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ENGINEERED FOR EXCELLENCE

MANUFACTURING

As a Manufacturer, Great Western has very competitive advantages which we gladly pass on to you.

We’re able to source the fabrication and component pieces of your steel building to factories and vendors which not only specialize in steel buildings, but we can locate facilities that are closer, geographically, to your job site. This cuts shipping times, reduces the possibility of damage in transit, and ultimately saves you money.

Great Western is confident that every part or piece will meet your expectations. Because our team is well-connected in the industry, and we’ve worked with numerous vendors across the country, we have familiarity with preferred vendors who will nurture your project with as much care as we do. We guarantee it!

MANUFACTURING PROCESS

1. Factory Receives Shop Drawings and BOMs

After the engineering, detailing, and scheduling processes have been completed, your building’s shop drawings and the list of materials get sent to the shop floor. From there the different areas within the factory begin fabricating and packaging your steel building. Primary Frames, Secondary Framing, Trim, Panels, and the warehouse all work independently of each other. It is the staging and shipping yard that brings it all together.

2. 3-Plate Members and Mill Beams

Perhaps the most exciting part of the manufacturing process of your steel building is the heavy iron component fabrication. This is where the sparks fly. 3-Plate (Rigid Frame) members have their web sections cut on the plasma table, while flanges and connection plates are run through the detail line. Flanges and Webs meet at the submerged-arc auto welder to become a 3-Plate tapered beam. These newly created beams are then moved to the welding and fitting area. The fitters and welders finish the fabrication of the structural members by welding on the connection plates and clips. Before they move to paint, a trained quality control technician inspects each weld and verifies the finished pieces for tolerance and accuracy. W-Shapes and I-Beams skip the auto-weld process and move directly to welding and fitting.

3. Cold Form Secondary and Panels

Your building’s panels and cold form are made from a structural steel coil. The first part of the process is shearing to length. Secondary framing members like girts, purlins, and eave struts have bolt holes punched for later field assembly. After these processes, the flat steel is roll-formed into the desired profile. Most cold-form pieces are labeled with part numbers and nested together in 2000 to 3000 lb. bundles.

4. Trim

The trim shop slits the panel coil to width and shears it to length, forming pieces called blanks. Then, machines roll-form or fold the blanks into the desired shape. Trim folders create gutters while roll-forming machines create simpler trim pieces like corner trim and base angles. Specialty trims, such as corner boxes, gutter stops, and others, are made by hand.

5. Warehouse and Accessories

The warehouse makes sure that you receive all the necessary warehouse items like bolts, nuts, and self-drilling panel fasteners called out in your bill of materials. The warehouse also assembles cable bracing and crates items like vents, personnel doors, and windows.

6. Staging and Loading

When the steel building components from each fabrication area are complete and inspected by quality control personnel they are sent to the shipping yard. In the shipping yard, a final tally is taken and the bundles of cold form, individual structural pieces, and boxes from the warehouse are loaded onto a truck. Only after all bundles and samples of your steel building have been verified to be on the truck is the driver given the final paperwork and authorization to proceed to your job site for delivery.