"What would have taken us two weeks now takes just four days. Because of LIFT, we're able to put out the same number of estimates with half our previous team. When our estimating department improves, our sales improve. When our sales improve, NAFCO improves."

— Matt Chance, Estimating Manager, NAFCO

SUMMARY

When NAFCO faced unexpected staffing changes in their estimating department, they didn't know what to do. They needed to maintain their bidding capacity despite having fewer team members. [After] a two-week trial of LIFT, SketchDeck.ai’s automated take-off solution, NAFCO’s team decided to adopt the software and began augmenting their estimating teams' workload with AI take-offs.

Despite the unforeseen circumstances and a 50% reduction in team capacity, their estimating team was able to meet their demand, continue delivering the same output, and respond to their customers' bid requests without compromising quality.

Key Results:

• 50% reduction in staffing capacity, but maintained 100% of their estimating output

• 75% time savings on typical structural steel takeoffs

• 80% faster project completion – reducing two-week projects to just four days

• Near-instant dimensioning of drawings that previously took up to a week

• Task automation that turns two-day processes into minutes

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THE CHALLENGE: Maintaining Capacity During Industry Staffing Challenges

"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. LIFT hasn't replaced our estimators; it's empowered them to work more efficiently and effectively, allowing us to respond to more bid opportunities while maintaining the quality our customers expect."

— Matt Chance, Estimating Manager, NAFCO

Like many fabricators in the industry, NAFCO experienced staffing transitions that left their estimating department with reduced capacity. What was once a team of four estimators became a team of just two, creating a significant challenge for their bidding operations.

"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," explains Matt Chance, Estimating Manager at NAFCO. "And then we hired Justin, who is doing well. But we needed to find ways to maintain our output."

The steel fabrication industry has faced persistent challenges in finding and retaining specialized talent, particularly in technical roles like estimating. When combined with NAFCO's labor-intensive takeoff process, these staffing transitions threatened to create a bottleneck in their bidding pipeline.

"Our traditional process required us to go into Bluebeam and pull dimensions. Depending on the project size, it could take a week sometimes just to dimension a set of drawings," Matt recalls.

Without a solution, NAFCO risked having to decline bid opportunities, potentially impacting their sales pipeline and overall business growth.

THE SOLUTION: Empowering Estimators with AI-Enhanced Tools

NAFCO took a two-pronged approach to address their capacity challenge: they hired a new estimator while also implementing LIFT by SketchDeck.ai  to enhance their team's productivity.

Rather than replacing estimators, LIFT augments their expertise by automating the most time-consuming aspects of steel takeoffs. The platform automatically detects beams from structural drawings, identifies their properties, and calculates lengths and quantities, allowing estimators to focus on higher-value aspects of bid preparation.

"What would take somebody two days to do, LIFT does within a few minutes," explains Matt. "It transforms what was previously a multi-day process into something that can be completed in hours."

The software's ability to automatically dimension and identify steel members proved particularly valuable for NAFCO's specialized team.

"Now dimensioning is happening instantly," Matt notes. "In our previous process, we would have to click and drag repeatedly, manually dimensioning every single member."

THE RESULTS: Empowered Team Maintaining Full Output

By enhancing their estimators' capabilities with LIFT, NAFCO has achieved remarkable results:

• Maintained full estimating output despite industry-wide staffing challenges

• 75% time savings on typical takeoffs, allowing estimators to focus on higher-value activities

• Two-week estimating process reduced to four days on complex projects like the Skittles expansion

The impact extends beyond just maintaining capacity - it's transforming how the entire estimating department operates and contributes to company success.

"When I improve, the estimating department improves. When the estimating department improves, our sales improve. When our sales improve, NAFCO improves," Matt explains.

The ability to maintain estimating output during industry staffing challenges has prevented business disruption and allowed NAFCO to continue pursuing new opportunities without compromising on quality or responsiveness.

"Thank goodness for the productivity gains because with our current staffing levels, we would be struggling with our traditional methods," Matt emphasizes. "Because of LIFT, we're treading water, not drowning. We're able to put out the number of estimates we need to keep opportunities flowing."

NEXT STEPS: Building on Success for Future Growth

NAFCO continues working with SketchDeck.ai  to unlock even more productivity gains. They're particularly excited about upcoming features for automatic categorization and enhanced revision management.

"What LIFT does is amazing, but what its possibilities are, I can't fathom," Matt concludes, highlighting both the immediate impact and future potential of the platform.

As NAFCO continues to navigate industry staffing challenges, LIFT remains a core part of their strategy, enabling their specialized estimators to be more productive and giving them a technological edge in a competitive market. Rather than replacing expertise, LIFT amplifies it, allowing NAFCO's team to focus their specialized knowledge where it adds the most value.