Stop Guessing on Production Runs Get Real-Time Visibility into Your Shop Floor
Imagine slashing material waste by 30% and boosting on-time deliveries to 95% with dashboards that actually match your fabrication workflow—no more spreadsheets scattered across the shop.
Join 150+ businesses with crystal-clear data insights
The "Shop Floor Blind Spots" Problem
Scattered OEE Data Across Turret Punch Presses and CNC Plasma Cutters
Delayed Weld Imperfection Reports from Ultrasonic Testing Eating into Profit Margins
Inventory Silos Between Raw Sheet Metal Stock and Steel Supplier Deliveries
Unpredictable Lead Times for Custom Press Brake Bends and Structural Assemblies
Manual KPI Tracking of Cycle Times Slowing Down CNC Shift Handovers
Overlooked Non-Destructive Testing Checks on Fabricated Structural Parts
Our Custom Dashboards Built for Metal Fab Precision
We've engineered over 200 tailored systems for fabrication shops, turning raw data into field-tested tools that drive ROI from day one.
Why Choose Us
Let's be honest, in metal fabrication, you're juggling CNC programs, supplier deliveries, and tight deadlines. Here's the thing: generic dashboards treat your shop like a cookie-cutter operation. We build yours from the ground up, integrating your ERP, shop floor sensors, and quality logs into a single pane of glass. No subscriptions, just owned tech that fits your exact workflow—like tracking laser cut yields in real-time or alerting on mill tolerances. You're probably thinking, 'Will this actually work for our custom runs?' It does, because we test it on your data first.
What Makes Us Different:
Unlock Actionable Insights That Pay Off Fast
Pinpoint Production Bottlenecks Like a Pro
Pinpoint Production Bottlenecks Like a Pro: Visualize exactly where delays strike—whether it's a jammed Amada press brake or a sluggish GMAW welding station. Our dashboards slash troubleshooting time by 40%, freeing your team to focus on quotas instead of fire drills. One structural steel fab shop reclaimed 15 hours weekly per foreman, boosting throughput on beam assemblies.
Boost Yields and Slash Waste on Every Job
Boost Yields and Slash Waste on Every Job: Monitor material usage from raw steel coils to finished weldments with laser precision. Get instant alerts on variances, such as when stainless steel scrap tops 5%, and tweak processes in real-time. Fabricators on our system cut waste by 25%, converting hidden losses to profit—like $50K saved yearly on mid-sized structural runs within the first year.
Make Smarter Bids with Data-Backed Forecasts
Make Smarter Bids with Data-Backed Forecasts: Ditch lowball estimates from guesswork. Our dashboards predict lead times using your historical data on CNC routing and supplier ETAs for aluminum extrusions. This delivers 20% more accurate quotes, easing underbidding pains and building trust for repeat contracts in construction OEM projects.
What Clients Say
"Before AIQ's dashboard, we drowned in Excel tracking weld inspections across three shifts on our robotic weld cells. Now it's all live—defect rates from MIG welds dropped 18% in Q1, and our quality manager gets home by 6 PM most nights. Feels like an extra inspector on the floor without the payroll hit."
Mike Harlan
Quality Assurance Supervisor, Precision Metal Fabricators Inc.
"We fabricate custom steel brackets for heavy construction equipment, and inventory mismatches were brutal—overstocking plate steel one month, scrambling for shortages the next. AIQ's setup integrates our plasma cut logs with supplier APIs for just-in-time deliveries, slashing excess inventory by 35% last year. ROI kicked in under six months, seriously."
Sarah Ruiz
Supply Chain Coordinator, FabTech Manufacturing LLC
"As a small shop running Haas CNC mills, we couldn't swing pricey enterprise software that ignored our workflow. AIQ tailored a dashboard pulling real-time throughput from our vertical machining centers. On-time deliveries for custom assemblies climbed from 72% to 94% in eight months, landing us two major OEM contracts for structural components. Top-notch execution."
Tom Keller
Shop Owner, Alloy Fabrication Specialists
Simple 3-Step Process
Discovery Dive into Your Shop
We start by mapping your fabrication flow— from raw stock intake to final assembly. No assumptions; we review your current tools and pain points to ensure the dashboard aligns perfectly with your daily grind.
