info@bay-machine.com | Call Us: (510) 337-2753

About Us

History

Our Origins 

Bay Machine & Fabrication (BMF) is a wholly-owned division of Bay Ship & Yacht Co., which was founded by Bill Elliott in 1977. The company initially traveled around the country repairing wooden vessels, which was becoming a lost art. From U.S. Navy minesweepers to fishing and historic vessels, the company became known worldwide as the “can-do” company. No two projects were the same and each one added to the diverse knowledge base that the company has today.

Our Developing Expertise and Knowledge Base

As a shipyard, Bay Ship & Yacht needed special equipment and capabilities to maintain vessels that came to call. BMF was set up to service a growing number of clients that were not marine-related but needed our extensive experience to complete their products with a high degree of confidence and, in many cases, with complete confidentiality. Throughout the years, the machine, fabrication, hydraulic, and painting shops have developed extensive processes to ensure that the products we turn out are second to none. Our extensive experience in coordinating many work disciplines, developing processes to ensure projects are correct every time, and continuing reinvestment in staff training and equipment maintenance has made BMF the best turnkey, one-stop industrial shop anywhere in the United States.

A Trusted Partner

Today, many companies trust BMF to undertake their projects because we offer skill, craftsmanship, comprehensive solutions, and a customer-oriented focus. Our large facility, extensive machinery and capabilities, and easy access to highways and barged waterborne freight make BMF the logical choice for work that has to travel on land or water anywhere.

Core Philosophy

The customer-focused core philosophy of BMF is to do everything possible to ensure our customers are absolutely satisfied with the products we create or repair for them. We understand that you have unique problems and want simple but comprehensive turnkey solutions from people you trust. We strive to understand your schedule, your needs, your desire for quality products, and to add value through our superior ability to manage and communicate throughout the project. Furthermore, we continually reinvest in our machinery and personnel to ensure our customers are treated to the best equipment and highly trained personnel – which is key to the success of all our projects.

Staff

Decades of Experience Across all Crafts

BMF’s staff is second to none. We have hundreds of skilled tradesmen available in the required crafts, and many of our personnel have been in their respective trades for several decades – often including many decades with BMF or Bay Ship & Yacht. Our personnel include electricians, painters, welders, fitters, pipefitters, inside and outside machinists, shipwrights, joiners, and hydraulic specialists. Our skilled craftspeople are regularly engaged in training to update their skills and ensure their ability to perform efficiently, accurately, and within our designated quality assurance procedures.

Seamless Management of Complex Projects

Whether it’s the handoff from fabricators to machinists and painting, or across any other departments, our staff is accustomed to a seamless, multi-disciplinary approach. Some projects even require dedicated project managers to ensure their perfect execution. Because we thoroughly understand your requirements, you’ll find working with our staff is a very streamlined process.

Experts at Creating and Moving Large Objects

BMF personnel are experts in the movement and creation of large and heavy objects. From the movement of vessels up to 6,000 tons, to utilizing our extensive fleet of in-house cranes and tugger, we can competently receive, clean, work on, paint, and deliver your project. With 29 acres for laydown, 120,000 square feet of high-bay shops, thousands of feet of waterfront pier in multiple locations throughout the San Francisco Bay, and extensive decontamination filtering stations for washing, we can handle your most demanding needs.

Mission

The mission of every employee of BMF is to ensure that you, our customer, are absolutely satisfied. We work hard to:

  • Understand Your Needs: Understanding your project requirements is the first and most important step in understanding how to help you achieve exactly what you want.
  • Meet Your Scheduling Requirements: Understanding when you need your materials is critically important to determining how we can meet your needs and help you achieve success in your project or repair.
  • Meet or Exceed Quality Standards: Understanding both industry standards and your project requirements ensures that we can meet or exceed your quality expectations.
  • Deliver Solid Value: Throughout our customers’ experience with BMF, from sales through final delivery, we provide good value and operate with honesty, integrity, and forthrightness.

Ready to explore how BMF can help with your project? Contact us.

With skill sets ranging from mechanical and electrical engineering to extensive piping and naval architecture, our engineers can ensure the best design for the most cost-efficient construction. Most of our projects involve many disciplines and delivery methods, and our engineers have experienced many different scenarios. They are capable of designing products and developing land or waterborne delivery solutions. Our engineering staff can help you achieve success on your project.

