M9401 - lron and steel fabricating, manufacture industrial equipment, storage and truck tanks, rebar, manufacture of heavy metal products including warehousing of raw and finished products

Operational Details
Steel and iron fabricators order raw metal materials from steel manufacturers and use the following products:

- plate or sheet steel
- structural or "I" beam steel
- Ornamental iron (angle iron)
- corrugated steel, for metal sheds
- sheet metal
- stainless steel
- miscellaneous metals (aluminum, copper, etc.)

The fabrication process involves arc, plasma, acetylene, MIG, or TIG (used for metal alloys), welding. Other parts of the process include the cutting, forming, bending, bolting, riveting and machining component parts.

When pressure vessels are being manufactured, certified "B" pressure welders must do the job. Girth welders and automatic welders may be required when working on continuous seams such as inside a pressure vessel or pipe. When process pipe (flanges or pipe spools) are welded onto the vessel, pipefitters may assist the welder. The work is also X-rayed and inspected because the vessels are designed to hold contents under pressure.

Welders and their helpers assemble and fit metal sections and plates to form complete units or subunits, using tack, continuous welds, bolts or rivets. Various heavy-duty metal-working machines such as brake presses, shears, slitters, cutting torches, plasma welding units, benders and shapers are used. Supportive machining may also be undertaken, using machine or numerically controls metal lathes, punches, drill presses and grinders, etc.

Products fabricated are not limited to pressure vessels such as tanks, cooling towers, dehydrators, separators, but may also include conveyor systems, catwalks, industrial railings, drilling rigs, caterpillar dozer blades, grader blades, counterweights, structural beams, etc. Rebar may also be manufactured, whereby molten iron is poured into an extruding machine and reinforcing rods, also known as rebar, is produced. The rebar is used to reinforce concrete.

Machining, as a supportive activity, is undertaken to manufacture shafts, cylinders, rods, etc. to complete the fabrication process. Punches, drill presses and formers are also used to place holes in the metal for the purpose of attaching rivets and bolts. Sheet metal products may also be used in the manufacturing of heavy steel objects.

If a fabricator heat treats the steel, it is considered part of the overall industry being conducted. Further, incidental custom heat treating steel for other fabricators is also allowed in this industry.

Employers selling a welding service, rather than selling products, using a fabrication process, are classified in the welding subcode. Those erecting the products manufactured in a fabrication shop are classified in the steel erection subcode.

Steel fabrication facilities need large inventories of steel and because of this there must be a large area for storage of needed materials in the manufacturing process. Once fabricated, there is also a need to be able to store the products until they can be transported to the customer. Production is stored in a compound adjacent to, or inside the fabrication shop. Large overhead travelling or gantry cranes may be used to move production and plate steel in and out of the fabrication facility.

SIC Codes
000000609 - lron and steel fabricating
000000613 - Mfg. heavy metal products
000000612 - Mfg. rebar
000000610 - Mfg. industrial equipment
000000611 - Mfg. storage and truck tanks