Stop Losing Hours Chasing Down Client Appointments for Welding Jobs Automate Scheduling to Reclaim Your Shop Floor Time
Imagine slashing 15-20 hours per week on manual booking calls and follow-ups, turning that into more billable fabrication time while boosting your ROI by 30% through efficient client management.
Join 250+ businesses with streamlined workflows and real time savings
The "Chaotic Scheduling" Problem
Manual phone tag with clients delays urgent welding pickups, often pushing back critical deadlines for pipe spools or pressure vessels by 4-6 hours
Overbooked CNC machines from forgotten client appointments, leading to rushed setups for aluminum extrusions and idle downtime costing $500+ per hour
No-shows wasting prime shop time on laser cutting setups, where prepped nests for steel plates sit unused, burning through 2-3 hours of laser runtime daily
Fragmented calendars between sales and production teams, causing misalignment on beam fabrication timelines and last-minute rushes for site deliveries
Missed follow-ups on repeat orders for structural steel fabrication, resulting in lost revenue from unbooked jobs on guillotine shears or rolling mills
Compliance headaches from untracked appointment changes in regulated fab shops, risking OSHA violations during audits of weld procedure qualifications
Our Custom AI Scheduling System Built for Your Metal Fab Workflow
We've helped fabrication shops like yours integrate AI scheduling with ERP systems, field-testing solutions that handle real-world disruptions like material delays.
Why Choose Us
Here's the thing: in metal fabrication, every delayed appointment means idle welders and lost revenue. We build a tailored AI system that automates your entire booking process—from initial client inquiries about custom brackets to confirming delivery slots for finished assemblies. You're probably thinking, 'We've tried calendars before.' But ours isn't off-the-shelf. We map your exact workflow, integrating with tools like your shop management software to predict and prevent conflicts. Let's be honest, this isn't just automation; it's a productivity boost that feels like adding an extra skilled fabricator to your team without the payroll hit.
What Makes Us Different:
Unlock Time Savings That Hit Your Bottom Line
Save 15+ Hours Weekly on Admin Drudgery
Save 15+ Hours Weekly on Admin Drudgery: No more chasing clients for confirmation on sheet metal orders—our system automates reminders tied to your plasma table availability, freeing your team to focus on what pays: precise fabrication. Shops report a 25% productivity boost, turning wasted time into extra runs on the press brake, with one client adding 10% more jobs per month without hiring.
Achieve 30% Faster ROI Through Efficient Bookings
Achieve 30% Faster ROI Through Efficient Bookings: Quantifiable gains: reduce no-shows by 40% for CNC routing sessions, ensuring steady workflow from quoting structural frames to delivery. Imagine your ROI climbing as appointments align perfectly with inventory levels for rebar bending, cutting overtime costs on night shifts for urgent bridge repairs by up to $2,000 weekly.
Boost On-Time Deliveries and Client Retention
Boost On-Time Deliveries and Client Retention: Field-tested in busy fab environments like offshore platform component shops, this cuts manual errors that lead to reschedules for tube bending ops. Clients stay loyal when their structural components arrive on time, leading to 20% more repeat business and fewer costly rework sessions in the welding bay, saving $5K per incident.
What Clients Say
"Before AIQ Labs, our shop lost half a day every week sorting appointment mix-ups for custom enclosures, especially when coordinating with punch press schedules. Now, the system books everything around our milling queue and flags material shortages early—we've cut scheduling time from 10 hours to just 2. Deliveries for HVAC ductwork are on point, and clients keep coming back for more runs."
Mike Rivera
Shop Foreman at Precision Metals Inc., a leader in custom sheet metal fabrication for commercial buildings
"We were drowning in calls for welding pickups during peak season, delaying critical repairs on heavy equipment frames. Their custom automation integrated with our ERP, syncing with flux-core welding timelines and saving us 18 hours a week. ROI kicked in after the first month—fewer idle machines during sawing ops and happier crews focused on actual fabrication work."
Sarah Chen
Operations Manager at Apex Fabrication Co., specializing in structural steel for industrial construction
"Tried generic schedulers, but they didn't get our fab cycles, like aligning with heat treatment schedules for alloy steels. AIQ built something that flags conflicts with material arrivals upfront, preventing overruns on the lathe. We've seen a 35% drop in reschedules for boiler component jobs, and our team's actually getting home on time now without weekend overtime."
