Lead Sheet Metal Fabricator
Great Lakes Fabrication Co. · Grand Rapids, MI
Feb, 2022 · Present
Run a 4-person duct and enclosure cell producing 180–220 fittings per week for commercial HVAC contractors across West Michigan.
Program and operate CNC plasma table and hydraulic shear; cut nests that reduced scrap by 14% over two quarters while holding square-and-true tolerances.
Form transitions, offsets, and radius elbows on press brakes; set dies and back gauges for first-article approval before full runs.
TIG and MIG tack-weld stainless and galvanized assemblies; hand off welded seams to the certified welder for final passes.
Train 2 new hires on blueprint reading, seam layout, and lock-forming; documented a cell SOP that cut onboarding time from 6 weeks to 3.
Sheet Metal Fabricator
River City Sheet Metal · Wyoming, MI
Aug, 2018 · Jan, 2022
Built rectangular and round duct, plenums, and custom hoods from galvanized, aluminum, and stainless stock.
Operated shear, brake, roll, and Pittsburgh lockformer; completed average of 35–40 shop hours of billable fab per week.
Fit and assembled architectural panel kits for school and hospital jobs to GC punch-list deadlines.
Maintained tooling inventory and flagged dull blades/dies before dimensional drift showed up on QC checks.
Apprentice Fabricator
Lakeshore HVAC Fab Shop · Holland, MI
Jun, 2016 · Jul, 2018
Assisted journeymen with layout, cutting, and assembly of residential and light-commercial duct.
Learned plasma cutting, brake setup, and seam joining under union apprenticeship hours toward sheet metal journey card.
Kept shop floor clean, staged stock, and delivered finished fittings to install crews on schedule.