Metalworking

What Metalworking does

Metalworking Solutions LLC is a 100% employee-owned custom metal fabrication job shop founded in 2006 by Bill Hewgley in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The company operates a 200,000 sq ft facility and delivers vertically integrated sheet metal components and assemblies to OEMs across six verticals: Machinery Equipment, Electrical Equipment & Enclosures, Retail Fixtures & Displays, Transportation Equipment, IT Infrastructure & Communications, and Material Handling. Its customer base is concentrated in the Southeast US (Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina). The reported footprint is 2M+ parts shipped annually with a 0.0008 quality reject rate, and the firm is ISO 9001:2015 certified.

The service offering spans the full fabrication-to-finishing value chain under one roof: laser cutting (including 6kW and 9kW Amada fiber optic systems with auto load/unload), turret punching, CNC bending (supported by a robotic bending cell), welding, CNC milling and turning, and finishing — including in-house Tru-Coat powder coating plus vendor relationships for hot-dip galvanizing, plating, and e-coating. Value-added services extend the offering into hardware insertion, assembly, kitting, and delivery, allowing parts to ship ready to install.

The business model is direct B2B enterprise field sales targeting OEM manufacturers, with quote-based pricing tailored to customer specifications and delivery deadlines. The company does not publish pricing, has no disclosed revenue, no outside funding rounds, no parent company, and no M&A activity; it is privately held under ESOP-style employee ownership. Leadership comprises founder/chairman Bill Hewgley and president Nick Burrows, with a stated headcount of 50+ per the founder narrative and 101-250 per firmographic data. Growth has been funded organically and through SBA/bank debt, with the most recent major capital actions being the 2021 installation of the 9kW fiber laser and robotic bending cell.

Name

Metalworking

Legal name

Metalworking Solutions LLC

Website

https://metalworkingsolutions.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Metalworking Solutions is a 100% employee-owned custom sheet metal fabricator in Chattanooga, TN, serving Southeast US OEMs across machinery, electrical, retail fixtures, transportation, IT infrastructure, and material handling with laser cutting, CNC bending, welding, machining, and finishing services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Custom Metal Fabrication

NAICS

All Other Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing (33299)

SIC

Sheet Metal Work (3444)

akta.pro primary industry

Metal Forming & Fabrication Machines (Presses, Bending, Shearing, Stamping) (IMAHADAC)

Keywords

• Sheet metal fabrication
• Laser cutting services
• CNC machining services
• Powder coating services
• Metal component manufacturing

Headquarters

HQ city

Chattanooga

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Custom Metal Fabrication Services: Job shop style custom metal fabrication providing laser cutting, turret punching, CNC bending, welding, machining, and finishing services. Revenue is project-based with quotes tailored to customer specs and deadlines. Value-added services include hardware insertion, assembly, kitting, and delivery.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Metalworking Solutions provides outsourced custom sheet metal components and assemblies to OEMs across multiple industries. The company operates a vertically integrated fabrication shop offering laser cutting, turret punching, CNC bending, welding, CNC milling and turning, and finishing services (in-house powder coating plus outsourced galvanizing, plating, and e-coating). Value-added services include hardware insertion, assembly, kitting, and delivery.

Product overview

Metalworking Solutions is a metal fabrication service provider offering a vertically integrated suite of manufacturing services organized into four main categories: Fabrication (laser cutting, turret punching, CNC bending, and welding), Machining (CNC milling and turning), Finishing (in-house Tru-Coat Powder Coating plus vendor partnerships for hot-dip galvanizing, plating, and e-coating), and Value Added Services (hardware insertion, assembly, kitting, and delivery). The company operates a 200,000 sq. ft. facility in Chattanooga, TN and serves OEMs across the Southeast. Equipment investments include 6000W and 9000W fiber optic lasers with automated load/unload towers and a robotic CNC bending cell. The company is 100% employee-owned and emphasizes on-time delivery, first-time fit, and quality (0.0008 reject rate).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Tru-Coat Powder Coating: In-house powder coating service offered by Metalworking Solutions

