From laser and plasma cutting to press brake forming, welding, finishing, and assembly. Profiles held to plus minus 0.1 mm, bends to plus minus 0.5 degrees. One accountable owner from drawing to your US dock. India first, more regions as your volume grows.
VIA INDIGOS is a US contract manufacturing company that runs sheet metal fabrication programs in India, as one accountable owner from drawing to US dock. Cutting, forming, welding, and finishing sit under one program, with first article and PPAP on every part.
If you have ever sourced fabrications or sheet metal parts from anywhere in the world, you know the routine. Email at 9 in the morning. No reply. Email again at 4. Maybe an answer Tuesday. We built VIA INDIGOS so the fifth email never lands. Because one missed handoff on a fabrication program can cost you three weeks of production line downtime.
If you have ever sourced fabrications or sheet metal parts from anywhere in the world, you know the routine. Most buyers spend their week chasing updates instead of doing their real work. We built VIA INDIGOS to give that time back. Most fabrication programs need CNC machining, welding, and surface finishing to get to your dock, and we run the whole chain under one owner. 40+ sheet metal partner facilities across 22+ Indian cities, part of a 470+ facility audited partner network. Gauge from 26 GA to 7 GA, plate to 12 mm by laser and plasma. One owner on your program from drawing intake through US dock delivery. Whether your monthly volume is 500 pieces or 50,000, we set up the program the same way.
I walk the fabrication floor before a single PO is placed. We check laser and brake capacity against the part, the weld fixtures, the finish line, and the lab that will run your material and dimensional checks. We pick partners who run cutting, forming, welding, and finishing under their own roof, on their own QA team, on their own clock. One roof, one floor, one accountable team for the full sheet metal chain. DFM happens before a fixture is built. DFM, first article, and PPAP validation gates come with photographic evidence, dimensional data, and a written verdict from our quality lead. Boots on the ground, every step of the way.
My team runs weekly checks on bend angle, weld quality, coating thickness, and edge condition. We track SPC on critical dimensions, salt spray results on every finished lot, and lot to lot consistency on form and hole position. We send you a status report every Friday that covers WIP, inspection results, fixture health, and shipping milestones. Container loading photos reach your inbox before the seal goes on. Every lot carries a traceability ID from material to your receiving dock. Nothing ships until the dimensional report and the finish report both show green. We do not wait for you to ask. We report because that is how a fabrication program should run.
Most contract manufacturers worldwide drop the ball at the handoff between two teams. We hold every one. Ten real stages, drawing to your dock. No sub-step skipped, no handoff left to chance.
A fabricated part is only as good as the cut, the bend, and the steps after forming. Most shops hand you loose parts and call it done. Three controls separate a fabrication program that ships clean from one that ships you a reject report.
We do not stop at loose parts. Brackets, frames, and weldments come welded to your drawing, to AWS D1.3 on sheet and AWS D1.1 on structural over 3 mm. Weld fixtures hold the joint in the same spot lot to lot, and distortion is controlled with weld sequence and stitch welds. Every weld map is inspected and signed before the part moves to finishing.
Zinc plating, hot dip galvanizing, powder coat, anodizing, and passivation run at the same partner, on the same clock. We pull salt spray panels on every finish lot, ASTM B117, check coating thickness, and hold the report in the PPAP package. A finish that fails at 96 hours never reaches your dock.
DFM and flat pattern check. First article off the line, dimensional on a CMM. PPAP production sign off. Each gate carries a checklist, photos of the part, and the sample side by side with the print. A run that starts without a first article is a run that drifts on bend angle and weld position. We catch it on the bench, not on your line. Dimensional and finish reports run on every production lot before it ships.
Most India sourcing is run from a laptop in Cincinnati. Ours is not. Our team is physically present at partner facilities for first article reviews, weld and finish sign offs, and production launches. When something slips, we see it before you do. When quality holds, we have the photo evidence to prove it.
22+ Indian manufacturing cities. 40+ qualified sheet metal partner facilities. Real people on the floor making sure your drawing becomes a part that passes PPAP the first time.
22+ cities. 40+ audited sheet metal partners across laser cutting, punching, press brake, roll forming, and welding. Hover any marker to see partner count and what runs there.
22+ cities · 40+ sheet metal partners · 60T to 1000T press range
Laser and plasma cutting, punching, and shearing open the blank. Press brake bending, roll forming, welding, and finishing turn it into a part. All of it runs through one VIA INDIGOS playbook. One owner from drawing to dock. One status update every Friday. One India network of 40 plus audited partner facilities behind every program.
Profiles, blanks, brackets, and complex shapes cut from flat sheet with no tooling. Fiber laser for thin and mid gauge, plasma for heavy plate, with clean edges straight off the bed. The fast path from drawing to first part.
