You know this feeling. Another great project opportunity lands on your desk, but you're already three bids behind. Your estimators are buried in manual work, and there's no way to squeeze in another project without sacrificing quality or missing deadlines.

Matt Chance, Estimating Manager at NAFCO described what I'm hearing across the industry: "If we were doing it the old way, we wouldn't be able to put out the number of estimates we're putting out right now."

Here's what I'm seeing: some fabricators and erectors are thriving while others struggle with capacity constraints. The difference isn't talent, market access, or pricing strategy. It's how they've solved estimating capacity problem with AI construction estimating software.

The winners are using AI takeoff software to automate the manual work, and the results are impressive. Jay Livesey at MotionSteel shared: "We went from doing roughly 30 to 40 estimates a month to hitting 70 monthly."

This isn't just about being busy. There's a fundamental shift happening in the industry, and the companies that get it are winning big!

The Hidden Problem Nobody's Talking About

Here's what I keep hearing in conversations with fabricators and erectors: everyone's focused on market demand, pricing strategies, or workforce challenges. But there's this massive elephant in the room that nobody wants to address.

Your estimators, these skilled professionals, are spending 70% of their time on manual data extraction instead of the strategic thinking that wins jobs. That's a problem an AI construction estimator could solve.

Matt Chance explained their situation: "We usually have four estimators. The reason we're so busy now is at the end of the year, we had one retire and two resign. And then we hired Justin, who is doing well, but we needed to find ways to maintain our output."

This is what I'm seeing. Even with great people like Justin, traditional workflows create artificial bottlenecks that limit what's possible. That's where AI for construction estimating becomes a game-changer.

What the Winners Are Doing Differently

The fabricators and erectors who are dominating their markets aren't working harder - they're working smarter. They've figured out how to break free from the capacity trap that's holding everyone else back by implementing AI estimating software.

Take Justin Airhart at SSE. He told me: "Using LIFT has been an enjoyable experience. It cuts my time by 50 to 75 percent when doing an estimate. I had a project where LIFT cut six to eight hours off of my day off of an estimate."

That's the kind of transformation that gets me excited! These aren't small improvements - these are complete game-changers.

Dawn Hargraves at Maccabee put it perfectly: "LIFT has dramatically improved both my speed and efficiency. I'm easily 50% faster now, and on my biggest job - a 600-ton project - it saved me 75% of my time. The design is so straightforward that I don't need help guides or training - it just makes sense and lets me focus on quality checking while the software does the hard work."

That's the kind of transformation that gets me excited! These aren't small improvements - these are complete game-changers.

The Real Impact Beyond Time Savings

Innovation is a team game, and when I see teams transforming their workflows with AI takeoff software, the ripple effects are powerful.

Alan Henry at ASPE South shared something that stuck with me: "LIFT accelerates our entire workflow - we quickly get beam counts, column counts, and everything we need, then move to Bluebeam for areas and perimeters. While waiting for fabricator quantities, we can already start the next project or write proposals."

When your estimators aren't buried in manual counting, they can focus on the strategic details that differentiate your bids. That's where real competitive advantage comes from with AI for construction estimating.

Justin Sage, VP of Sales at Alamo Steel explained it well: "LIFT gives us a much faster estimation time, letting us spend more time on other important parts of our projects. The time savings have completely changed how we do steel takeoffs - we simply prefer LIFT over our old methods."

The Technology Adoption Divide

Construction is ripe for innovation. But here's what's fascinating - the gap between early adopters and everyone else is getting wider by the day. The fabricators and erectors who embrace AI estimating software are pulling ahead fast.

Justin Sage at Alamo Steel highlighted this perfectly: "The connection detection works great with our current workflow. We've successfully adapted our standard connection system to work with LIFT, keeping our established processes while gaining major automation benefits."

That's the key - successful adoption isn't about throwing out everything you know. It's about intelligently integrating AI for construction estimating with your existing processes.

That's not incremental improvement. That's transformation.

If you're not using AI construction estimating software like this, you're getting left behind.

The Numbers Don't Lie

Let me share some numbers that demonstrate the real impact from fabricators and erectors using takeoff software:

Jay Livesay at Motion Steel: "We went from doing roughly 30 to 40 estimates a month to hitting 70 monthly. With LIFT, we freed up 40 to 50% of our guys' time on a daily basis."

Troy Ernst at King Steel: "It'd be awful not to have LIFT. We're relying on it now." Their team halved their estimation time, transforming a 4-day manual process into a 2-day automated one.

Jordan at Steelworks: "LIFT has more than tripled our throughput and completely transformed how we work. The software handles all the tedious manual work on large jobs with thousands of beams, allowing our team to focus on the critical aspects while maintaining accuracy."

These aren't theoretical improvements. These are real fabricators and erectors, winning real contracts, generating real revenue growth with AI for construction estimating!

The Future Belongs to the Bold

My hope is that more fabricators and erectors will take the entrepreneurial leap and embrace what's possible with AI construction estimator technology. The construction industry is at a crossroads, and the companies that move fast are going to dominate.

Mason Carragher at MSE captured this: "It's the first software that is actually geared towards estimators in a meaningful way. LIFT has 99% accuracy in beam take-offs."

This is about more than just takeoff software. It's about positioning your company for the next decade of growth and success.

What's Your Next Move?

Here's the reality: your competitors are already making this transition to AI estimating software. The question isn't whether AI will transform steel fabrication and erection - it's whether you'll be leading the change or playing catch-up.

The fabricators and erectors who are thriving right now didn't wait for perfect conditions. They saw an opportunity to transform their workflows with AI construction estimating software and they went for it.

This is what's possible when you combine human expertise with intelligent automation.

That's the future of our industry. That's what's possible when you combine human expertise with intelligent AI for construction estimating.

Fabricators and erectors consistently tell me the same thing: they wish they had started using AI takeoff software sooner. Don't let that be your story.

The capacity paradox doesn't have to define your business. The tools exist right now to break free from those artificial constraints and unlock your team's full potential with the right AI construction estimator.

This is huge. This is the moment. And the companies that act now are going to be the ones writing the success stories we'll all be talking about next year.

Want to see how AI construction estimating software can transform your takeoff process? Book a demo and let us show you with your own drawings how this works. Because seeing is believing, and the results speak for themselves.