Big rush job (~2 week turnaround). Which trade suppliers could pull this off?

[tulsagraphics]

Hi all!

A customer requested a large job yesterday, due in hand by the 14th. I reached out to local fab shops for metal shearing, but none could get the aluminum in my hands with enough time to apply graphics (busy season and all). It's a fair bit of work for 1 person, but I was thinking I could man handle all that with my RollsRoller over the course of 3 to 4 days.
But if doing the graphics myself is out of the question, given the time frame, are there any trade suppliers out there with the capacity to produce the entire job, start to finish, for a July 14th delivery? (going to Oklahoma)
I checked with S365 about 4 hours ago -- they're still working on a quote.

SPECS:
(66) .080" aluminum signs (6 different sizes), single-sided full-color (full coverage, mostly black and orange). By my calculations (well, OptiCutter's calculations), the job will require (44) 4'x 8' sheets (over 1,600lbs of aluminum -- about $6.5k worth of metal in my neck of the woods. Sheesh!)
-- .080" required per spec, non-negotiable - I checked.
-- cutting plan attached

Thanks!

 

[Johnny Best]

click on Merchants at the top of page, maybe someone like FireSprint can help you.

 

[tulsagraphics]

click on Merchants at the top of page, maybe someone like FireSprint can help you.

Yep, I did. Only 8 trade suppliers listed, and out of those, only (1) offers .080" products "WYLD". (I'm not familiar with them, but reaching out when they open)
FireSprint doesn't offer aluminum products.

Really, when you get into .080" aluminum, especially custom sizes -- very few companies offer it -- probably because it's so heavy and hard to cut.

 

[netsol]

Yep, I did. Only 8 trade suppliers listed, and out of those, only (1) offers .080" products "WYLD". (I'm not familiar with them, but reaching out when they open)
FireSprint doesn't offer aluminum products.

Really, when you get into .080" aluminum, especially custom sizes -- very few companies offer it -- probably because it's so heavy and hard to cut.

WYLD is terrific
they are fairly close to us and they are a "preferred vendor" on my list
always been very helpful , with jobs we were not equipped for.
nice quality work, always on time

 

[netsol]

they are east coast, of course

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

that should be easy for s365. I order large runs of metal signs from them often.. and b2sign but they don't do 080.

 

[tulsagraphics]

WYLD is terrific
they are fairly close to us and they are a "preferred vendor" on my list
always been very helpful , with jobs we were not equipped for.
nice quality work, always on time

Good to know. Thanks!

 

[zspace]

Check with your aluminum supplier and ask if they can provide material to size. Allied Plastics has been good about that for us. They are based in Dallas so shipping to Tulsa might not be terrible.

 

[tulsagraphics]

Check with your aluminum supplier and ask if they can provide material to size. Allied Plastics has been good about that for us. They are based in Dallas so shipping to Tulsa might not be terrible.

Ah. I didn't know Allied worked with metal. I get most of my polycarb from their OKC location. Thanks!

 

[echeverrit]

yes contact Signmaster.com - they are trade only to businesses and their turnaround/customer service is phenomenal. Tell them Tonisha from Vulcan sent you!

Over 90% of our orders are produced in 24-48 hours - we NEVER charge for rush service. We will do everything humanly possible to meet your deadline.

We have fair and straight forward pricing, no charge for overruns, setup, color matching and FREE SHIPPING on every order with no minimums!

YES! We are a transparent arm of your company. We are trade only printers - always your supplier and never your competitor.

 

[joshGN]

Why 080? Are they street signs?

 

[tulsagraphics]

yes contact Signmaster.com - they are trade only to businesses and their turnaround/customer service is phenomenal. Tell them Tonisha from Vulcan sent you!

Over 90% of our orders are produced in 24-48 hours - we NEVER charge for rush service. We will do everything humanly possible to meet your deadline.

We have fair and straight forward pricing, no charge for overruns, setup, color matching and FREE SHIPPING on every order with no minimums!

YES! We are a transparent arm of your company. We are trade only printers - always your supplier and never your competitor.

Thanks. I checked with them. They're competitive with some products, but for .080" they're 43% higher than S365.

 

[tulsagraphics]

Why 080? Are they street signs?

I haven't seen how they're going to install them (out of town job, to be installed by their contractors). I only know that it's permanent signage for an arena.

