California Fabrication Shop Grows Business with Hornet HD Cutting Machine
One of the biggest challenges of operating a fabrication shop is dealing with the wide variety of projects, clients, and materials. One week you are fabricating wrought iron fencing for a garden center, the next it’s aluminum powder-coated gates for a school district, and another week you are asked to fabricate exhaust piping for a power plant.
The sheer variety of projects and materials means you need to be ready for anything to walk in the door. And if you don’t have the right machine, it can mean projects walking right back out the door and a hit to the bottom-line.
Builtware is a fabrication shop located in northern California. Started in 2005, the Builtware team features over 50 years of fabrication experience. Tired of having to turn down projects due to slow production rates, or being forced to outsource to another shop, they sought a solution.
What they needed was a machine built for higher production rates, could produce cleaner cuts, reliable, and needed to be operator friendly. They wanted to be able to train multiple people to run the machine.
After researching solutions, the Builtware team selected a Hornet HD CNC plasma cutting machine from Hornet Cutting Systems, complete with an oxy-fuel torch for thicker materials, and all powered by the Hypertherm XPR300 plasma cutting system.
Why did they select a Hornet cutting machine? One important factor that helped convince them was two local companies had Hornet cutting machines, and Ware was able to ask questions and demo the machines. After that, he was sold.
“It was a perfect fit for our budget,” said Jared Ware, Owner. “Hornet’s team has been attentive to our needs, they were able to accommodate our shop’s smaller size, and we have been very satisfied with the whole experience.”
The Hornet HD cutting machine has allowed Builtware to greatly expand not only the number of projects they can take on at a time, but they can now cut a wider variety of materials. This includes stainless steel, mild steel, and aluminum, with thicknesses ranging from ¼” to greater than 2” thick.
The HD has cut their beginning to end process, from the drawing stage to the cut part, by at least 60%, if not more. That increase in production has allowed Builtware to boost their bottom-line.
“It has allowed us to expand our business, number 1. Not only can it cut the parts we need, it can also cut parts for other facilities,” Ware said. “So instead of a machine that was previously a liability, the Hornet is a production machine that makes its own money and own revenue.”
The first project they cut after installing the Hornet HD cutting machine was all the plate products for the mining equipment featured in the coming soon television series “Rivers of Gold”.
More locally, Builtware had the privilege to cut all the plates for the Glen Edwards Middle School expansion project. The sizeable structural project consisted of roughly 20,000 pounds of material, with the steel plates ranging from ¼” to 2” thick. It was a project Builtware could not have accepted prior to adding the Hornet HD to their shop.
Hornet Cutting Systems is proud to help Builtware, and other companies just like them across the world, build something great. If your business could benefit from higher production rates, cleaner cuts, and increased reliability, contact Hornet Cutting Systems today and find out how you can start boosting your bottom-line immediately.