Zane Hengsperger Profile picture
manufacture the future | GM @ https://t.co/y5paO6mjjO | @joinindustrion
Jun 24, 2025 5 tweets 3 min read
how to start and scale a metal supply factory with less than $10K ⬇️ 1/ buy metal, big chunks of metal, probably billets

you can by these from local distributors or even dudes on Facebook

look for the most common used metal by other factories (who you will sell to) in your area, it probably aluminum. probably 6061 Image
Jun 23, 2025 6 tweets 3 min read
I toured a metal shop outside Windsor.

They don’t machine. They don’t weld.

They just cut blocks. All day.

Here’s how Essex Metals quietly built a regional monopoly in rectangles: 🧵 Image
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20+ Years of Blocks

Founded quietly in the early 2000s.

No LinkedIn founder story. No VC funding.

They just bought metal, cut it, and kept answering the phone.

While other shops chased big machines, they doubled down on band saws.

Now they’re one of the go-to suppliers for machinists across Southwestern Ontario.Image
Jun 13, 2025 11 tweets 2 min read
I bought a 55+ year old factory from a retiring owner 6 months ago.

Here's everything I learned so far. Context:
>22ish employees
>steel fabrication/custom steel racks
>30,000ish sqft (depending how you look at it)
May 7, 2025 10 tweets 3 min read
some low barrier ways to break into manufacturing

a casual thread through my experience ⬇️🏭 firstly why should you break into manufacturing?

1. having an industrial base in crucial to national security
2. $2.3T industry important to western economy
3. we have a decline in smb factories, tribal knowledge, labor - it's a noble mission to fill the gap + opportunity
4. factory jobs create 7.4 additional jobs, building communities
5. personally, i find it rewarding to tangibly create things and solve complex physical problems