Plate fabrication (chaudronnerie in French) makes items from plate, tube and section by cutting, forming and welded assembly: tanks, vessels, hoppers, ducts, pipework, machine casings. The border with light sheet metalwork is mainly a matter of thickness (above roughly 3 mm) and the size of the items; the term heavy sheet metalwork is also used.
The chain includes reading drawings and marking out, cutting (laser, plasma, oxy-fuel cutting or waterjet), forming on the press brake (bending), on the plate rolls for cylindrical or conical shells, on the bender for tubes, pressing of dished ends for tanks, then tacking and welding, by TIG or MIG-MAG depending on the materials (see the guide TIG, MIG and MAG welding). Welds are inspected according to requirements: visual, dye penetrant, radiography, leak or hydraulic test. Pressure equipment falls under European regulations (Directive 2014/68/EU) and requires qualified welding procedures and welders.
Plate fabricators make tanks and vessels for food processing and chemicals, hoppers and conveyors, welded frames, machine bases, hoods and ducts. Production is often one-off or in small runs, to drawings. Stainless steel is very common in food and pharmaceutical work; it calls for a particular finish, pickling and passivation. This trade corresponds to the welding and plate fabrication capability.
In a quote request. Attach the general arrangement and fabrication drawings, the material and the thicknesses. State the applicable code or regulation (pressure equipment or not), the inspections and certificates expected, the surface finish, the final treatment (paint, galvanising) and the constraints on size and transport. Specify who supplies the material.