Products and services

• Fabrication Metal fabrication services combining laser cutting, turret punching, CNC bending, and welding to deliver clean, consistent, and repeatable parts to OEM customers.
• Laser Cutting Precision laser cutting of metal parts performed in-house using 6000W and 9000W Amada fiber optic laser systems with automated load/unload towers.
• Turret Punching Turret punching service used to create holes and shapes in metal sheets as part of the fabrication process.
• CNC Bending CNC bending services that form metal parts to precise specifications, supported by a robotic bending cell that automates offloading of smaller parts.
• Welding Welding services delivering high-specification welds for industrial applications including industrial cooling systems, transportation, and machinery equipment.
• Machining CNC milling and turning performed in-house to eliminate delays and provide complete metalworking solutions.
• Finishing Metal finishing services combining in-house powder coating with local vendor partnerships for hot-dip galvanizing, plating, and e-coating.
• Tru-Coat Powder Coating In-house powder coating service provided under the Tru-Coat brand, handling the final finishing step for OEM customers.
• Value Added Services Post-fabrication services including hardware insertion, assembly, kitting, and delivery so parts arrive ready to install, packed for the production line.

Quantifiable outcome

• 0.0008 quality reject rate
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• AmadacoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2017Equipment supplier providing 6000-watt fiber optic laser with automatic load/unload tower and robotic bending cell. The Amada laser technology is central to the company's cutting capacity, with the 9k fiber laser later installed in 2021.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• BTD Manufacturing: BTD is a Midwest-based contract metal fabricator providing laser cutting, bending, welding, machining, and powder coating to industrial OEMs — closely matching Metalworking Solutions' vertically integrated service stack and OEM GTM motion.
• Mayville Engineering Company (MEC): MEC is a US contract manufacturer offering custom metal fabrication, stamping, machining, and value-added assembly to OEM customers across multiple industrial verticals — directly comparable to Metalworking Solutions' end-to-end job-shop model and customer mix.
• Precision Metal Industries: Precision Metal Industries is a custom sheet metal and structural fabrication job shop serving industrial OEMs with laser cutting, bending, welding, and finishing — a near-twin operating model to Metalworking Solutions.
• Fox Valley Metal-Tech: Fox Valley Metal-Tech is a US metal fabrication services provider offering laser cutting, CNC machining, forming, and finishing to OEM customers — comparable in service breadth and customer type to Metalworking Solutions.
• Greystone Industries: Greystone provides custom sheet metal fabrication, laser cutting, CNC bending, and finishing for OEM customers in the Southeast, competing head-to-head with Metalworking Solutions in regional OEM accounts.

Broad incumbents

• Worthington Industries: Worthington is a large, publicly traded metal processing and pressure cylinder manufacturer with a Steel Processing segment; it is a broad incumbent in metal manufacturing that competes for OEM fabrication and finishing work at greater scale.
• Olympic Steel: Olympic Steel is a national metals service center and OEM fabrication partner with plate and sheet processing, laser cutting, and fabrication capabilities — overlapping with Metalworking Solutions' flat-rolled metal value chain.
• Mueller Industries: Mueller Industries manufactures copper, brass, aluminum, and plastic products and operates OEM-focused fabrication businesses, making it a broad incumbent comparable in OEM customer orientation and metalworking capability mix.

Emerging players

• Fabinetics: Fabinetics is a smaller, growing contract metal fabricator offering laser cutting, CNC bending, and powder coating to industrial OEMs — a partial-overlap emerging player competing for similar job-shop work in regional markets.

Regional players

• Mid-Continent Industries: Mid-Continent Industries is a regional contract metal fabricator serving OEMs with cutting, forming, welding, and finishing — comparable business model and customer type, but operating in different US geographies from Metalworking Solutions.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/metalworking
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/metalworking-solutions

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

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 Metalworking