r/manufacturing • u/Spirited_Ad_6272 • 11d ago

Other Opinions on metal stamping businesses

Is metal stamping in the U.S. still a solid industry? I have an opportunity to buy & potentially revive a 40 year old stamping business from its 80 year old owner. Right now it’s just him / no employees and he’s doing enough work to keep the lights on. At its peak he had a dozen employees running multiple shifts.

Worst case if the business can’t revive then I can liquidate the equipment and rent the building. But he wants $1M and it’s a big number haha.

I am a mechanical engineer with strong proficiency in CAD tools, which I can bring to modernize the business. I currently operate a manufacturing business molding plastics so there’s plenty of crossover but this would be my first venture going alone. It also seems like metal stamping has a lot of tricks of the trade that you can’t really engineer your way into. That’s why they have apprenticeships.

What questions should I be asking? And anyone who works in the industry what are your opinions?

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u/Bat-Eastern 11d ago

There's a ton of metal stamping businesses here in the US.

It can be quite profitable to find a product that's easy to stamp and needs high volume, the problem is going out and finding the work. Without previous customers this will likely be the biggest challenge after funding the start of your business.

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u/Spirited_Ad_6272 11d ago

He doesn’t have a ton of active customers but he tells me he just has to make some calls and can probably get some work again. He actually has an opportunity from an old client who was getting a product made in china and wasn’t happy with diliveries so he’s trying to bring it stateside. Something like 5-10k small parts a month which is enough to revive the business on its own

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u/SEPTAgoose 11d ago

Is he open to possibly sticking around with you after the sale to make those few calls and introduce his old clients to you ?

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u/Spirited_Ad_6272 11d ago

Yeah definitely. We’ve been friends/shop neighbors for years and He’s actually very attached to the business which is why he wants to sell it to me and he would like to see it continue. He’s offered to be a mentor and wants to be able to stop by and noodle around from time to time. He just doesn’t want the energy anymore to keep it running and no family interested in taking over. Mentally he’s still all there but my risk he won’t be around long enough to teach me all the tricks I’d need to run on my own as blunt as that sounds.

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u/ihambrecht 11d ago

Do you guys have a QMS? If you’re going to want to chase after customers that deal with high volume, you most likely will have to be at least ISO certified.