Before I started working on the quote I gave them all the info and options for thinner stocks (which type of substrates are best for certain sizes or types of installs), alternative substrates etc. The only option they will consider is .080".

Of course, they haven't seen the price yet. Even with a conservative markup they're going to get some sticker shock -- after which they might reconsider my suggestions for thinner stocks. We'll see!

By the way -- just a general note about all the suppliers everyone mentioned. I contacted all of them. S365 is the only one willing to do the job.
(not sure about signmaster -- their prices are crazy high on .080")

And regarding the metal suppliers / fab shops -- all said they were too backed up for that quick of a turnaround. (my distributor reached out to Wrisco too -- no dice). Grimco declined altogether (not sure if it's a regional thing - I used to get a lot of "smaller" custom cut sizes from them).

All the trade suppliers had similar reasons, but the general sentiment was that nobody works with .080" that often (outside of smaller / common prefab sizes) -- let alone handling that big of a job with custom cuts. Yes, that included the big trade suppliers such as WYLD.

I'm just going to bid the job from S365. Thanks for your help everyone! Wish me luck!

 

[joshGN]

I haven't seen how they're going to install them (out of town job, to be installed by their contractors). I only know that it's permanent signage for an arena.

Before I started working on the quote I gave them all the info and options for thinner stocks (which type of substrates are best for certain sizes or types of installs), alternative substrates etc. The only option they will consider is .080".

Of course, they haven't seen the price yet. Even with a conservative markup they're going to get some sticker shock -- after which they might reconsider my suggestions for thinner stocks. We'll see!

By the way -- just a general note about all the suppliers everyone mentioned. I contacted all of them. S365 is the only one willing to do the job.
(not sure about signmaster -- their prices are crazy high on .080")

And regarding the metal suppliers / fab shops -- all said they were too backed up for that quick of a turnaround. (my distributor reached out to Wrisco too -- no dice). Grimco declined altogether (not sure if it's a regional thing - I used to get a lot of "smaller" custom cut sizes from them).

All the trade suppliers had similar reasons, but the general sentiment was that nobody works with .080" that often (outside of smaller / common prefab sizes) -- let alone handling that big of a job with custom cuts. Yes, that included the big trade suppliers such as WYLD.

I'm just going to bid the job from S365. Thanks for your help everyone! Wish me luck!

I got the same RFQ, never had a chance to talk to the lady, she asked for alum, I quoted 3mm ACM.
Sent them a whole run down on pricing, they told me a few hours ago that they were going with someone else.

 

[Humble PM]

All the trade suppliers had similar reasons, but the general sentiment was that nobody works with .080" that often (outside of smaller / common prefab sizes) -- let alone handling that big of a job with custom cuts. Yes, that included the big trade suppliers such as WYLD.

I'm just going to bid the job from S365. Thanks for your help everyone! Wish me luck!

Good luck.

I used to have a really good supplier of cut .080 (2mm) 20 miles from me - cut and deliver filmed 2 face aluminium, next day delivery.
They moved 120 miles away to be close to a boat building area. If not too late, might be worth chuckin "oklahoma aluminium boat builder" and making a couple of calls to ask who they use?

 

[tulsagraphics]

I got the same RFQ, never had a chance to talk to the lady, she asked for alum, I quoted 3mm ACM.
Sent them a whole run down on pricing, they told me a few hours ago that they were going with someone else.

Interesting. I received the same email - they went with someone else. Dang.

They must have sent out RFQs to a lot of places because 1/3 of the fab shops / suppliers I called said they were working on the same quote. I didn't even mark it up that much -- someone out there must have low balled it.

Oh well, maybe next time!

 

[Gino]

Probably a fab shop who doesn't hafta pay freight or much of a markup. Just hire a shop to come in and decorate the panels.

I hope you..... and the others do know the vast majority of these people who claim to be 'to the trade only' are not telling you the whole truth. The numbers they give out to sign shops is not the same number they put in fab shops and other possible customers.

 

[tulsagraphics]

Probably a fab shop who doesn't hafta pay freight or much of a markup. Just hire a shop to come in and decorate the panels.

I hope you..... and the others do know the vast majority of these people who claim to be 'to the trade only' are not telling you the whole truth. The numbers they give out to sign shops is not the same number they put in fab shops and other possible customers.

Yep, that makes sense. Gotta keep those machines running -- working all the angles to stay competitive.