Machine shop operations encompass everything from machining to hydraulic repairs and valve reconditioning. The shop manager and most of the staff have spent their entire careers as machinists specializing in manual machining. They know machining from a craftsperson’s point of view. Consisting of both outside and inside machinists, the combined experience of these craftspeople ensures we understand everything from rigging heavy objects to machining and aligning. This ability to understand both the inside and outside needs of parts sets BMF apart from most shops that can only run small objects.

Our hydraulic shop manager has spent over 50 years operating hydraulic businesses from New Jersey to California, on ships of every size. The hydraulic staff has performed work on projects from ships to rocket maintenance stands, and everything in between. From critical systems like ship’s steering to repairs on 24-inch diameter hydraulic cylinders and simple hose fabrication, BMF has the experience to undertake most every project. Combining our extensive machining experience with hydraulic repairs and painting ensures our customer gets a product that is second to none in a timely and cost-competitive way.

Valves are managed jointly by the machine shop manager and our pipefitting manager to ensure that valves receive very special treatment, so that, for example, a mechanical valve fitting into an extensive piping system works properly. Testing, lapping, cleaning, and reconditioning are only part of what makes BMF the premier valve repair shop in the United States. We understand the critical nature of valves and do everything possible to ensure they perform as expected, when expected. Our team of craftspeople has extensive experience in valves of all sorts from simple wafer valves to extensive globe valves of large size.

Managed by the West Coast’s most experienced shipyard structural welder, the department includes both inside and outside welders and fabricators. Our welders and fabricators have hundreds of years of cumulative experience and are certified in over 300 weld procedures on steel, aluminum and other metals. Our craftspeople are regularly engaged and skilled in creating highly machined, precision weldments and understand the movement of metal during the fabrication process. The structural department runs its own in-house training school to ensure their large workforce is continually progressing in the arts of fitting and welding.

Our paint department is staffed by one of California’s most experienced painting teams, applying tens of thousands of gallons annually. Led by a department manager with years of dedicated industrial paint service, our team includes sandblasters and industrial painters. All department staff are monitored and audited by the Society for Protective Coatings (SSPC) through their QP-1 painting qualification. Applying many types of paint, and representing International Paints, BMF is uniquely qualified to take on the most extensive of paint projects, from degreasing to surface preparation and ultimately the drip-free, UV-stabilized topcoat.

The BMF mobile services team is second to none. With the complete support of the entire yard they can handle almost any call. Proficient in rigging, with or without cranes, they can undertake the most challenging hydraulic or machining project. The mobile services team can assist in the repair or removal of a component, taking it to the shop for repair and painting, and then reinstalling. Most primary members of the team are highly qualified craftspeople who hold the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC). This credential requires vetting by the federal Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Authority and permits unescorted access to sensitive areas.

Our Process
  • Ensure that we understand your project needs and work with you to develop a scope of work that meets your needs
  • Develop a quotation that represents those project needs
  • Understand the project schedule and ensure that schedule can be met
  • Initialize the project upon receipt of authorization to proceed
  • Initialization
    • Ensure that all project-related information is captured and conveyed to production
    • Create a production schedule to ensure the customers’ expectations are met
    • Develop project plan to meet project schedule
  • Project Assignments
    • Assign person responsible to oversee project
    • Build project team

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  • Coordinate with engineering department
    • Create shop drawings for approval if needed
    • Create construction drawings from customer or approved shop drawings
    • Ensure all drawing notations from customer are understood
    • Create detailed piece drawings including QC indications
  • Release to construction
    • Order materials
      • Upon receipt, verify raw materials arrive in proper quantity and condition
    • Determine work location and equipment. Schedule equipment
    • Engineering meets with project lead and gives all project direction and instruction
    • Construction begins
    • Project supervisor monitors progress and ensures project milestones are met
    • Project supervisor ensures customer continually understands project progress and ultimate completion date
    • Project supervisor ensures project invoicing is regularly submitted pursuant to contract terms
    • Project supervisor coordinates with any subcontractors, vendors, or delivery vendors
    • Ensure quality control checkpoints are met and documented
    • Project supervisor reviews and ensures all QC checkpoints are within specified tolerances

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  • Project supervisor notifies customer of completion after successful completion of execution and construction phase
  • Project supervisor ensures proper QC documentation is transmitted with project product
  • Project supervisor to ensure that project invoicing is submitted completely and accurately
  • Project supervisor to ensure all close-out, as-built documentation is complete

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  • Original contact person from business development process stays involved and remains a primary or secondary contact
  • Account manager acts as liaison between customer and production as necessary

Learn more about how we work – contact us.