Metal-forming Specialist Explains How to Start Your Own Metal Shop

By Alec Doniger.

Chandler Barden, from CIDAN Machinery, gives us the inside scoop on starting a metal manufacturing business. 

For more than a decade, Chandler Barden has been working for CIDAN Machinery Group, a manufacturer of sheet metal machines for the architectural market. He worked his way up from being a salesman, and in 2020 he became the company president. In a recent episode of Metal Talk, Heidi J. Ellsworth asks Chandler about what it takes to start a metal shop.  

Before starting a business, it’s important to establish your goals and what the big picture of the operation will look like. So first, we need to know how a typical metal shop really functions. “A sheet metal shop... is an architectural sheet metal shopper, a fabrication shop that is cutting and forming architectural parts,” explains Chandler. This means your own sheet metal business needs to establish the means to manufacture and distribute these parts. 

“The guys who do the best are the ones who are really nailing down the turnaround time on the trim to their customers,” Chandler shares. Planning for speedy delivery is essential to your business’s success. “[The most successful shops] typically have some type of connection, whether it's a business partner or whether it's them individually, who are going to come in and they know the market.” Connecting with a well-established business partner can ease some of the processes involved in manufacturing and distributing. 

There is also, of course, material equipment to run a functional and successful metal forming business. Chandler mentions four pieces of gear that are essential for the metal forming process: a folder forms the metal into shape; a shear cuts it to a particular width; a roll former converts the sheet metal to a desired shape; hand tools are needed at any workshop for touches.  

There is a lot more to running a metal forming business than what’s outlined in this article, so listen to the full podcast for more insight. 

Learn more about CIDAN Machinery Group in their MetalCoffeeShop® directory or visit cidanmachinery.com.