Business View Magazine - October 2018

44 45 SHEET METAL SUPPLY LTD. Recently, Business View Magazine discussed industry insights and the evolution of this thriving family manufacturing firm with Ben Kweton, Vice President of Sheet Metal Supply Company and son of founder, Phil Kweton. The following is an edited transcript of that con- versation. BVM: How did SMS begin its journey in ar- chitectural metal manufacturing? Kweton: “My father, Phil, started the business in 1991. After a lengthy career in the commer- cial roofing industry, he realized there was more potential in going into the architectural metal end of things. That took his competitors in the roofing market and made them into cli- ents of ours.We started in Libertyville, Illinois in a 16x30-foot garage space with hand-op- erated equipment and an old slitter. My father picked up the sheet metal during the day, and he and I would bend it at night after I finished high school. “We had nice managed growth, year over year. Also on the site we were working from was a larger warehouse, which we used to store people’s classic and collector cars – just to make sure the rent was covered. As we grew, we took less space for cars and more for our metal business. Now, we’re in a 30,000-sq.- ft. facility in Mundelein.” BVM: What do your operations entail? Kweton: “We’re a fairly comprehensive architectural metals manufacturing and distri- bution company.We’ve gone from having one handbrake with my father on one end and me on the other, to four fully automatic brakes, each with an operator, but all have CNC ca- pabilities.We also have three sheers and four roll formers to make roofing and wall panels, commercial size gutters, and a 4”x5” downspout. In addition, we have various machines for the façade production market, a large routing table for alumi- num composite material, and a punch for venting and perforation. “We have just under 30 employees; several have CAD capabilities and assist in drawing and rede- signing parts.We work with all levels of a project, so we can absolutely interface with a homeowner. Sometimes, that’s the last interface we have on a project. The homeowner will handle their material – lock, stock, and barrel –with us. More typically, when it comes to a residential or commercial roof perimeter system, that’s generally done with a roofing contractor. These days, with our evolution into the façade market, we deal with commercial glazing operations, as well. “We’ve watched architectural metal façades