Holes, louvers, cutouts, and flat blanks on CNC turret punch and shear. Tight burr control and square edges. A cost effective route for high hole count panels and brackets before forming.
Brackets, channels, enclosures, and chassis bent on CNC press brakes with back gauge control. Bend deduction and spring back compensated in the program so the angle holds lot to lot. Stacked bends checked back to the flat pattern.
Long constant profiles, channels, rails, and trims rolled from coil in continuous lengths. The economical route for high volume linear sections that a brake cannot hold straight over length.
Brackets welded to plates, enclosures seamed, and weldments built from several pieces. MIG, TIG, and spot to AWS D1.1 and D1.3, held in weld fixtures that locate the joint the same way every time. Hardware insertion and sub assembly close the part out.
Laser cutting vs punching vs press brake vs roll forming vs welding. Five honest comparisons, not marketing claims. Use this to short list before you send the drawing.
Prototypes, complex profiles, no tooling.
High hole count panels, flat blanks, brackets.
Brackets, low volume, fast turn, prototypes.
Frames, enclosures, multi piece weldments.
Long constant profiles, channels, rails.
Not sure which fits? Send the drawing and we recommend the right process for your geometry, volume, and tolerance, and quote both options where it makes sense.
A cut and formed part is rarely the whole job. Brackets get welded to plates, enclosures get seamed, and assemblies get built up from several pieces. We run robotic and manual welding at partner facilities to AWS D1.1 for structural steel and AWS D1.3 for sheet steel, then inspect every joint before the assembly ships.
| Weld process | AWS standard | Typical materials | Thickness range | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GMAW (MIG and MAG) | AWS D1.1 / D1.3 | CRCA, HR, GI | 1.0 to 8 mm | Brackets, frames, structural assemblies |
| GTAW (TIG) | AWS D1.3 / D1.6 | SS 304, SS 316, aluminium | 0.5 to 4 mm | Stainless and aluminium, clean cosmetic welds |
| Resistance spot | AWS D8.9 | CRCA, GI, HR | 0.5 to 3 mm | Sheet to sheet, enclosures and panels |
| Robotic MIG cell | AWS D1.1 / D1.3 | CRCA, HR | 1.0 to 6 mm | High volume, repeatable seam quality |
| MIG brazing | AWS D1.3 | GI, coated steel | 0.7 to 2.5 mm | Galvanized sheet, low heat input |
Every welded joint gets a visual check. Critical joints get dye penetrant per AWS D1.3, and the first article gets a macro section to confirm penetration and fusion. Weld fixtures are built and held at the partner facility so the joint sits the same way every time.
Bare steel rusts on the boat, so coating is part of the program, not an afterthought you chase later. We run zinc, galvanize, powder, anodize, and passivation through partner finishers and hold every lot to an ASTM B117 salt spray target before it leaves. The full finish chart with specs and targets lives on our surface finishing page.
See the full finish chartThree gates, three sign offs, photo evidence at every step. We do not move a part forward unless the gate before it is closed. A run that starts without a first article is a run that drifts on bend angle and weld position, and we would rather catch it on the bench than on your line.
The flat pattern is checked back to the model. Bend deduction set and weld fixtures built. Cut profile, hole positions, and form sequence all signed off before the first production part.
The first parts off the line. Full dimensional report on every callout, hole position and bend angle on a CMM. Weld and edge condition checked. Formability confirmed with no cracks or thinning past spec. Report to you before the next run.
PPAP package complete. PSW signed by the buyer. Capability studies on critical features above Cpk 1.67. Lot traceability live to the material. Production releases only after the buyer has the full PPAP package in hand.
A fabrication program that runs across two countries, three suppliers, and a dozen handoffs is going to break unless someone owns every step. Below is what your program looks like under one VIA INDIGOS owner, end to end.
If a metric does not have an owner, a target, and a data source, it is not a metric. Below is the scoreboard we run on every fabrication program, refreshed weekly, surfaced in your Friday status email.
The right material is half the part. We cut and form the common cold rolled, hot rolled, coated, stainless, and aluminium grades, plus spring steel and copper alloys for contacts and busbars, on the laser, turret, and press brake. Below is the working range. A mill test certificate travels with every coil so the heat number traces back to the part.
| Material | Common grades | Gauge range | Key properties | Typical parts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CRCA cold rolled | IS 513 CR, SAE 1008 / 1010 | 0.5 to 4 mm | Clean surface, good formability | Brackets, clips, enclosures |
| Hot rolled and HRPO | IS 2062, SAE 1011 | 1.6 to 12 mm | Strength at heavier gauge | Chassis, structural plates |
| Galvanized GI / GA | ASTM A653, IS 277 | 0.5 to 3 mm | Zinc coat, corrosion guard | Outdoor brackets, panels |
| Stainless steel | SS 304, 316, 430 | 0.5 to 6 mm | Corrosion and heat resistance | Heat shields, clamps, food grade |
| Aluminium | 5052, 6061, 1100 | 0.5 to 6 mm | Light weight, conductive | Housings, heat sinks, covers |
| Spring steel | SAE 1074, 1095, 65Mn | 0.2 to 3 mm | High yield, takes a temper | Clips, shims, retainers, springs |
| Brass and copper | C26000, C11000 | 0.3 to 4 mm | Conductive, corrosion resistant | Terminals, busbars, contacts |
Other grades and tempers fabricated on request. Gauge range depends on press tonnage and form complexity. We confirm material, temper, and coating during DFM review before quote, and the mill test certificate goes in the PPAP file.
