American Fence Company Business Overview
American Fence Company is a dynamic organization with a larger horizontal foot print of thirteen branches and seven divisional operations. All of these operations and divisions are under the leadership and support of one corporate operation.
The branches are all bricks and mortar operations based on geographical markets. Each branch is a composite of commercial, residential and material sales divisions. The branches were designed to be intentionally lean, focusing on selling and installation. All back-office support is done at corporate. At the tip of the spear for each branch is a branch manager who oversees all branch operations. Each branch has residential and commercial installation crews under the leadership of a divisional superintendent. Supporting each divisional installation group is a project manager who oversees all project management and scheduling activities. Each branch has commercial, residential, and material sales staff who report to the branch manager. In support of all installation and material sales is an operational team of fabricators, welders, mechanics, administrators, and inventory management staff. For further staffing information, please see our organizational chart.
In support of the branches is the corporate operation. Corporate back-office support is a composite of the following specialties. The methodology of combining all back-office support for all thirteen branches into one organization is based on creating a high level of expertise and efficiencies.
- Human Resources
- Recruiting
- Primary Purchasing
- Inventory Management
- Safety
- Fleet Management
- Accounting
- Accounts Receivable
- Accounts Payable
- Collections
- Billing
- Contract Administration
- Lead Generation
- Marketing
- IT
- Systems Management, Pricing, and CRM
- Branch Operations Management
Beyond the back-office support, corporate also provides a further range of organizational support that includes:
- Inventory Transportation
- Primary Backup Inventory
- Mechanic Division for Major Operations
- Vinyl Fence Fabrication
Our philosophy is that we create a process that is bigger than our personalities. Not more important than our people. A process that allows a wide range of personalities, skill sets and tenure to easily begin operating effectively and correctly within our systems.
Beyond our branch and corporate operations, American Fence Company has formed several divisions to further support growing revenue and creating new revenue. Some of these divisions are more theoretical, while others have developed into separate business entities. These divisions include the following.
Custom Metals
Custom Metals is a composite of four separate divisions. Custom Metals is supported by a full sales team, product engineers and designers, fabrication management, and over twenty-four fabricators operating in a 30,000-square-foot facility. Our sales are forecasted at over twelve million for 2022. This is a three hundred percent increase from 2019.
PalmSHIELD
PalmSHIELD is an architectural screening manufacturing division. We recognized several years ago the building industry was evolving. Civil designers, engineers and architects were increasing the standards for construction design in retail, professional, commercial and industrial zoned regions. No longer would traditional fencing be allowed in these zones. Designers are demanding screening that compliments the building’s exterior. We did our research on both the demand and supply side, coming to a conclusion there is a considerable opportunity for this product type. PalmSHIELD offers a wide range of products and utilizes multiple marketing streams to promote these products. We are quickly becoming the leader in the architectural screening and gobbling up market share from a small group of competitors.
America’s Gate Company
America’s Gate Company, a division of custom metals, America’s Gate Company is a conceptual division focusing on promoting commercial and industrial gates that range from high security to highly decorative. Utilizing a well-positioned web strategy and other marketing streams, we promote these gates to project designers. Ultimately, we become part of the project design and ended up working with the project fence company. Here too, we have researched the industry for supply and demand. There are very few gate manufacturers like America’s Gate Company. Though still relatively new, this division is growing in sales.
Patriot Custom Metals
Patriot Custom Metals. Our oldest and most rooted division of our custom metals is Patriot Custom Metals. As an approved DOT fabricator for several Midwest Department of Transportations, we have been providing a wide range of both engineered and architectural products for over 30 years. Patriot Custom Metals designs estimates and fabricates everything from unique building signage, stair railings, balcony railings, arches, and other one-of-a-kind artistic fabrications.
IronSHIELD
IronSHIELD. We operate one of the largest powder coat booths in the Midwest. In addition, we perform electrostatic, HVLP, and custom painting. IronSHIELD promotes and sells coating services to the general public for their existing pieces and for our own fabrications.
American Rental Fence
American Rental Fence is an organizational division. Every installation branch performs temporary rental fence under the marketing, systems, and processes of American Rental Fence. This division is led by a steering committee that works to further develop operational efficiencies, inventory management, and the production of temporary fence panels. We recognized several years ago the temporary and construction fence industry was clearly out-pacing the general fence industry. Furthermore, we recognized that we, along with other fence contractors, were losing this industry to a new business model that better exclusively focused on temporary fence rentals. We built a CRM module, TempSpace, to sell, manage and generate revenue like a rental company. In the last five years, we have doubled our temporary fence sales yearly. The majority of this revenue has come from extended rental terms and quantities.
American Access Company
The fastest-growing industry within the fence industry is automation and access controls. In 2020, access control sales grow by 14% yearly compared to the fence industry’s growth estimated at 7%. Unfortunately, most of the fence industry’s players are not stepping up to the plate and embracing the developing access control industry. This new industry is based on technology, programming, and the higher complexity of low voltage controls. The typical fence contractor is just not up to the task. This industry was shifting from fence contractors to electricians, low voltage contractors, and garage door industry contractors. American Fence Company recognized this trend and refused to stand still. We formed a steering committee that created a series of initiatives to redevelop our access control business. We hired and trained certified access control techs for each branch, with some branches having up to three full-time techs. We developed a full-blown certification program for access techs. We have a considerable web presence for relevant search terms. We have a fully developed design and estimating process that assures full compliance and communicates system parameters. These are just a handful of our successes in developing this division.
American Playground Company
American Fence Company is closely associated with the playground industry as most recreational facilities require perimeter security. We have watched the commercial playground business grow exponentially over the years with very few competitors, as it is an industry that requires a great deal of product expertise, certifications, and customer care. For us, this aligned well with our current operations. American Fence Company initially developed this division from an organizational division that provided marketing and sales to our broader branch operations to an exclusive bricks-and-mortar branch that operates a whole team of management, project management, sales, supervisory, and installation in a new 8,000-square-foot facility. Our sales are slated at $5 million for 2022, which is a 100% increase from 2021. With few competitors and a growing team of professionals, we see this division, a new branch, earning exponential revenue growth.
America’s Drilling Company
America’s Drilling Company is a soft division of AmeriFence Corporation of Wisconsin. This geotechnical drilling division is integrated seamlessly into our current workflow and processes. There are numerous similarities between the geotechnical drilling and fencing industries. In fencing, we dig holes and set posts in concrete. In the geotechnical drilling division, we dig holes, collect samples and backfill the holes. Our current sales, project management, scheduling processes, and software are easily translated into this division. American Fence Company’s in-house marketing and lead generation proved to provide a significant advantage over the competition. Like American Playground, we intend on expanding this division into other markets.
