What if you could reduce scrap, increase productivity, form parts exactly when needed, reduce packaging costs, run parts to any length and better serve your customers in the fastest growing segment of metal roofing? Would you do it? The answer for a growing number of companies is “yes,” and on-site rollforming is the way to get there.
Not every metal roofing panel lends itself to on-site rollforming, but for standing seam panels that are factory produced, the packaging costs, delivery time and length limitations can be a drawback. Panels can be factory produced at a high production rate, only to have the production cycle slowed down by packaging time. Panels need to be nested together, crated and protected from damage during transport. Furthermore, due to trucking restrictions, factory-produced panels can only have a maximum length of about 50 feet, unless special stretch shipments are arranged.
This is not to say that factory-formed panels will disappear from the market. There are situations where factory forming is beneficial, but the notion that site-formed panels will not perform structurally or aesthetically is a myth that continues to be disproved.
The evolution of the on-site rollforming machine has allowed more complex and taller seam panels to be site formed, and many metal coil suppliers offer warranties that include weathertightness. Several traditional factory-formed panel suppliers now offer on-site fabrication services in addition to the factory option to better serve their customers.
Multiple profiles and rapid changeover between profiles now are offered on several forming machines, allowing you to compete for a wider variety of jobs in today’s tough markets. Knowing you can bid for work that specifies a panel you currently don’t produce, but could produce on your existing machine simply by purchasing the necessary tooling, allows you to keep capital costs down and add on to the machine only when required.
Entry Barriers Continue to Fall
Testing and certification from Camas, Wash.-based Underwriters Laboratory and West Conshohocken, Pa.-based ASTM International, as well as High Velocity Hurricane Zone panel assembly testing now exists, allowing on-site fabrication by roofing contractors and metal roofing component suppliers to compete for specified business they may not have been able to bid in the past. This levels the playing field for the on-site fabricator.
As mentioned, machines have evolved from mechanically seamed, 1-inch-high seam panels dedicated to only one shape to 1 1/2-inch, mechanical-lock, snap seams and nailstrip panels for faster installation, as well as structural panels that include 1 3/4- and 2-inch-plus-tall panels. The ability to adjust the machine quickly for various coil widths now is common in the marketplace. Flexibility and modular designs allow you to begin manufacturing in your current market, such as residential roofing, and grow into the commercial and structural panel market simply by purchasing additional tooling for the larger profiles.
It’s Not a Material Cost Decision
Large factory panel producers can buy steel cheaper than an on-site fabricator, but that is only part of the equation. Driving on-site rollforming growth really is about producing the panels you need, when you need them, to the exact dimensions required. Roofing is a critical path item in the building process, and work can’t begin on the interior of the structure until the building is weathertight.
It’s also about the one-piece flow/lean manufacturing revolution that increased efficiencies in fabrication for decades. The elimination of work in process that on-site rollforming provides not only reduces inventories, but allows the installer to make panel adjustments in real time as they are needed, when they are needed. There is no need to order more panels than required to account for errors or panels damaged during shipment and on the jobsite.
The Next Evolution
Revolution may be a more descriptive term. Machines now have entered the market that integrate roof estimation and design software into the fabrication process for a true computer-integrated roof manufacturing process. Roofs can be drawn with software tools that can export the panel data directly to the rollforming machine for notching and cutting to hip/valley angles, and provide fold over tongues for eave and ridge closure/hemming details. Non-contact measuring systems also are being used to verify as-built dimensions for accurate panel production. The verification of as-built dimensions is critical because structures are never built exactly as drawn.
All of this technology is about reducing labor and increasing panel quality. By notching the flat metal prior to the forming process, the steel can be fully supported when punching. This provides a clean cut edge that translates to a better looking panel when installed.
Market evolution is a phenomenon that occurs in all industries. As markets mature, efficiencies enter the game to drive out waste. Technology becomes more important to stay competitive. The companies that thrive in the long run are the ones that search for ways to increase their productivity and quality, and do more with their existing employees.
On-site rollforming machines are evolving just like every machine tool has in the past. The machines become more flexible over time, and, as with other industries, the computer has revolutionized manufacturing. Adding computer power to your on-site rollforming machine allows you to integrate and serve your customer as never before.
Dale Kroskey is a former member of the Rollform Technical Council of the Rockford, Ill.-based Fabricators & Manufacturers Association International and is vice president of product development/rollforming technology for Metalforming Inc., Peachtree City, Ga. He can be contacted at dkroskey@metalforming-usa.com.