Custom Build and Integration
Our engineers code your dashboard to spec, linking it to your machines, ERP, and quality systems. We test rigorously, simulating real fab scenarios like rush plasma jobs, so it's production-ready from launch.
Launch, Train, and Optimize
Roll it out with hands-on training for your team. Then, we monitor and tweak based on your feedback—ensuring it evolves with your shop, like adding new KPIs for anodizing processes.
Why We're Different
What's Included
Common Questions
How do your dashboards integrate with our existing CNC software?
We specialize in deep, two-way integrations tailored to metal fab tools like Mastercam or SolidWorks. For instance, we'll pull live data from your plasma cutters and punch presses directly into the dashboard, eliminating manual uploads. Our team audits your setup first to ensure seamless flow—think automatic updates on cut yields without disrupting production. We've done this for shops with mixed legacy systems, reducing data entry errors by 90%. It's all custom code, so it fits your exact stack, and we provide full testing to confirm no downtime during rollout. You're not just connecting tools; you're building a unified system that grows with your operations.
What makes these dashboards different for small fab shops versus big manufacturers?
Big manufacturers often drown in bloated enterprise software, but for SMB fab shops like yours, we focus on lean, practical builds. We customize to your scale—tracking 10 machines instead of 100, with KPIs honed on real issues like custom run variability. No overkill features; just what drives your ROI, like yield tracking for short-batch aluminum jobs. We've helped shops under 50 employees cut waste by 25% without the complexity of off-the-shelf giants. It's field-tested for the daily grind: quick setups, mobile views for foremen, and costs that make sense for $5M revenue ops. Let's chat about your workflow to tailor it perfectly.
Can we track quality metrics like weld porosity in real-time?
Absolutely, and it's a game-changer for fab precision. Our dashboards ingest data from your inspection tools or manual logs, displaying live metrics like porosity rates or tolerance drifts on assemblies. Set thresholds—for example, alert if welds exceed 2% defects—and get instant notifications. One client in structural steel saw their rework drop 40% because foremen could intervene mid-shift. We build this custom to your processes, integrating with apps like ProChain or even shop-floor tablets. It's not generic monitoring; it's actionable intel that keeps your output certifiable and clients happy. We start with your current quality protocols to ensure it fits without extra training.
How long does it take to see ROI from a custom dashboard?
Most fab shops see payback in 3-6 months, depending on your scale. For a mid-sized operation, that's often through 20% faster quoting or 15% less scrap—real numbers from our deployments. We prioritize quick wins, like automating inventory checks that save hours weekly on material counts. Unlike subscriptions that bleed cash monthly, our one-time build gives you ownership, with ongoing tweaks included. Take a recent project: a sheet metal shop recouped costs in four months via better throughput visibility during peak seasons. We baseline your metrics upfront, so you track progress clearly. You're probably thinking it's too good— but it's grounded in field-tested results for shops just like yours.
Do you handle data from multiple fab locations or shifts?
Yes, we design for multi-site or multi-shift realities common in metal fab. Dashboards consolidate data from various plants—say, one for cutting in Ohio, another for welding in Texas—into a central view with filters for location or shift. Track cross-site metrics like overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) or shared inventory flows. For shifts, we include handover summaries to flag overnight issues, like machine alerts from the night crew. A client with two facilities cut coordination time by 50%, avoiding duplicated efforts on part orders. It's all secured and scalable, using your existing networks without new hardware. We map this during discovery to match your setup precisely.
What if our fab processes change, like adding new machinery?
Flexibility is baked in—our systems are built to evolve with your shop. When you add, say, a new fiber laser or robotic welder, we update integrations swiftly, often in days, not weeks. No starting over; it's modular code that adapts. We've supported shops upgrading from manual mills to automated lines, retraining dashboards on new data streams without downtime. Post-launch, we offer optimization sessions to incorporate changes, ensuring KPIs like cycle times stay relevant. One fab team added a bending cell mid-year and saw immediate visibility gains, boosting efficiency 18%. It's your asset, so we treat it like an extension of your operations, ready for whatever the industry throws at you.
Ready to Get Started?
Book your free consultation and discover how we can transform your business with AI.