Helander

What Helander does

Helander Metal Spinning Company is a privately held custom metal fabrication company founded in 1936 and headquartered in Lombard, Illinois. It operates three Chicagoland facilities totaling more than 80,000 square feet and employs 11-50 people. The company describes itself as a one-stop shop for precision metal forming, machining, and finishing, with core capabilities in metal spinning (spin forming), sheet hydroforming, CNC machining, NADCAP-accredited welding, metal polishing, and rolled tubing/cylinder production. It works across a broad material range including stainless steel, carbon steel, aluminum, copper, brass, bronze, Inconel, Hastelloy, Monel, and titanium, serving aerospace and defense (its primary vertical), industrial, commercial food equipment, energy, medical, vehicle components, fixtures and furniture, and oil and agriculture customers.

Helander's technology stack centers on advanced CNC and hydraulic-assist equipment, including 13 lathes and 7 mills capable of holding tolerances of ±0.001 inches, hydroforming presses of 15", 20", and 25" with 7"-12" draw depths, and metal spinning capacity up to 100 inches in diameter with material thicknesses up to 2.50 inches. Six NADCAP-accredited welding processes (GMAW/MIG, GTAW/TIG, soldering, automated seam, cylindrical) support both ferrous and non-ferrous work, complemented by four automatic polishers, two abrasive blasting cabinets, and five semi-automatic polishers producing finishes from 36 to 250 grit. The company maintains AS9100D, ISO 9001:2015 (since 1999), NADCAP Welding, ITAR registration, and PPAP compliance, enabling it to supply into regulated aerospace and defense programs.

Revenue is generated through project-based, custom fabrication contracts quoted on a per-piece or per-project basis, with typical tooling costs of $1,500-$5,000 and product costs of $1,500-$10,000, and lead times of 2-12 weeks. Volume capacity ranges from single-piece prototypes to 50,000+ unit production runs. The company sells directly through its website, phone (630-268-9292), and email ([email protected]), with international shipping capability. Named customers include Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, NASA, Blue Origin, Honeywell, Dover, Flowserve, Emerson, and Sea Tel Cobham. The company is privately held with no public funding rounds, no parent company, and no disclosed management team in the input data; ownership appears to rest with private individuals consistent with a multi-generational family-operated manufacturer.

Name

Helander

Legal name

Helander Metal Spinning Company

Website

https://helandermetal.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1936

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Helander Metal Spinning Company, founded in 1936 in Lombard, Illinois, is a custom metal fabrication provider offering metal spinning, hydroforming, CNC machining, welding, and polishing services to aerospace, defense, industrial, medical, and energy sector customers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Custom Metal Fabrication Services

NAICS

All Other Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (33299), Machine Shops (332710), Machine Shops; Turned Product; and Screw, Nut, and Bolt Manufacturing (3327)

SIC

Sheet Metal Work (3444), Miscellaneous Fabricated Metal Products (3490)

akta.pro primary industry

Metal Airframe Structures & Machined Parts (IMABAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Welding, Fabrication & Field Machining Services (On-site) (IMAIACAD)

Keywords

• Custom metal fabrication
• Metal spinning services
• Hydroforming services
• CNC machining services
• Aerospace metal components

Headquarters

HQ city

Lombard

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel

Revenue model

1. Custom Metal Fabrication Services: Revenue generated from custom metal spinning, hydroforming, CNC machining, and value-add services including welding and polishing. Services are priced per project based on specifications, materials, and volume. Typically handles production runs from 1 piece to 50,000+ units.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Helander Metal Spinning Company is a custom metal fabricator that produces precision metal components through metal spinning, sheet hydroforming, and CNC machining, complemented by in-house NADCAP-accredited welding, metal polishing, prototyping/tooling, and rolled tubing services. It serves aerospace, defense, industrial, medical, energy, commercial food equipment, vehicle, and architectural customers with production runs from 1 piece to 50,000+ units and tolerances as tight as +/-0.001 inches. The company operates three facilities in the Chicagoland area (Lombard and Addison, Illinois) totaling 80,000+ square feet and has been in continuous operation since 1936.

