We audited the business. Then connected AI across all their software.
Steel Frames WA designs, makes and installs light-gauge steel frames and trusses for homes and commercial builds across Western Australia. We audited the business on site and mapped where AI could take work off the team. Then we set up five of their staff with their own AI, connected across the software they already use. Project management and quoting now run far more efficiently.
What does Steel Frames WA do?
They design, manufacture and install light-gauge steel frames: wall frames, roof trusses, floor joists and battens. Their frames go into new homes and kit homes, and into commercial builds from restaurants to childcare centres and modular buildings for remote sites.
Where was the time going?
Into quoting and keeping track of jobs. Every job is custom, with spans and loads that change from one plan to the next, so every quote is worked up from the drawings rather than looked up on a price list. That is a strength for customers and a lot of work for the office.
Like most growing manufacturers, they ran the business across several systems: a job board for won jobs, accounting software, email and spreadsheets. Getting a clear picture of where every quote and job stood meant moving between all of them.
What did the on-site audit find?
A clear list of places AI could take repetitive work off the team, in the order we would tackle them. They ranged from quick wins to bigger pieces of work:
- Instant acknowledgements on every enquiry, with the date to expect a quote
- Automatic follow-ups after a quote goes out
- One register for quote requests that AI can read and update
- AI-assisted quoting from the incoming plans and their own rates
- Automatic updates to customers at each stage of a won job
The audit also showed the best place to start: give the people running the business their own AI, connected across the systems they use every day, before building anything big.
What did we set up?
We set up five of their staff with their own AI, connected across the software the business already runs on. Once their IT provider had approved the connections, we worked through it with each person and trained them on real work.
- The job board connected to AI, so jobs can be looked up, summarised and reported on by asking in plain English
- The accounts and email connected, so each person's AI sees the same picture they do
- Quote requests checked against the quote register on request, so nothing slips through
- On-demand reports listing every job by stage
- Scheduled tasks, so regular reports run on their own
Most businesses want to start with the big build. The better start is getting the people who run the place using AI on their own work. Once they have, they know exactly what to build next.
What has it achieved?
The business now runs project management and quoting far more efficiently. Instead of moving between systems to find out where a job or a quote stands, staff ask their AI and get the answer from all their software at once.
Job status, quote tracking and regular reporting that used to take manual digging now take a question. Because each person connects through their own accounts and the IT provider signed off first, the setup is ready to carry the bigger builds from the audit, like AI-assisted quoting, without stalling on access later.
| Area | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Finding where a job stands | Checked across the job board, accounts and email | Asked in plain English, answered from all of them |
| Job reporting | Put together by hand | On-demand and scheduled reports of every job by stage |
| Quote requests | Tracked by hand in folders and a spreadsheet | Checked against the quote register by AI on request |
AI for manufacturers and fabricators in Australia
Manufacturers that quote custom work from drawings share the same shape of problem: enquiries in the inbox, pricing knowledge held by a few people, and job information spread across several systems. AI helps most when it connects those systems rather than adding another one.
Where it usually helps first
Answering "where is this job up to" without opening four programs. Acknowledging enquiries and following up quotes on time. Reporting on jobs by stage. Once that is running, AI-assisted quoting from plans and your own rates is a natural next step, with an estimator checking every price.
What to know before you start
Connect the software you already use rather than replacing it. Get your IT provider to approve connections up front, and have each person connect through their own accounts so AI can only reach what they can already reach. Under the Australian Privacy Principles you should know where customer information is stored and who can see it, so check where any AI tool keeps data. And keep a person in charge of anything that sets a price or goes to a customer.
Start with an audit
An on-site look at how work actually moves through the business shows which jobs are worth handing to AI first, and in what order. We cover that in the AI audit, and the biggest prize for most manufacturers, custom quoting, in automate quoting.
Common questions
What is an on-site AI audit?
We come into the business, go through how the work actually moves, and leave a short list of where AI can take repetitive work off the team, in the order we would tackle it. For Steel Frames WA that covered enquiries, quoting, job tracking and customer updates.
What did the AI setup involve?
We set up five staff with their own AI, connected to the software the business already runs on, including the job board, the accounts and email. Each person can ask questions about jobs and quotes in plain English, pull reports on demand and schedule regular ones to run on their own.
Did they have to replace their software?
No. The AI connects to the systems they already use. Nothing was moved or rebuilt, so the team kept working the way they know while the AI took on the looking up, summarising and reporting.
How was IT security handled?
Nothing was connected until the company's IT provider had approved it. Each person connects AI through their own accounts, so it can only reach what that person can already reach.
Updated 1 November 2026
More of our work
Quotes stuck in the inbox?
If your enquiries land in email and your pricing lives in someone's head, an audit will show you where AI takes the work off first. Tell us how quoting works in your business today, in plain language, with no pitch.