We'll Build Screen Doors If You Need Us To: Why We Stopped

Metro Assemblies was built on a simple promise: whatever a customer needed, we'd find a way to do it. Our founder's line for it was "we'll build screen doors if you need us to." That spirit grew the company from nothing. The next generation kept the spirit and changed the strategy, and focusing on what we do best has grown the business 25% a year for three years running.

The founder of Metro Assemblies had a saying that captured how he ran the place. "We'll build screen doors if you need us to." We never once built a screen door. The point was the attitude behind it: if a customer had a problem, we'd figure out how to help, whatever it took. Say yes, take care of the customer, worry about the details after.

That philosophy built this company from nothing. It earned relationships that are still on our books decades later, customers who stayed because they knew Metro would never leave them stuck. There's a real kind of loyalty that comes from a shop willing to try, and the founder earned every bit of it.

He sadly passed about five years ago. The business stayed in the family, and about a year and a half ago we bought it and took it forward. And somewhere in that transition came a realization that's harder to say out loud than it sounds: the "we'll build anything" model, the very thing that built the company, wasn't the right way to carry it into the next era.

The Problem With Saying Yes to Everything

Saying yes to everything sounds like great service. Sometimes it is. But stretched too far, it quietly works against the customer it's meant to help.

A shop that builds anything is, by definition, not an expert at any one thing. Every job outside its core is a job it's doing for the first time, or close to it, learning on the customer's part and the customer's timeline. The willingness is genuine. The result is a shop spread thin, competing on nothing in particular, and asking its people to be good at too many things at once.

We looked hard at what Metro did best, and where the work came back year after year. It wasn't the odd one-off jobs. It was wire and cable assembly, the harnesses, the cable assemblies, the overmolding, the builds we've done tens of thousands of times and built real expertise around. That's where customers stayed. That's where our people were excellent. And that's where the "we'll build screen doors" spirit could be honored best, by being so good at a defined thing that a customer never has to worry about it.

Focus Is How We Kept the Promise

Here's the part that took us a while to see. Focusing the business wasn't abandoning the founder's philosophy. It was the modern way to keep it.

His real promise was never "we'll build literally anything." It was "we'll take care of you." The plain truth is that the best way to take care of a customer is to be provably expert at the thing they've hired you for, not willing to attempt things you'll be learning as you go. A customer sourcing a wire harness is better served by a shop that has built ten thousand of them than by one that will cheerfully try their harness between a batch of screen doors.

So we made the call to focus. We build wire and cable assemblies. We do overmolding, including the low-pressure work that protects sensitive electronics. We build to IPC standards. When a request comes in that isn't the right fit for us, the most respectful thing we can do, the thing that best honors "take care of the customer," is to say so plainly rather than take the job and learn on their dime.

That's not a smaller version of the founder's philosophy. It's the same philosophy, pointed where it does the most good.

What the Focus Has Meant

The decision could have been a nice-sounding idea that didn't move anything. It wasn't.

Since we focused the business on what we do best, Metro's revenue has grown 25% a year, three years running. That's not a projection or a good quarter. It's what happens when a shop stops spreading itself thin and starts compounding real expertise, when customers can tell you know their kind of work, and when your own people get to be excellent at something instead of adequate at everything.

The growth matters less as a number than as a confirmation. It told us the focus was right, that customers reward a shop that knows exactly what it is, and that the founder's instinct, take care of the customer, was never about screen doors at all. It was about being the vendor a customer can count on. We just found a sharper way to be that.

What This Means If You're Sourcing an Assembly

If you're a buyer or an engineer looking for a wire and cable assembly partner, here's what our focus means for you in practice.

You're working with a shop that does your kind of work all day, not one fitting your job in around unrelated projects. If your assembly is in our wheelhouse, wire harnesses, cable assemblies, overmolding, you're getting decades of accumulated expertise pointed right at it. And if what you need isn't the right fit for us, you'll hear that early and straight, so you're not the one who finds out mid-build that your supplier was figuring it out as they went.

That's the promise now, and it's the same one the founder made from the beginning, just with a sharper edge. We'll take care of you. These days, that means being great at wire and cable, and being straight with you about the rest.

Ready to Work With a Shop That Knows Your Kind of Build?

If you've got a wire or cable assembly to source, that's exactly what we do, all day, every day. Send us the drawings, bill of materials, and quantities, and we'll turn around a quote in 24 to 72 hours.

If you want to see the range of what we focus on, our capabilities page covers our wire and cable assembly work.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Metro Assemblies a family-owned business?

Yes. Metro was built from nothing by its founder, and after he passed, the business stayed in the family. It was purchased by the founder's family about a year and a half ago and continues to be family-owned and run.

What does Metro Assemblies specialize in?

Wire and cable assembly. That includes wire harnesses, cable assemblies, molded cable assemblies and overmolding (including low-pressure molding for sensitive electronics), and electromechanical assemblies, all built to IPC workmanship standards. Metro made a deliberate choice to focus on this core rather than take on unrelated work.

Why does a contract manufacturer's focus matter to a buyer?

A shop that builds anything is rarely an expert at any one thing, so work outside its core often means learning on the customer's timeline. A focused manufacturer brings accumulated expertise directly to your kind of build, which usually means better quality, fewer surprises, and a supplier who can tell you early if your job isn't the right fit rather than discovering it mid-build.

Will Metro turn down work that isn't a good fit?

Yes, and that's by design. When a request isn't in Metro's area of expertise, the most useful thing for the customer is a straight answer up front rather than a supplier learning on their part and their schedule. Focusing on wire and cable assembly is how Metro delivers on its long-standing commitment to take care of its customers.

Has focusing the business worked?

Yes. Since narrowing its focus to wire and cable assembly, Metro's revenue has grown 25% per year for three consecutive years, a sign that customers value a shop with genuine, provable expertise in their kind of work.