Tom Hargrove
Production Lead at SteelForge Manufacturing, experts in high-pressure vessel fabrication
Simple 3-Step Process
Discovery and Workflow Mapping
We dive into your fab shop's specifics—like how appointments tie into cutting and assembly lines—to design a system that fits seamlessly.
Custom AI Build and Integration
Our engineers code the automation from scratch, linking it to your existing tools for real-time syncing without the usual integration headaches.
Testing, Launch, and Optimization
We field-test in your environment, tweaking for things like rush jobs, then launch with ongoing support to ensure it scales as your shop grows.
Why We're Different
What's Included
Common Questions
How does this automation handle rush orders in a busy metal fab shop?
Rush orders are a fact of life in fabrication, especially when construction sites need emergency railings or brackets. Our custom AI prioritizes them by scanning incoming requests and flagging high-urgency slots in your calendar. It integrates directly with your production queue, reserving buffer time around CNC runs or welding stations without disrupting the flow. We've seen shops handle 20% more urgent bookings without overtime spikes. The system learns from your patterns—say, frequent after-hours needs—and suggests alternatives like next-day express slots. Setup takes just a week, and it evolves with your workflow for ongoing efficiency. No more dropping everything for a call; it's all automated yet flexible.
Will this work with our existing shop management software?
Absolutely, and that's where we shine. Unlike generic tools that force you into their ecosystem, we build deep, custom integrations with popular fab software like JobBOSS, E2 Shop System, or even custom ERPs. We map your data flows—think syncing appointment times with material inventories or job tickets—so changes in scheduling instantly update production plans. For instance, if a client reschedules a sheet metal delivery, it ripples through without manual entry. Our approach eliminates silos, creating one source of truth. Shops typically see integration complete in 2-4 weeks, with immediate time savings on double-data entry that used to eat 5-10 hours weekly.
What kind of time savings can a small fab company expect?
Let's be honest: small shops with 10-50 employees often lose 15-25 hours a week on scheduling chaos alone—chasing confirmations, resolving overlaps, or dealing with no-shows that idle your plasma cutter. Our automation handles 80-90% of that, freeing up admins and foremen for value-add tasks like quality checks on assemblies. One client, a 30-person outfit, reclaimed 18 hours weekly, translating to an extra $5K in monthly billables by running more jobs. ROI hits fast—often within the first billing cycle—through reduced errors and better resource use. We quantify this during discovery, basing it on your exact volume of client interactions and shop capacity.
Is the system secure for handling client details in manufacturing?
Security is non-negotiable in metal fab, where you're dealing with proprietary designs or client specs for custom parts. We build with enterprise-grade encryption, role-based access, and compliance features like GDPR or ISO standards baked in from day one. Data stays in your controlled environment—no cloud lock-in unless you choose it. For example, appointment logs for sensitive aerospace components are audit-ready, with automatic purging of old records. We've audited our systems for shops in regulated sectors, ensuring no breaches. Plus, since it's custom-built, you own the code and can dictate access levels, unlike rented tools that share your data broadly.
How much does a custom scheduling automation cost for our fab business?
Costs vary by your setup, but for a typical metal fab shop, we're talking $15K-$40K upfront for full custom build and integration—far less than the ongoing subscriptions you'd juggle otherwise. This includes discovery, development, testing, and three months of support. The ROI? Payback in 3-6 months via time savings; one shop offset the full cost by avoiding just two weeks of overtime from scheduling snafus. We avoid hidden fees—no per-user charges or scaling surprises. During your free consult, we break it down based on your appointment volume and tools, showing exact savings like hours freed per week on the shop floor.
Can this scale if our fabrication business grows or adds locations?
Growth is the goal in manufacturing, and our systems are designed to scale without ripping and replacing. Starting with your core shop, we architect for expansion—like adding satellite locations for regional deliveries or ramping up for bigger contracts. The AI adapts via modular code; if you double your client base, it handles increased bookings without performance dips. A client expanded from one fab site to three, and we extended the system in just two weeks, maintaining 99% uptime. It learns from usage, optimizing for new patterns like seasonal construction surges, ensuring your efficiency gains stick as you grow.
Ready to Get Started?
Book your free consultation and discover how we can transform your business with AI.