Metal fabrication is all around you and you might not even realize it. Whether you’re simply interested in how things are made, how the industry works, or why metal fabrication is so important, this article will outline it all.

We will begin with the first "W’ – what. Metal fabrication is all around, but you either don’t know about it, haven’t thought about, or don’t care. Hopefully a little knowledge can remedy that. On a very basic level, the concept of fabrication can be explained by the simple act of someone lying. When someone lies, they create or alter something (the truth) from its original state. Fabrication in the industrial world isn’t much different. All metal fabrication is, is the process of taking one material, combining it with another, and creating something new. While it is much more involved and incorporates many highly advanced technologies and process, that basic concept is incredibly simple.

Metal fabrication typically involves processes like cutting, welding, and various forming techniques to create everything from construction materials to finished products. In doing so, metal fabricators take advantage of highly advanced automation processes to mass produce many of the products we benefit from every day. With that in mind, it’s easy to think of the parts of your car or the many metal products, components, and tools you rely on as metal fabrications. However, it goes even beyond that.

Other valuable metal fabrications include things that the general public relies on without even realizing it, like large metal fabrications used by the aerospace and military to launch satellites, manufacture avionics systems, and house missile warheads. So as you can see, the applications for metal fabrications around the world range from simple metal car parts to highly advanced and precision fabricated satellite parts. But that necessitates the next two"W’s" – who and where?

Small and large metal fabrications are completed for industries every day. They are found in the construction industry, repair shops, shipyards, airfields, and everywhere in between. Typically, they come from CNC machine shops and fabrication centers across the country. Ever since the early days of the industrial revolution, CNC machine shops have been at the center of innovation when it comes to industrial technology, machinery, and automation. Today, they are equipped with an extremely wide range of modern machines, such as turning centers, lathes, machining centers to form metal on every axis, and the finishing capabilities to give each fabrication the proper characteristics.

So next time you drive your car or notice something metal making your life a whole lot easier, take a moment to think of where it came from, and the many truly world-changing technological discoveries that have been made over hundreds of years to make it possible.