Roll forming technology has adapted to a manufacturing market that demands short runs and quick response.

The economy has changed the roll forming business, some say for good. For decades many roll formers have specialized in high volumes, taking on those long-term contracts. Not anymore. In some niches like the building sector or tube production, short runs have played a significant role for years. In other sectors, short runs are the new normal.

"Some [roll formers] have seen a drop in business between 40 and 60 percent," said Jeff Carson, international sales manager of Samco Machinery Ltd., Toronto, Ont., Canada. "When companies aren't getting the volumes they used to, they're bringing on more products to make up for the loss."

"Roll forming has been a great tool for mass production," said Andy Allman, president of AMS Controls, Maryland Heights, Mo. "But historically, changing over from one profile to another has been laborious."

If roll formers feed other operations with large batches of parts, work in process mounts. That's not lean by a long shot. So more roll formers have taken on short runs, and to compete, they're thinking about roll forming production in new ways, especially in how they change over between runs. Streamlined changeovers may have set a roll forming operation apart from competitors in the past, but in some sectors today, quick changeover simply has become a necessity for survival.