in-house design services. These engineers have specialized skills and experience specific to the fabrication process you choose. They can help you optimize your design through material choices and in-line processing recommendations you may not be aware are possible. This added perspective could reduce your material, production and shipping costs up to 40 percent.

2. Tooling Cost Amortization

While your strategy for balancing tooling costs may typically be to rent tooling, consider a metal fabricator that offers cost amortization. This allows you to disperse your costs over months or quarters and can extend production runs. Plus, this tooling can be used for future projects.

3. Mill-Direct Savings

Some metal fabricators buy mill-direct supplies, so they are able to negotiate material costs on your behalf. Not only can these fabricators negotiate on better prices, but also better products. Their relationship and experience with these mills allows you to directly benefit without having to do the heavy lifting. If they buy mill-direct, this also means they have the means to buy, ship, store and process the steel.

4. Fabrication Techniques

Saving money with a metal fabrication partner should also depend on the process you choose. If you’ve always stuck to the same fabrication technique, it could be worth it to discuss alternatives with a specialty fabricator. For example, roll forming can be used to perform secondary operations in-line, saving you money on additional equipment and processing.

If you’re new to roll forming, or looking for ways to save money on your designs without compromising quality, check out our Standard Profile Engineering Guide. With nine different roll form profiles, this free guide will help you decrease time-to-market and lower total production costs.