Metal Fabrication
This industry involves the forging, stamping, bending, and welding of raw metal into intermediate parts and structures used by other manufacturers.
Why it exists
Metal fabrication exists to cut, shape, weld, and assemble metal components that form the backbone of industrial, construction, automotive, and aerospace systems.
Why it’s necessary
Virtually every physical product—buildings, infrastructure, machinery, vehicles—requires fabricated metal structures or parts that cannot be replaced by other materials at scale.
Key components
Cutting, forming & welding
Assembly & finishing
CNC machining
Material sourcing & inventory
How to evaluate businesses
Margins depend on operational efficiency, raw material cost management, automation levels, and customer concentration. Fabricators with high-value specialty capabilities outperform commodity shops.
How the industry could be improved
Robotic welding, automation of repetitive fabrication processes, digital job tracking, and AI-supported quoting could enhance speed, reduce waste, and expand capacity without increasing labor.
Nice overview! The customer concentration point is crucial becuase high-value specialty fabricators can still get hammered if their biggest client consolidates suppliers or cuts orders. The automatio pitch makes sense but deployment costs are brutal for mid-sized shops, which is why commodity fabricators are trapped in low-margin hell.