A Humble Beginning
Starting out in a single bay garage, C & R Metalworks got its start in 1999. Roy Cleous had a vision, to sell his motorcycle, buy a welder, and start up his own business. Soon after, Roy was meeting up with Clint McAllister, a talented man with the same vision and aspirations. Clint and Roy hit it off instantly, and there began the successful business of C & R Metalworks, a custom welding and fabrication business, at that time focusing in copper architecture. Within a couple of weeks of beginning their 50/50 partnership, Clint and Roy had bought out all 4 of the remaining garage bays, and two years later they had added another building on Kearney Street.
Working with numerous custom homebuilders in the area, word of mouth about C & R’s high quality work caught on fast. Soon after, big builders in the area were calling on Clint and Roy to work for them. With Roy on the machines and Clint drawing the layouts, C & R’s business was growing quickly. By the year 2000, C & R had added six more employees and was seeing significant revenue growth. With an average revenue of sales growth of 120% per year, over the last 5 years, C & R is a regional presence in the metal and fabrication industry.
A Perfect Partner
Using only a welder and a grinder in their garage bay, Clint and Roy started out creating the geometry for their designs using paper dolls, Clint drew the layouts and hand-cut the drawings with a plasma cutter, Roy was responsible for the assembly and welding. When their business began to rapidly grow, both Clint and Roy knew there was room for much improvement and a need to cut down their design times.
Donna Cleous, Roy’s wife and Marketing Director for C & R, began looking at several software resellers in the area, doing background referrals and research on different companies. D3 TECHNOLOGIES was the perfect fit for C & R, with both the support and technology they needed to catapult their business to the next level.
“The timing was right to jump into 3D CAD technology and computer equipment, we needed this investment to take us to the next level. D3 had everything we needed and provided us with support that was close by,” adds Roy.
Purchasing two seats of Autodesk Inventor software, C & R was now capable of doing all their drawings in 3D, allowing them to have more accurate measurements that in turn gave their prospective customers more accurate bids. This ability to design in 3D has allowed C & R to design their products in half the time, keeping them affordable and allowing them to maintain their margin, even with a huge materials increase over the last five years.
“We have the ability to work faster and smarter without having to add additional staff. The software has literally paid for itself,” states Donna, “what used to take us two weeks we can now do in two days.”
Lasting Impressions
Now located on 1342 North Nias Avenue in Springfield, MO, C & R Metalworks provides a comprehensive group of services that include:
C & R now prides itself on its abilities to combine the newest technologies with “old fashioned” business values like unparalleled service and the highest quality craftsmanship. Employing state-of-the-art technologies such as Autodesk Inventor (for concept and design), CNC Equipment (examples: Turret Punch, Accurpress Brake, and Accurshear), and an OMAX Jet Machining Center (for cutting flat metal parts directly from CAD drawings).
C & R serves an incredibly diverse group of commercial customers with diverse end products. They have worked with companies in industries such as architecture, chemical, beverage, and pharmaceutical to name a few. They have done numerous well-known projects including being chosen to fabricate the stainless steel architecture elements for the exterior and interior of the Last Chance Diner located at Celebration City in Branson, MO. With the help of D3 TECHNOLOGIES’ 3D CAD designers, C & R also worked on a project to design and create a sculpture for the County Employees Retirement Fund building in Jefferson City, MO.
But no matter the size or budget of the project, C & R considers all jobs to be equally important. They are also, due to their size, able to give each client a high degree of personalized attention, with one-on-one consultations and flexible services. C & R has become successful because of the way they treat their customers by providing them with first-rate fabrication services and superior metalworking products.
“We must also attribute our success to our employee’s dedication to the growth and quality of this company. Out of all fourteen of our current employees, nine of those people have been with the company for more than 5 years. Our employees understand the meaning and benefits of producing high quality work and we thank them for that,” states Roy.
C & R has worked with several well-known customers including: Positronics, Webco, Integrated Bio, K.O. Manufacturing, Brewer Science, Schriver, Kraft and many more.
Big Ambitions
Along with their success, C & R Metalworks has high hopes for their future growth. Striving to expand the industrial side of their business, C & R looks to focus their efforts towards winning more production-type large scale contracts, taking their work beyond the “job shop” level. They also hope to expand the business they do using their in-house water-jet cutting machine, with the ability to cut more than just metal, there is a big market available for this type of cutting edge technology.
“We like to stay diverse to keep up with the ever-changing demands in the various industries. We want to be able to make new products as well as work to repair those products. We are constantly looking for ways to expand and improve,” Roy adds.
C & R hopes to have a larger facility as well, a building around 15,000 square foot to facilitate their growth. They will also be opening their own website soon, at www.cr-metalworks.com
For more information on C & R Metalworks, call 417.863.8801 or send email to info@cr-metalworks.com.