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Mike Hackley has always been a strong believer in organic growth. By managing his businesses in a controlled, financially sustainable manner, the entrepreneur has been able to more nimbly respond to customer needs without accumulating debt.
But after a COVID-19 health scare in 2020, Hackley decided he’d had enough of the business world. He subsequently sold his BBQGuys.com empire – which had grown into a $300 million a year enterprise – so that he could travel and spend more time with his family. “I was set on just being retired and enjoying the good life,” says the 59-year-old Hackley.
That all changed in 2023, however, when his former manager of R&D and manufacturing at BBQGuys.com, Richard Stewart, approached him with a unique business proposition – a Louisiana-based fabrication facility that would specialize in the automated mass production of metal products. “I’ve always been a metals guy,” Hackley says. “That was in my wheelhouse, so it piqued my interest.”
The idea was born out of the supply chain issues suffered during the pandemic, when manufactured metal products were difficult, if not impossible, to find in the U.S. Hackley and Stewart set out to change that paradigm with Metal Fab Guys, and a few months ago opened an 11,000-square-foot facility in Walker. They also invested significantly in automated equipment that will enable them to offer a variety of high-precision sheet metal fabrication and manufacturing services in the commercial space.
While there’s been no official grand opening, the company’s machines have been running non-stop ever since, with Hackley’s reputation with BBQGuys.com responsible for much of the early work. “The word got out and we had more than 1,000 inquiries from potential customers,” Hackley says. “The whole concept behind Metal Fab Guys is to bring manufacturing back to America, with a focus on sheet metal production.”
The real differentiator, though, is the company’s automated approach to manufacturing. Metal Fab Guys is able to mass produce projects literally around the clock with its equipment for sheet laser cutting, tube laser cutting, powder coating, metal forming, and laser welding. They also operate a high-tolerance AMADA press break and have teachable robotic welders.
“A customer will give us their CAD file and our engineers will break it down into every little piece and panel, nut and screw,” Stewart says. “Then, we use fiber lasers, rather than water jet or plasma cutting methods, to provide a more efficient, faster and ultimately cheaper process. Other methods require a lot of residual cleanup and an army of workers is needed to grind and polish the metal.”
Speed to market is another differentiator. “Customers will say they need 1,100 pieces of a certain product cut in a month, and we’ll be done in four days later,” Hackley says. “That’s because of the automation. As long as there is metal in the racks, we can turn the lights out and it will make parts all night long.”
Metal Fab Guys is in a constant state of evolution, as Hackley and Stewart remain committed to growing the business in an organic fashion. In fact, they already have plans to add another building at their 5-acre Walker site. “If a customer comes up to us and asks us to do something and we don’t have the machine, we go out and buy the machine,” Hackley says.
Today, Metal Fab Guys can cut more than 500 sheets of material per week with only four shop employees, largely due to their automated processes. “We’re a partnership-based business,” he adds. “When we start working with a client, our priority is to understand their challenges and deliver efficient, tailored solutions to solve their mass production needs with ease.” Stewart says.
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