A part can pass every dimensional check and still cost too much to ship. Sheet metal is light but bulky, so freight is set by volume, not weight. We look at the part and the pack together, before the part is cut, so the same part fills more of the container and clears customs faster.
Upload your drawings. We review, run DFM, and return a full landed cost breakdown with tooling timeline and PPAP scope. You get one contact from intake to ship.
Every industry has its own certs, its own regulatory pressure, its own drawing conventions. The handoff discipline stays the same. What changes is the technical documentation that moves with the part.
Where time and cost leak out of a fabrication run, and the moves that take them back out. Part consolidation, fewer setups, and the handoffs that usually slow a job down.
Read the post →A plain look at how metal gets cut, formed, and joined. Cutting, bending, forming, and welding, and when each one is the right call for the part in front of you.
Read the post →Every field note we have published on fabrication, tooling, finishing, and getting parts from an India press to your dock.
Browse the blog →Plain English answers, written for procurement and engineering teams who want a real number, not a brochure. Last reviewed by Mandeep Singh in May 2026.
Sheet metal fabrication needs no hard tooling, so it is fast. A first article off the laser and press brake lands in 2 to 4 weeks from PO, depending on geometry, welding, and finishing. Production runs land in 4 to 8 weeks. Welded and finished assemblies add time for fixtures and coating cure.
If a competitor quotes a first article in days with no DFM, ask whether that includes a CMM report, weld inspection, and a coating salt spray result. It usually does not.
PPAP Level 3 means we send the buyer the full Production Part Approval Process package: signed PSW, design records, dimensional report on every callout, material test reports on the coil, capability studies with Cpk on critical features, MSA on the inspection method, control plan, PFMEA, and the appearance approval report when finish is a callout.
Production does not release until the buyer has the package in hand and the PSW is signed. That is the discipline. No PPAP, no shipping.
The everyday sheet steels and non ferrous grades: CRCA cold rolled, hot rolled and HRPO, galvanized GI and galvannealed GA, stainless 304, 316, and 430, aluminium 5052 and 6061, spring steel, brass, and copper. Coil and sheet sourced to ASTM A1011, A653, A480, or your callout.
Fabrication runs 0.5 to 6 mm on most progressive and compound dies. Press brake and laser handle heavier sheet up to 12 mm on steel. Tell us the grade and gauge and we confirm formability during DFM review.
There is no hard die, so minimums stay low. We run laser and press brake work from 25 pieces per lot. For welded and finished assemblies we set a minimum order value rather than a piece count, so small complex parts still pencil out.
No production tooling is required, so you are not paying to amortize hard tooling across a big release. Tell us the part and we tell you the floor.
DFM. Flat pattern checked vs the CAD model. Bend deduction, weld fixtures, and finish callouts confirmed. Photos archived.
FAI. First parts off the line. Full dimensional report. Hole position and bend angle on a CMM. Weld and edge check. Buyer engineering call before PPAP.
PPAP. Production sign off. PPAP package complete. PSW signed by the buyer. Cpk above 1.67 on critical features. MSA on the inspection method. Lot traceability to the material. Production releases only after the buyer has the full package.
Default is FOB Nhava Sheva or CIF US West Coast. We offer DDP on request with a logistics markup that we disclose up front. Inbound preferences are Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York, Newark, and Chicago, with alternates only when they improve lead time or cost.
For programs with US warehouse pull, we hold inventory and ship JIT to your dock. Storage and handling fees on a published rate card.
You do. Tooling ownership transfers to the buyer on full payment, in writing, with a tooling passport that documents fixture ID, build history, refurb history, and storage location. We hold the fixtures at our partner facility on a bailment basis, available for inspection or transfer at any time.
If you want to move programs in 18 months, the fixtures are yours. We do not lock fixtures to facilities or hold them hostage.
Send us your drawings. You get a full landed cost breakdown, a tooling timeline, the recommended fabrication route, and a PPAP scope. One contact from intake to ship. No commitment required.
30 minutes · no obligation · bring your drawings
Three working templates we use on every sheet metal program. PPAP checklist. Tooling Gantt template. Supplier audit checklist. Yours to keep, even if we never work together.
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