You're Running a Steel Fabrication Business in the Most Challenging Market in Years

Every morning, you face the same reality: your estimating team is stretched thin, qualified estimators are harder to find than ever, and every bid opportunity has become precious. With construction down 13% and $1 trillion in private funding sitting on the sidelines, the pressure to win work has never been higher.

Your team is talented, but they're spending days on manual takeoffs that should take hours. Meanwhile, competitors are responding faster to opportunities, and you're wondering how they're doing it.

If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. But some steel fabricators have discovered a way to not just survive – but thrive.

The Problems Keeping You Up at Night

Your Estimating Team Is Under Unprecedented Pressure

Cost estimator employment is projected to decline 4% from 2023 to 2033, with 18,000 annual openings primarily from retirements. Industry experts report that "estimators are becoming harder to find during the labor shortage." Your existing team is handling more work than ever, and finding qualified replacements is nearly impossible.

Market Conditions Are Working Against You

Private Funding Paralysis: U.S. private equity managers have more than $1 trillion in uninvested capital sitting on the sidelines due to political uncertainty and interest rate volatility.

Limited Opportunities: The majority of current work is publicly funded, but there's not enough public work for all the competition. Multiple companies are chasing the same limited projects, driving down margins.

Uncertain Recovery: Construction starts have slowed dramatically, and recovery depends on interest rates falling and private confidence returning – with no clear timeline.

Your Daily Operational Challenges

Time-Consuming Manual Takeoffs: Manual counting steel stretches hours into days. Troy Ernst, Chief Estimator at King Steel, describes their old process: "We had a 4-day manual process that was eating up our capacity."

Accuracy Under Pressure: Missing steel on estimates can be costly. The pressure to deliver accurate estimates quickly puts companies at risk of errors, especially with increasingly complex technical documentation.

There Is a Solution: How Leading Companies Are Solving This

You don't have to face these challenges alone. Steel fabricators across North America are discovering that AI-powered automation can transform their operations, and the approach is more accessible than most realize.

The breakthrough came when machine learning and AI technology advanced enough to accurately identify structural elements from 2D engineering drawings. This isn't theoretical – over $25 billion has been bid through AI-powered systems with 95-99% accuracy in steel detection.

How This Technology Works:

• Automatically detects and categorizes structural steel pieces from drawings

• Processes large complex projects with hundreds of pages in minutes

• Generates Bills of Materials

• Provides a slick user interface for the estimator to review results in the same way a Junior estimator may complete a take-off

• Integrates with existing tools like Tekla, EJE, and Excel

• Captures detailed specifications including shape, size, and connection details

• Analyzes complex framing conditions and relationships between structural relationships

Your Strategic Approach: 4 Phases to Transformation

Phase 1: Validate the Technology

Start by seeing the technology work on your actual projects. The best way to understand the impact is to have your own drawings analyzed, not generic demonstrations.

Phase 2: Strategic Implementation

Begin with simple projects that offer the best learning opportunities. This builds team confidence while proving the technology's value on real work.

Phase 3: Team Development

Choose a champion or two and invest in developing your team's capabilities with the new technology. The goal is to amplify their expertise, not replace it.

Phase 4: Scale for Impact

Expand usage strategically across your estimating team. Most companies find they're comfortably using AI-powered tools on the majority of their projects within months of starting.

Success: What Victory Looks Like

King Steel Inc. - 50% Time Reduction

Troy Ernst, Chief Estimator: "It'd be awful not to have LIFT. We're relying on it now."

• 4-day manual process → 2-day automated process

• 50% reduction in bid takeoff time

• Increased capacity without hiring

James Jones, Senior Estimator: "The beam counts are spectacular!"

Read the full King Steel case study →

Motion Steel - 40-50% Daily Capacity Freed

Jay Livesay, General Manager: "With LIFT, we freed up 40 to 50% of our guys time on a daily basis."

• More time for strategic bid evaluation

• Excellent ongoing support

See more Motion Steel results →

SSE Steel Fabrication - 50-75% Time Reduction

Justin Airhart, Chief Operating Officer: "Using LIFT has been an enjoyable experience. It cuts my time by 50 to 75 percent when doing an estimate. It's been awesome to work with it."

Results:

• 50-75% time reduction on estimates

• "I had a project where LIFT cut six to eight hours off of my day off of an estimate"

• More time available for detailed analysis and client relationships

See how SSE achieved dramatic time savings →

FabArc Steel - Days to Minutes

Nathan Whitley, Chief Estimator: "What used to take two days to do, it does it within a few minutes. I've been amazed at every step of the process."

