Involve Steel Manufacturer Early for Cost and Time Savings

Choosing your structural steel supplier is important, but do you know how important it really is? If you are able to make use of your structural steel supplier's knowledge of product availability, you can expect fewer change orders, better coordination between the trades working on the project, and ultimately better on-time performance. Does your supplier know about the steel process, the market, and fabrication efficiencies? It should.

Ask Early On About Structural Steel Product Availability

When you bring your steel supplier on-board during the design phase, you can prevent problems that result in redesigns and reworks and the cost overruns that can result from them. When your steel manufacturer is there early in the project, they can provide guidance regarding such things as steel rolling schedules, and processes that can be done in-shop rather than in the field.

What Suppliers Can Bring to the Table

A good structural steel supplier can provide valuable input when they're involved early on, including:

• Information on commodity savings due to coordinated mill run schedules
• Information on materials selection
• Structural steel connection options that can improve construction efficiency
• Field activities that can be done in-shop (such as pre-assembly, coatings, and attachment of accessories)
• Knowledge of industry and technology trends

How Your Choice of Supplier Helps Keep Costs Under Control

Choosing your steel manufacturer carefully and availing yourself of their expertise can help you keep costs down by doing the following:

• Helping coordinate erection schedules, which enhances safety
• Allowing better trade coordination on the project
• Allowing strategic task overlap that can accelerate the project schedule

In some cases, manufacturers can provide input on minimization of material and fabrication costs too.

Making Just In Time Delivery Work

Your choice of steel supplier is critical with the just in time delivery philosophy. When your supplier can precisely pack and sequence deliveries, your project can realize savings. Every construction project is different, but when your supplier has access to a real-time supplier database and current pricing and production data, you can be confident your steel supplier is procuring your materials most cost effectively.