S&H Metal Products Celebrates 50 Years in the RV Industry

Fritz Helmuth showcases production equipment in S&H Metal Products in Topeka, Ind., which is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Fritz Helmuth in his office.

S&H Metal Products Inc., of Topeka, Ind. commemorated its 50th year in business with an Open House, Aug. 18-26, for its customers, suppliers and media at its state-of-the-art 85,000-square-foot metal fabricating and powder coating facility at 2295 W. Lake Street in Topeka.

The company broke ground for the new facility in October of 2020 and completed it in June of 2021.

Open House attendees got the full tour of the pristine facility from Founder, Owner and President Fritz Helmuth. He showcased an impressive array of metal cutting and forming equipment that included programmable laser cutting CNC machines with batching tower systems for varied thickness of aluminum and steel raw materials. The machines can be programed to work full shifts filling multiple orders from varied customers.

A dedicated Auto CAD design space in the adjoining offices feeds the plant’s production machinery with the exacting metal parts to meet customer demand. Many parts are produced just-in-time for some of the best known names in the RV industry. The new facility is a consolidation of two plants.

“Just by being together and be efficient with the way we run our products through here has improved our service,” said Helmuth. “We got our first laser cutting CNC back in 2011. It did so well we purchased another 2012. Then we added a fiber optic laser. We had a CO2 at first. But then we got the 3000-watt that is a loader and an unloader that would cut  all night long, as long as you have a stack of steel it to pick up and someone to take it off.”

Today, the facility has a 6000- and 10,000-watt lasers with the Remick System 18 with an inventory array of 20 shelves.

“That thing will go up and down and it picks out the steel that it needs for the night. And then it goes down and feeds the two lasers, all pre-programmed,” said Helmuth. “It’s all so modern, well beyond me. I’m from the old world, I’m just glad I know how to use my cell phone.”

Helmuth is not kidding. “There were nine in our family,” he said. “I grew up horse-and-buggy Amish.”

Helmuth with one of the S&H Metal Products employees.

And, in a walk through the new facility with Helmut, it becomes clear that the old world priorities of faith, family and freedom that he touts live on in the culture of the company. He smiles and jokes with each of his team members on the plant floor as if they are family.

“If you can have your workers smile,” he emphasized, “and you have a nice clean environment with bright lights, put that all together and man you’re going for the stars. That’s just how it works. And a lot of faith helps, too.

“Because my theory is when you have a team like we have here, you just can’t help but grow,” he continued. “The three things I look for a person that we interview is common sense, positive thinking and respect. I only need these and that’s the person will hire. It doesn’t matter if you have a Notre Dame or Purdue degree or whatever piece of paper. It’s what you do that counts.”

The company history of S&H Metal Products has family origins. Helmuth stated that his mom and dad owned a sheet metal shop called J&B Metal Products that they started in 1961 (J&B stood for John and Bett).

Today, the Helmut family is passing on its entrepreneurial traditions with Fritz’s son, Tim Helmuth, leading up sales for the firm and another son, Jason, running the CAD design operations.

A subsidiary adjacent to the new facility is the company’s powder coating line, Freedom Finish Works. Specializing in both steel and aluminum, Freedom Finish Works has the flexibility to run everything from one-piece custom orders to full production quantities.

Source: https://rvbusiness.com/sh-metal-products-celebrates-50-years-in-the-rv-industry/