Product overview

Helander Metal Spinning Company is a custom metal fabrication company offering a one-stop-shop solution for precision metal forming and finishing services. The company's core product portfolio centers on three primary manufacturing capabilities: Metal Spinning (spin forming), Hydroforming (sheet hydroforming), and CNC Machining (turning and milling). These core services are supported by value-add modules including Metal Polishing, Custom Welding (NADCAP-accredited), Prototyping and Tooling, and Rolled Tubing/Piping/Cylinders services. The company works with a wide range of materials including stainless steel, carbon steel, aluminum, copper, brass, bronze, Inconel, Hastelloy, Monel, and titanium. With 80+ years of experience, Helander serves aerospace & defense, commercial food equipment, architectural design, industrial, energy, medical, and vehicle component industries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Metal Spinning Custom metal spinning (spin forming) that transforms metal discs or tubes (blanks) by rotating them on a lathe and applying pressure to form them to a mandrel, producing conical, toroidal, or other round shapes. Capacity up to 100 inches in diameter and 2.50 inches thickness, used for aerospace, defense, industrial, energy, and commercial applications.
• Hydroforming Sheet hydroforming service using pressurized hydraulic fluid to shape ductile metal into complex, asymmetrical, convex, and concave components with minimal secondary finishing. Available with 15", 20", and 25" presses, draw depths of 7"-12", and diameters of 12"-19", with approximately 20-second cycle times.
• CNC Machining Computer Numerical Control (CNC) turning and milling using 13 lathes and 7 mills capable of cutting high-temperature alloys such as Inconel and titanium with tolerances of +/-0.001 inches and 2-4 axis capability, for aerospace, defense, industrial, and medical customers.
• Metal Polishing Abrasive metal polishing service providing finishes from 36 to 250 grit, including concentric-starburst and #4 brush finishes on stainless steel, steel, copper, brass, bronze, and aluminum.
• Custom Welding NADCAP-accredited custom welding offering six processes—GMAW (MIG), GTAW (TIG), soldering, automated seam welding, and cylindrical welding—on carbon steel up to 0.375 inches, aluminum up to 0.750 inches, and stainless steel up to 0.250 inches.
• Prototyping and Tooling In-house engineering, CAD/CAM design (Solidworks and Fusion360), toolmaking, and prototyping services that take metal spinning and forming projects from initial development through final production, with typical tooling costs of $1,500-$5,000.
• Rolled Tubing, Piping & Metal Cylinders Cold rolling service that creates tubes, pipes, and cylinders from sheets, strips, plates, and rods with thicknesses of 0.018"-0.250" and lengths up to 72 inches, at tolerances of +/-0.010 inches.

Quantifiable outcome

• Tooling costs reduced to approximately 10% of alternative forming methods like stamping, casting, and forging
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• AAR Corp: Aerospace and defense supplier of parts, MRO services, and integrated supply chain solutions. Overlaps with Helander as a tier-2 partner supplying metal-formed components into commercial and government aerospace programs.
• Barnes Group: Diversified industrial and aerospace manufacturer of precision components, engineered solutions, and assemblies. Overlaps with Helander in supplying precision-formed metal parts to aerospace primes, albeit at much greater scale and breadth.
• Form Technologies: Private equity-backed metal forming platform operating multiple spin-forming, stamping, and engineered components businesses (including Spincraft). Competes with Helander for the same aerospace customers and represents the strategic consolidator profile likely to bid on NADCAP work.
• Triumph Group: Public aerospace structures, systems, and components manufacturer serving commercial and military programs. Comparable customer base and overlap in fabricated and machined aerospace components.
• Precision Castparts Corp: Now a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary; the largest US manufacturer of complex metal components for aerospace, power, and industrial markets. Massive scale incumbent supplying many of the same primes that source from Helander.

Direct peers

• FF Fluid Forming: US sheet hydroforming and fluid-formed component manufacturer serving aerospace, automotive, and industrial customers. Direct competitor to Helander's hydroforming capability and a peer in producing complex, seamless formed shapes.
• Mayville Engineering Company: NYSE-listed contract metal manufacturer offering metal stamping, fabrication, machining, and assembly for heavy truck, agricultural, military, and aerospace markets. Comparable contract-fabrication business model and aerospace exposure, but operates at materially larger scale.
• Wisconsin Metal Spinning: Custom metal spinning job shop serving industrial, aerospace, and commercial customers. Comparable in process capability, custom service model, and ability to handle small- to large-batch volumes from a single source.
• Spincraft: Custom metal spinning, flow forming, and hydroforming services for aerospace, defense, energy, and industrial markets; an operating unit of Form Technologies. Closest direct peer to Helander's metal spinning and forming core business with overlapping aerospace customer set.

Others

• Schuler Group: German manufacturer of metal forming equipment including hydroforming presses and tooling that compete in the same applications Helander provides as a service. Adjacent rather than competitive; relevant as the principal capital goods supplier to the spin-forming and hydroforming industry.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/helander_metal

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Helander