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Watkins Steel

Watkins Steel is a Brisbane based steel fabrication company that has been operating for 50 years. Our work includes 3D laser scanning, detailing, fabricating, and installing structural steel and metal work structures. Specialising in small to mid-size structural steel, metalwork, urban artscapes, architectural structures, and refurbishment jobs, we have the experience and technological expertise to complete a vast range of projects with unparalleled accuracy.

At Watkins Steel, we pride ourselves on our ability to provide first class steel products and services in a timely manner. For us, investing in technology and the skills development of our people is the key to delivering exceptional project results. As a result, we have developed an end-to-end digital workflow for steel fabrication and installation that is unique to Watkins Steel. This process delivers exceptional outcomes, adding value to the builder, by significantly reducing the human error, guess work, and rectification work that costs money and time on construction projects.

Watkins Steel originally implemented STRUMIS back in 2010 as an automated solution for estimating. When deciding between different software, STRUMIS was ultimately the one we felt the most comfortable with as it is industry-specific. It wasn’t until a few years later when we began to see the endless amount of possibilities it could be used for throughout the entire business, and we wouldn’t look back. We use STRUMIS throughout a projects entire life-time from Estimating all the way through to Invoicing, including contract management, procurement and products & control. It aligns with our philosophy of being transparent with all our clients, enabling us to create detailed breakdowns and reports for a project. The capabilities of STRUMIS means we now have one location for everything and can more accurately and efficiently track projects. It makes our ordering more efficient and increases administrative control.

The use of STRUMIS in our business aligns with and supports our investment in having an automated work process. Streamlining an automated administrative process to our automated production process, it reduces risk of human error and improves productivity immensely. We have even aligned STRUMIS with our accounting system MYOB to assist with a semi-automated customer and supplier invoicing process.

One major benefit of STRUMIS for our business is that it allows us to import detail listings directly from our steel detailing software Tekla, which is then used for accurate procurement of materials and traced all the way through to the contract budget for cost analysis.  Another factor that drew us to use STRUMIS was automatic nesting. STRUMIS can nest a 100 tonne steel order in seconds, which would take someone hours to do manually. The increased efficiency from these benefits has allowed us to increase our volume and will ultimately result in cost and time savings.

We recently completed an Architectural Arbour for the 2018 Commonwealth Games Athletes Village at the Gold Coast. This project was complex, as such the ability to use STRUMIS throughout the projects entirety, meant all project information was kept together in a succinct and efficient manner. STRUMIS was used in the initial stages of estimating right through to purchasing, budgeting and invoicing.

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