What does a fabrication company do?

Fabrication is a key part of industry and infrastructure. With £164 billion of infrastructure projects scheduled to be completed by 2025, this constitutes a major demand driver for fabricated steel products. According to the Make UK Executive Survey 2025, manufacturing overall accounts for 9% of GDP and £934 billion of exported goods.

If you’ve ever asked yourself ‘what does a fabrication company do?’ then read on! In this blog post, we’ll unpack what fabrication means, what fabrication services are, and how the fabrication process can help your business.

Leading sheet metal fabricator

Universal Wolf is a leading sheet metal fabricator, based in the UK. We offer a full-service metal fabrication service, from prototype to scaled manufacturing. Our services include CNC machining, welding and fabrication, and mechanical assembly. Our customers range from Defence contractors, to transport disruptors and leading industrial powerhouses.

What does fabrication mean?

‘Fabrication’ is a term that covers all stages of the sheet metal working and production process, taking metal from a flat sheet to an assembled finished product.

What does a fabrication company do?

A metal fabrication company takes the raw materials through the whole metalworking process. The metal will pass through various stages on its way from a flat sheet to a finished, 3D structure. Fabrication companies work with customers to review and assess technical drawings, and make suggestions on how designs can be optimised. This leads to a smoother release into manufacturing and can also potentially generate cost savings.

From design to prototype

Once the design is agreed; the next step is generally the production of one or more prototypes. This allows the manufacturer to understand any potential bottlenecks or challenges for production and to develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and manufacturing processes for the product. Collaboration between fabrication company and the customer is key at this point, to ensure that any issues are discussed and resolved in a timely manner. Prototypes are reviewed by the customer for sign-off.

Following prototype sign-off, the product moves into production.

What are fabrication services?

Fabrication services are each individual step the product passes through in the production process. Here’s a short overview:

Metal profiling

Using laser cutting and CNC punch profiling to cut ferrous and non-ferrous materials, such as steel, aluminium, and copper.

CNC machining

Using top-of-the-range CNC machining centres to create precise cuts.

Sheet metal forming

Using press brakes to form metal to a range of different shapes and angles. This is where the metalwork structure begins to take shape.

Welding

The process of joining two pieces of metal together using heat and a bonding alloy. Welding is a craft that is finely honed and very skilled. Our team of Welding and Fabrication experts has many years’ experience in creating metalwork structures for our customers.

Sheet metal painting

Using powder coating or wet paint systems to create a high-quality metalwork finish. This stage in the process also includes significant pre-treatment of the metal surface – e.g. via shot blasting. This ensures all contaminants, oil and rust are removed. The metal is then treated with a phosphate or conversion coating. This ensures longevity of the paint finish.

Mechanical assembly

Assembly of metal products, including third party supply chain components.

How do I find out more?

Our friendly team are always ready to talk about how we can help with your metal fabrication requirements.

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