Successful Communication With Fabricators
Asking someone to make something for you is sharing many details with precision. Good drawings are helpful (see the Shop Drawings article), but practicing strong communication tactics is even more important. It will save you from making costly mistakes, it will help you design parts better, and it will minimize your part's lead time.
Unless you need to work with a specific facility, the very first thing you should do is check the fabrication facilities webpages to find a place that meets your needs and caters to your purpose. Considering a few options may help you reduce lead time, as many facilities and businesses have peak workloads at varying times of the year. You should inquire about lead times early in your project, which brings us to our first section.
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Communicate Early in Your Project
Once you have a general idea of what you want made, you should discuss how to make your part with the manager of either your academic department's shop or one of the general campus shops. You must design realistically if you want your parts to be real, and the sooner the better. Mistakes become increasingly time-consuming and frustrating to fix later in the project.
Businesses often list their capabilities on their websites and will prefer that you only communicate with them for quotes, orders, and capability questions. If you have not worked with a fabrication business before, passing your ideas and drawings by a manager of an on-campus facility first is a great idea.
Starting Contact
On-campus facility managers typically have an office you can visit them at, and you can find contact and other information on the fabrication facility webpages. Calling or visiting is a great way to have a quick first discussion and set-up a longer meeting, although some facilities will indicate that they prefer email-only. Emails not be responded to immediately (wait 3 business days before trying again) and you may need to try initiating contact multiple times if they get lost during a busy week, but they are a reliable method of sending documents and asking follow-up questions.
Using off-campus businesses opens up new fabrication possibilities, but be aware that they are typically accustomed to working with professionals. Unlike campus fabricators, they will expect you to know what you want specifically from the start, including:
- Fully defined-drawings. You can sometimes skip this if all you want is a single cut or a few tack welds, but don't expect verbal communication to be remembered accurately. See the Shop Drawings article for more information.
- How many duplicates (“pieces”) you want. The larger the order, the lower the average fabrication time and the lower the cost per part to you.
- When you need to receive your order by. A busy shop may take a few weeks to get your order done normally. Rushed orders get rushed results (or no results, depending on policy) and/or will cost extra.
- How you want to receive your part. Pick-up? Shipping?
You should include this information when you inquire with the business about capability and pricing (getting a “quote”).
Remember that you represent the University of Rochester when you work on university-related projects.
Coming to Fabricator Meetings Prepared
As with any professional meeting, you should arrive well-equipped to explain what you want clearly and concisely. Outline what information you need to get from the other person and what questions the other person may have. Learn some basic knowledge about what you'll be discussing. You should spend as much time preparing before a meeting as you plan to spend in the meeting, and twice more if you are unfamiliar with the topic.
It is difficult to convey a complex idea with words alone. Bring diagrams of what you want with information about how it will be used.
Stay On Top of Your Order
Check on how your order is progressing during the quoted lead time. Proactively seeking a fabricator's questions and finding out if any problems have developed prevents mistakes and helps you to budget your time accurately. You will not always be informed of their delays and assumptions, and your order will be completed faster if the fabricator doesn't have to wait for responses to their questions.
Check/measure the finished part as soon as you receive it and make sure it is correct to your specifications. If it is not, contact the fabricator to figure out how you can resolve the problem. Mistakes happen. They are often the result of vague or incorrect drawings, and professionals make occasional errors just like everyone else.