Internal Technology continues to grow within Able Steel

 

With the economy and the price of steel fluctuating, we are always looking for more efficient ways of getting the job done. The end result is to better serve our customer at a competitive price. After years of studying and integrating numerous software solutions, we have finished putting in place what we believe a state of the art system.

Our collection of Steel Fabrication Software programs helps Able Steel expedite and improve our speed and efficiency. The main focus was integrating all of our departments and simplifying the process that once was very time consuming. They help support our every step in the job bidding process, Job input, Production and Shipment Piece tracking, Purchasing, Inventory control, and Job costing processes.

We have customized our programs to meet our needs at every stage of the Steel Fabrication Process and to meet our specific needs as a company. Our improved system gives us a smooth and continuous flow of information from a project's inception all the way through its final completion.

The Estimating part of the system gives us improved accuracy to stay competitive and profitable in today's market. Our combination of programs makes preparing bids easier and less time consuming because it takes the tedious recapitulation activities out of the estimator's hands and does them automatically. In today’s 'BIM' world more often projects are being designed in 3D models. When Able Steel is provided these 'BIM' model files, we have developed ways of bringing in an advance bill of material directly from the model. This expedites the take off of the material and saves time.
 
Project Management uses our systems for supporting the project managers and drafting personnel by providing complete traceability of important job and project information. The program allows Able Steel to manage all of our important contract information for our project. We can create Drawing Logs, Transmittals, and Requests for Information (RFI), and organize job specifications for quick and easy reference. Also, we can store project notes from conversations, e-mails, and job site meetings.

The Combining & Inventory Control part of the system allows us to efficiently optimize material from our existing inventory, or from a personally customized "Warehouse" database. We can keep track of all the items in our inventory by the job number, using the standard steel nomenclature.

Purchasing uses it to produce purchase orders. Able Steel's improved system is geared towards the 3D world of detailing and allows material requisitions to be imported from our detailing programs. This means less key strokes for everyone. Our programmed system efficiently combines requisitioned material from Able Steel's existing inventory, or from the "Warehouse" database.

From the production Control side of our new technology; it allows Able Steel to handle the bill of material entries via direct downloads, and to track jobs through the entire fabrication process in our shop easily and effectively.

This module also integrates the detailing department more than ever before. Able Steel's detailers can now place a "BIM" 3D model into production control. Everyone in the company can now track the real time status of every part of a job in a 3D color coded model with a simple to use 3D viewer. Everything from Cut Beams, Request for Information, Loaded on Truck, and Delivered!

Keep an eye out for more of this "Technological" addition to Able Steel in the future. We are looking for ways to bring more of this out to our customers and onto the job site.