With the metal fabrication market set to be worth $24 billion USD by 2024, the future of industrial fabrication is no doubt figuratively and sizably bright.
In recent years, there have been many advancements in the industrial fabrication industry, including a paradigm shift in the industry brought on by Early Contractor Involvement.
With such a diverse industry, there will no doubt be exciting advancements to fuel further cost-savings and risk-mitigation. What approaches and trends can we expect to see in the future of industrial fabrication?
Read on to find out what Saskarc’s industry experts predict:
Increase in Early Contractor Involvement & Modularization dual strategy approach
With Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) and Modularization increasing safety, decreasing total installed cost, and improving scheduling, it’s no doubt that this dual strategy approach has garnered popularity in recent years.
Modularization is an increasingly smarter strategy to help improve the outcome of large-scale and more complex industrial projects. Modularization gives teams more certainty to design for efficiency, and to anticipate each step in the build process, by eliminating some of the less controllable conditions associated with on-site, outdoor construction.
The primary benefits of Modularization strategies include:
- Improved safety for workers
- Improved quality of built components
- Improved scheduling – in certainty and acceleration
- Reduced use of labor and materials
- Reduced total installed costs (rental costs for cranes, site support equipment, staging costs, etc)
- Ability to build multiple modules simultaneously, then ship to site as needed
- Completion of pre-assembly of more intricate elements, such as electrical wiring or piping
- Reduced area required for lay down
ECI has also picked up popularity along with Modularization as a smarter strategy to help improve the outcome of large-scale and more complex projects.
Some of the main benefits of ECI include:
- A more integrated design/build process stemming from enhanced communication
- Enabling teams to strategize together to plan, identify potential issues, and prevent project problems from occurring
- Facilitate understanding of common goals and design strategies to collectively achieve them
With outcomes like this, ECI and Modularization are set to be increasingly used as strategy approached in future industrial fabrication projects.
Improved approaches to Modularization
Aside from Modularization and ECI being heavily utilized as an approach for successful fabrication outcomes, we can also expect to see improvements in the approach to Modularization.
While Modularization can take place at any stage in the project, integrating Modularization as a strategy from the very beginning can eliminate the cost of re-work and keep project timelines on schedule.
We can expect to see that future fabrication projects will integrate Modularization as a strategy from the beginning/design stage of the project rather than later on in the process.
We can also expect to see improved strategies for more added value, specifically in pre-delivery project scopes, which increases efficiencies and reduces risks.
Future trend predictions
Although no one can predict the future exactly, there are some trends in resources, technology and efficiency-maximizing equipment that are on the horizon when it comes to industrial fabrication.
This is predicated to include:
- An increase in renewable-energy related fabrication projects, as many governments and organizations now include lowering CO₂ emissions as part of their strategy
- Increase in processing and automation equipment to maximize efficiencies & reduce fabrication costs
- Technology & software developments for future efficiencies, planning & management of fabrication projects
- Advancement of 3D printing technology and capabilities
As companies seek to become more environmentally-friendly and maximize cost-savings and efficiencies, this will affect the technology, equipment used in fabrication projects as well as add diversity in the scope of fabrication jobs.
Increase in quality and durability of products
While steel has been used as a fabrication product for centuries, in recent years, steel has also become a common cost-effective alternative to other materials, such as concrete.
Exhaust stacks, such as the one pictured above in Saskarc’s yard, are commonly being fabricated from steel rather than concrete.
As projects owners focus on maximizing the quality and longevity of their projects, utilizing wear products has become, and will continue to be, a popular option for increasing the life expectancy of steel products.
For example, some wear products that have been commonly used over the years are abrasion-resistant and corrosion-resistant liners, such as AR400 and chromium carbide overlay. These wear/overlays are commonly used in the oil sand and potash mine industries where durability and resistance to the elements is essential.
As project owners continually look to maximize value, keep fabrication projects on schedule and increase quality and longevity of products, there is no doubt that new and increased use of enhanced processes, materials, and methodology that will be utilized in coming years to achieve these goals.
Saskarc has over 25 years of experience providing superior steel fabrication solutions achieved by combining project analysis, stakeholder communications and design innovation for modularization. See what our customers have to say about working with us and contact us today to learn more about how we can make your fabrication project a success by utilizing modularization.
