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Hickswood Metals opens up new areas of opportunity

Hixwood Metal Inc. of Stanley, Wisconsin discovered many market niches by simply listening to the opinions of customers. Provide its own branded post-frame packaging; operate the shed business; and the booming coil sales business throughout the United States
The original owner Harvey Zimmerman looked back in surprise. It was never his plan to engage in such a business. He joked that he started working as a post-frame builder in his hometown of Pennsylvania because “I am not a farmer.”
He eventually came to Wisconsin and became a distributor of a post-frame construction manufacturer. It was 1998 and business was very good. The back shelf business is located on Hixwood Rd. , Hence the name.
By 2005, Harvey’s business had grown to the point where he needed more help, and he got help from his brother-in-law Paul Zimmerman Jr. and his father Paul Sr.
“They decided to come and help me with my business,” Harvey recalled the father-son team. “In 2005, we bought the first roll forming machine Hayes.” In the same year, they added the Bradbury folder.
This was in the early days of the regional roll forming business boom, when metal construction contractors were seeking more regional services to meet their metal roof and wall panel requirements. Gradually, the back-frame business began to be surpassed by the roll forming business. They ended the distribution rights and decided to package the brand for their own rear frame within a 4-hour radius of their Stanley office.
At the same time, the calendering business doubled in the next three years, and did not lose momentum until the market collapse in October 2008. At that time, they had added timber sales to the rear rack business, and the growing agricultural market helped Hixwood accumulate water until the market began to gain a foothold in 2010. In addition, the ceiling market is also a factor. As Paul said: “In an economic recession, we say we choose not to participate.”
Paul Sr. is no longer with them, but the team of Harvey and Paul Jr. is stronger than ever, and their complementary advantages and mutual respect are obvious. Now, Harvey is the co-owner of the company, mainly responsible for advertising and daily decision-making, while Vice President Paul is responsible for purchasing. Their work is what they like and can prove. Paul said: “They said, if you love your job, you will never work a day.”
Today, Hixwood’s residential metal renovation market remains strong. Paul said: “More and more people choose to use metal roofs on asphalt.” Standing seams with invisible fasteners are the most popular. The company provides its customers (mainly builders and metal roofs) with sizes 24, 26 and 28, but so far, their sales have further increased by sizes 26 and 28. They provide 16-inch quick positioning profiles and two exposed fastener profiles: 9-inch and 1-inch 6-inch.
Textured finishes are very popular in its geographic area, including veneers that imitate stone, wood, and brick. They recalled a particular Wisconsin lakeside community whose regulations required all new buildings to have stone cladding or metal cladding on the stone exterior walls (shore and sides). Many homeowners are choosing metal to speed up construction. Paul said: “Contractors like it because it is very easy to install.”
What is constantly growing is that seamless steel siding is used in 15 types of profiles, which can provide on-site rolling in various colors.
One of Hickswood’s most surprising developments is the growth in sales of its paint rolls, some of which even went to local roll forming competitors. They were founded in 2010 and now have customers in 24 states, from New York to Montana to the east and west, from Michigan to Kentucky to the north and south.
They did not disclose their mill resources, but did point out that they only sell domestic coils that use Bakers coil coatings, which have 20 smooth and 12 texture finishes. Because they are shipped from multiple locations, regardless of the steel source, they can usually be delivered within two days to a week, and customers can pick up the goods faster. Slitting coils for fast positioning and seamless wall panels are available.
Their choice of Beckers is not without exhaustive research. In fact, Hickswood owns Beckers BeckryTech panels in a paint spray field in Florida, and they monitor fading and corrosion every three years. They proudly showed the results of their last visit compared to the competition of their competitors and look forward to getting more results on their return trip in February.
The quality issue is not far from the discussion. If Harvey and Paul have a common concern, it is that increased competition between roll forming machines, large and small, will induce some companies to sell lower-quality substrates and coating systems to compete. This approach threatens the entire metal industry. Paul said: “People are not selling at the price, they are selling as expected.” Essentially, the customer is sold to a once-in-a-lifetime roof and hopes to discover that the roof needs to be replaced after a full day of service life.
“As a manufacturer of metal roofs, we provide some extreme long-term guarantees. We need to be careful to ensure that we do meet market expectations, otherwise we will have problems within 20 years. People will say: I don’t want metal roofs. , Because it will fade. This will cause trouble for the entire industry.” Paul continued.
He added that although the producers of the regional roster have been criticized first, this is not justified. “We see that some major roll forming machines use some lower grade substrates and/or coating systems to better compete with the region,” thus “suppressing” the entire industry and threatening its future.
Although sometimes customers are unwilling to pay for the best quality, it is not good for companies to promise to provide more than just what they deliver. As Paul pointed out, “Whether it’s a 10-year warranty or a 40-year legal warranty, the new roof looks the same on the first day.”
Hixwood is committed to practicing their preaching and continuing to serve them with its high-quality philosophy. By simply following market requirements, they needed to expand their buildings and equipment many times during their 22 years of business. The number of employees who started with Harvey has now increased by 26.
Several buildings have been added to the roll cage building on Copenhaver Ave. Hayes roll cage and Bradbury roll cage are connected by two 21-foot long Thalmann long folders and a Krasser Centurio slitting machine. The building is also used for shed construction.
ess. Rear garages and “toy boxes” are particularly popular. Even with the coronavirus, market sentiment in their region tends to be cautiously optimistic.
The two both women looked out the nearby fields, wondering where they would expand next. Although Harvey is not a corn and soybean farmer, it is all family-owned land, and there is enough land waiting for new seeds to continue to develop a business that can meet customer expectations. Radio frequency
TAGS construction roll forming, metal roll forming equipment, plate roll forming machine, plate roll forming, roll forming


Post time: Nov-17-2020
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