LM Fabrication: How Steelhead Brought Order to a Growing Shop

Customer Interview: Spencer Touchette, Owner – LM Fabrication & Coating (Jackson, MI)

Company: LM Fabrication and Coating
Industry: Metal fabrication & powder coating
Focus: Laser cutting, coating, and production work

Overview

In this interview, Spencer Touchette, owner of LM Fabrication and Coating, shares how his shop transitioned from manual processes and disconnected tools to a fully organized, trackable production workflow using Steelhead.

As LM Fabrication grew, keeping track of jobs, people, and timelines became increasingly difficult. Steelhead helped centralize operations, improve visibility across the shop floor, and eliminate wasted time spent chasing paperwork and job statuses.

The Challenge: Growth Without Structure

As LM Fabrication expanded, Spencer found himself managing everything manually.

“We were falling apart because things were getting lost. We were forgetting about jobs or what we were doing day to day.”

The shop had tried:

  • Google Drive
  • Trello
  • Other lightweight tools

But none of them supported real shop floor workflows.

“They weren’t really company flows. We tried for a year and a half, but nothing worked.”

Without a system in place:

  • Jobs were forgotten
  • Processes lived in Spencer’s head
  • Employees lacked visibility
  • Profitability was hard to track

The Turning Point: Finding Steelhead

Steelhead kept appearing during Spencer’s search for a solution.

“I don’t know why, but Steelhead just kept calling to me. I had that gut feeling — this one’s right.”

What stood out most was Steelhead’s ability to:

  • Centralize job information
  • Mirror real shop workflows
  • Give employees clarity without constant supervision

Life Before vs. After Steelhead

Before:

  • No real job tracking
  • No time tracking
  • Manual quoting guesses
  • Constant interruptions
  • No clear visibility into backlog or capacity

“We didn’t really know how much time we were spending on jobs or where we were losing money.”

After:

  • Real-time job visibility
  • Digital work orders
  • Clear station assignments
  • Accurate production tracking
  • Easier onboarding for employees

“Steelhead became the middleman. I can put everything in there, and everyone knows exactly what they need to do.”

Shop Floor Visibility & Accountability

Steelhead gave LM Fabrication a real-time view of production:

  • What jobs are running
  • Which station they’re in
  • Who is assigned
  • What needs to ship today

“I can see our laser has five jobs today. Shipping knows exactly what’s going out. Everyone’s on the same page.”

This eliminated:

  • Guesswork
  • Bottlenecks
  • Constant questions
  • Paper chasing

Measurable Results

Since implementing Steelhead:

99% on-time shipping
99–100% quality ratings
20–25% reduction in admin time
Clear job costing and profitability
Faster onboarding and training

“It probably knocked off 20–25% of my time chasing paper and tracking people down.”

Ease of Use & Onboarding

“After the first week, I was pretty good at it. Within a couple weeks, I was very comfortable.”

Steelhead didn’t require months of training or complex setup — it fit naturally into how the shop already worked.

Final Thoughts from Spencer

“I used to think software was overrated. Bringing Steelhead on was our biggest boost.
If you want to grow, this is what you need.”

“Our company runs on Steelhead.”