Simple Manufacturing Changes

Posted on: 11 November 2020

If you need to order a large amount of structural steel or have a large amount of steel fabricated for a specific purpose and you are looking to keep your costs down, there are various methods you can use for lowering your costs. When working on a large project, it is essential to know how to manage your costs.

Order Ahead of Time

If you want to save money, you will want to give your structural steel supplier as much lead time as possible. They will have to get the metal together and go through the fabrication process for you and help you meet your deadline.

If you give them more lead time to get the order done, they will not have to put in overtime or arrange their schedule to fulfill your order, which will allow you to enjoy reduced costs. When you put in an order will very little lead time, you will generally have to pay extra to get your order in time.

Stick to Industry Standards

When ordering your structural steel, think carefully about how it needs to be fabricated. If you stick to industry standards, your costs will be lower than if you add special weld instructions. If you add special weld instructions, a third party will need to be brought in to test the material, which will increase the overall price of the item.

Keep Things Simple

The simpler you can keep the design, the more affordable the item will be. As you add more detail, the fabrication costs and time are going to increase. Added detail often adds additional weight to the order, which will increase your costs as well. The simpler you keep your design, the more affordable it should be to produce.

As you create your designs, make sure you use the right weld symbols. That will help ensure that there are no interpretation issues and that the product is completed the first time correctly.

Keep the Size Down

Finally, make sure you keep the size of the structure down as well. If you need the steel fabricated in a way that makes the structural overlay wide or long, that could increase your shipping costs, as special oversized permits will be required to get you your items.

If you have structural steel that you need to be fabricated for a job, you can keep the costs low by ordering ahead of time and giving the fabricator lots of lead time. Stick to industry standards so a third-party inspector doesn't have to be called in. Keep the design simple, and don't order oversized items. Following these steps will help keep your structural steel fabrication orders on budget. Reach out to a professional who provides structural steel to learn more.