Fabricators Responding to Trends

SYSTEM SOLUTIONS

One way fabricators have been responding to the requirements of meeting today’s architectural metal trends has been moving toward offering solutions that incorporate more than just architectural panels. “We are providing solutions within the system and design that include structure to create the profiles or panel shapes the designers are looking for,” says David Sauerwein, chief design and innovation officer, Metal Design Systems, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “In the past, those projected profiles would have been created with stud framing and sheathing, and we would need to measure what was actually built and custom make panels to fit the usually, not-so-perfect structure. When we include that build-out in our scope, it simplifies the field constructed wall, insulation and weather-resistive barrier and we can control the variables. This usually results in savings on schedule and cost with higher quality results.”

Increasingly, architects want to see their designs sooner and more completely. 3-D printing (a relatively new technology that is sometimes called metal additive manufacturing) is allowing them to do that. Once a tool reserved for hobbyists working with plastic, 3-D printing is already being used in industrial settings to create products and prototypes, including the sheet metal fabrication industry. It is possible now to create and assemble an entire building using 3-D printing methods.

Metal 3-D printing is very different from the traditional steel fabrication process; a printer produces a metal prototype. Using a wide range of metal powders, 3-D parts are formed layer by layer from material via a digital data file being transmitted to a machine that then builds it. This eliminates assembly steps, encourages freedom in design and can significantly lower production costs. Additive manufacturing provides a new level of customization and produces faster development cycles. Custom orders can be fulfilled without waiting days or weeks to order and ship them.

IMPROVED PROCESS AUTOMATION

Two perennial trends in many industries are the need to save money and get products to market faster. Improved automation has helped the metal fabrication industry do that by enhancing and simplifying cutting and bending processes. With it, production operations have become more efficient and more errors are being minimized. Automation lets high-quality, cost-friendly steel fabrication products be produced on time, shortening overall operations and improving the order-to-ship cycles. Because of improved automation, many metal fabricators can run their operations without human intervention, enabling them to save a significant cost on human resources.

A major industry architectural trend is the demand for more complex parts and more precisely cut metal. Computer numerical control (CNC) machines have met this challenge and automation has been part of the reason. Automation minimizes human intervention and programming to function. This decreases repetitiveness and increases efficiency and productivity. Some machines only need the instructions from a design file to perform various types of cuts.

CNC machines can cut with laser, flame, tube laser, plasma and waterjet cutting technology. Almost of these techniques offer better precision over manual-cutting operations. These technologies are ideal in producing desired complex shapes with more precise cuts, all without the need for human intervention. “We have invested in laser equipment to accommodate all kinds of custom perforation in aluminum and stainless steel as well as CNC panel folding equipment for those materials as well,” Sauerwein says.

CUSTOMIZATION

While there is a substantial amount of standard fascia products being specified, Mike Wallace, president of Americlad LLC, Rogers, Minn., says the architectural community is really trying to make a signature statement by designing work where custom-built products are required. “For the most part the design may be very conceptual and as a fabricator our responsibility is to be able to turn it into reality. Ideally, as a fabricator we would love to be pulled in early on in the design so that this step is taken early on in the process. Customization is certainly not a dirty word and doesn’t always mean more expensive. If the fabricator has the skill set, design aptitude and the equipment to build it, it can usually be done rather economically. Types of considerations also can include customized perforations, finishes and geometry of the panels.”

PERFORATION TRENDS

Architects are increasingly specifying perforated metal wall panels on building skins. To best attain this look, perforation rollers are increasingly being used to create punches in metal. Instead of making each hole individually, perforation rollers allow fabricators to create even, uniform punches every time. Equipment manufacturers are increasing efforts to develop project-specific rollers to meet unique demands of clients. This is contributing toward the growth of the North America metal fabrication market, which is estimated (according to a research report on the North America Metal Fabrication Market from Transparency Market Research) to reach a value of $6 billion by the end of 2030.

The report states there is a growing demand for perforation rollers that can go through the metal cold or be heated to create a clean punch each time. These novel rollers are creating incremental opportunities for metal fabrication companies, since the heated pin in these rollers creates a reinforced ring around the perforation to increase the strength of the metal.

“We are seeing a lot more perforation designs,” says Chris Webb, sales manager, Sobotec Ltd., Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. “We now have the capacity to do all of that. We have laser cutting machinery and turret punching machinery. Laser cutting allows for custom perforation.”

INCREASED TESTING AWARENESS

Because of the growing awareness of the impact of catastrophic weather events, fabricators have heightened their focus on better-designed, climate-resistant buildings that can withstand weather extremes. Metal fabricators have stepped up with improved testing for fire performance, structural performance, water management and others.

“The tragedies we have seen with fire have certainly brought a heightened awareness regarding fire performance,” Sauerwein says. “Even though NFPA 285 compliance requirements have been around for a very long time, there was never a whole lot of enforcement that we saw. I believe that was primarily due to a tremendous amount of confusion and lack of clarity on what it was and how different components of the wall assembly affect the overall performance of the entire wall assembly. Things are finally beginning to settle in as more education, experience and documentation is available.”

FINISHES, COLORS AND TEXTURES

Architects are requesting more finishes, colors and textures to improve the look of their buildings and metal fabricators are responding. Systems have evolved over the years to meet these creative demands with more options than just polyester and urethane paints. There are solid colors, micas, pearlescent and even faux natural finishes, like wood and stone. Metallic coatings give depth to colors, adding sheen and sparkle “Regarding finishes and textures, we’ve seen a lot of perforated panels with solid backing panels, high-polished finishes and wood grains,” Sauerwein says.

“New finish products allow the designer to choose from a huge pallet of finish types,” Wallace says. “Whether it is an exotic paint, wood grain finishes or other options, the choices are endless. Some finishes may only be available for specific types of products as they may require a coil coating process. Similarly, the same can be said in reverse for spray finishes that coil coating is unable to achieve.”

“By using powder-coated finishes, we have the ability to provide bright, deep colors when compared against wet coat finishes,” Webb says. “Suppliers have developed specialty coil coating processes that provide simulated natural metal or pattern finishes.”