Capability
Production and Prototyping
HPS Fabrications runs repetitive manufacturing as well as one-off work: production runs of the same part, month after month, alongside prototypes and first articles. The same engineers, fixtures, certified fabricators and inspection apply whether the quantity is one or several hundred. If you have a part you reorder on a schedule, that is work we want.
| Quantities | One-off, prototype, first article, repeat and volume production runs |
|---|---|
| Production facility | Madison Heights, Michigan, with robotic welding |
| Design support | Licensed professional engineers, CAD modeling, simulation, FEA |
| Materials | Carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, alloys |
| Inspection | Incoming material inspected; welds inspected in process |
Repetitive manufacturing is the half we want more of
Most of this site shows large one-off equipment, which is the visible half of what HPS does. The other half is repeat production: the same part, built to the same standard, shipped on a schedule.
Two examples run through this shop regularly. The crane track chocks go to shipyards on a standing basis, and the welding and fixture tables we build for our own floor we also build to order.
Higher-volume runs are built at our Madison Heights facility, which has robotic welding for repeat parts. Volume work rewards a fabricator who keeps every step in house: cutting, forming, welding, machining and finishing all stay inside HPS, so a reorder is one purchase order rather than four, and consistency across batches is a process rather than a hope.
Prove it before you commit to it
A prototype exists to answer a question. Does it fit, does it carry the load, does it assemble, does the operator get on with it.
The value is in getting an honest answer early, which means the prototype has to be built the way the production part will be built. A one-off welded on a bench by whoever was free tells you very little about the hundred that follow.
We build prototypes on the same fixtures, with the same certified fabricators and the same in-process weld inspection as production work. If the design does not exist yet and you need us to engineer the solution too, see rapid prototyping.
First articles
For defence and government work, the first article is a formal gate rather than a convenience.
On an assembly whose failure mode is not recoverable, the first article is where a design either survives scrutiny or does not, and it is the gate that separates a supplier who can build the thing from one who merely quoted it. The Navy submarine ventilation hatch houses went through exactly that, redesigned through successive engineering changes rather than accepted as drawn.
Nothing about that outcome is accidental. It comes from engineering the assembly before building it, and inspecting it while it is being built rather than afterwards.
Designs that change
Real products iterate. The Navy submarine ventilation hatch houses began as a stopgap and were redesigned by HPS through successive engineering changes into something purpose-fit.
Having engineering in house is what makes that affordable. An engineering change that needs an outside firm, a new drawing package and a re-quote costs weeks. Here it is a conversation between the engineer and the fabricator.
From proven design into a production run
When a design is proven, the same fixtures and the same people carry it into the run. Fixture tables built for the prototype are the fixtures the run uses, so the tenth part matches the first and the hundredth matches the tenth.
That continuity is the whole argument for prototyping and producing in one place. A second supplier taking over at volume has to re-learn everything the first one already paid to find out.
What to send
Whatever you have. A drawing package, a STEP model, a sketch, or a photograph of the thing it replaces. Tell us the quantity now, the quantity later and how often you reorder, because those change the right approach more than anything else on the print.
Common questions
Production and Prototyping: questions buyers ask
Do you take repetitive production work, or only one-offs?
Both, and repetitive manufacturing is the half we are actively growing. Parts we build on a regular schedule include crane track chocks for shipyards and fixture tables. Tell us the annual quantity and the reorder pattern.
Will you do a one-off, or is there a minimum?
No minimum. We do first articles and one-offs as well as repeat runs. A prototype gets the same engineering review and the same inspection as full production work.
Can the prototype and the production parts come from the same place?
Yes, and that is the argument for doing both here. The tooling, the fixtures and the process are already proven when volume starts, so nothing has to be re-learned by a second supplier.
Do you build your own fixtures?
Yes. The welding and fixture tables in the shop were designed and built in house, and we build them to order for other shops.
What makes a part suited to repeat work here?
Anything that needs cutting, forming, welding, machining and finishing, and that gets reordered. Everything happens in one company, so a reorder does not mean re-coordinating four suppliers and hoping batch ten matches batch one.
What happens if the design changes between prototype and production?
It usually does, and having engineers on site is what makes that cheap. The Navy submarine ventilation hatch houses began as a stopgap product and were redesigned through successive engineering changes into something purpose-fit.
Can you prove a part before we commit to it?
That is what first-article work is for. We build and prove a first article before a production run commits you to tooling, a material or a process, and our own engineers review the result.