Learn about FabArc Steel's transformation →

Industry-Wide Validation

Mason Carragher, MSE Estimator: "It's the first software that is actually geared towards estimators in a meaningful way."

View all customer success stories →

The Strategic Advantages of AI Adoption

Solving the Workforce Challenge

The decline in estimator employment isn't just a hiring problem – it's a strategic challenge that forward-thinking companies are turning into a competitive advantage. When you can't find skilled estimators to hire, the solution becomes maximizing the productivity of the team you already have.

AI automation allows your existing estimators to handle significantly more work without the stress and errors that come from being overloaded. Instead of competing with other companies for scarce estimator talent, you're building capabilities that don't depend on the external labor market. This becomes especially valuable as experienced estimators retire, because the technology helps preserve and standardize their institutional knowledge rather than losing it.

The result? Your bidding capacity becomes independent of workforce availability, giving you a sustained competitive edge.

Thriving in Market Uncertainty

In volatile markets, consistency becomes your greatest asset. AI-powered processes deliver standardized results regardless of external conditions, whether you're dealing with political uncertainty, interest rate fluctuations, or shifting project types.

This consistency translates into practical advantages: faster response times to opportunities as they arise, the ability to handle workload fluctuations without scrambling to hire during busy periods, and reduced dependence on finding skilled estimators when you need to scale quickly.

While competitors struggle with capacity constraints and workforce limitations, your operations remain stable and responsive.

Maximizing Your Resources

The mathematics of AI adoption are compelling. When your estimators can complete more estimates in less time, you maintain competitive response times even when facing resource constraints. Senior estimators spend less time on manual counting and more time on strategic decision-making, client relationships, and complex problem-solving.

This resource optimization positions you perfectly for market recovery. When opportunities increase and private funding returns, you'll have established efficient processes ready to scale, rather than scrambling to build capacity when demand surges.

Understanding the Financial Impact

Immediate Operational Benefits

The productivity gains are measurable from day one. Takeoffs that previously required hours are completed in minutes, with remarkable accuracy rates that often exceed manual accuracy under time pressure. Your existing team's productivity increases dramatically without adding headcount, and streamlined workflows reduce the costly errors that can derail project profitability.

These aren't theoretical benefits – they're the documented results that companies like King Steel, Motion Steel, and MSE have achieved in real-world operations.

Long-Term Financial Returns

The financial advantages compound over time. You're maximizing productivity without the costs and delays of hiring additional estimators. There's no need to compete for scarce talent with higher salaries and benefits packages. Your increased bidding capacity creates more revenue opportunities, while faster, more accurate estimates strengthen client relationships and improve win rates.

Perhaps most importantly, you're building sustainable competitive advantages that don't depend on external factors like labor availability or market conditions. These capabilities become more valuable during downturns and position you to capture disproportionate value when markets recover.

Common Concerns Addressed

"Will AI Replace Our Estimators?" No. AI gives estimators superpowers, handling tedious tasks so they focus on strategic evaluation, client relationships, and complex problem-solving.

"What's the Cost?" ROI is typically realized within months through maximized team productivity, increased bidding capacity, and fewer costly errors.

"Can We Trust AI Accuracy?" Leading systems achieve 95-99% accuracy, often exceeding human accuracy under time pressure.

The Stakes: What Happens If You Don't Act

The steel industry is at a crossroads. With estimator employment declining 4% through 2033 and qualified estimators becoming harder to find, companies embracing AI now are establishing crucial advantages in bidding capacity, accuracy rates, and operational efficiency.

Companies that act now will:

• Establish competitive advantages

• Build efficient operations

• Maximize existing estimating teams

• Position as industry leaders

Those that wait risk being left behind by competitors who can bid faster, more accurately, and handle more opportunities.

Your Next Step: Take Action Now

The transformation is happening now. Companies across North America are using AI to complete billions in bids, saving thousands of hours while competitors still count steel by hand.

As Troy Ernst from King Steel puts it: "It'd be awful not to have LIFT. We're relying on it now."

With documented estimator workforce challenges, market uncertainty, and the need for operational excellence, the companies that act now will establish competitive advantages that define the next decade.

Ready to transform your estimating process?

Book a demo and let us show you with your own blueprints exactly how LIFT works. We'll analyze one of your project drawings and provide a free project to see if it's a good fit for your company.

Don't let your competitors get ahead while you're still counting steel by hand.