American Steel Fabricators uses ContraVault to take up to 80% of the work out of a bid that runs 35 to 50 hours
“I don't want the AI to do the thinking for us. I want it to do the legwork so that we can do the thinking faster.”
- Up to 80%
- Of bid legwork cleared on the right job
- 35–50 hrs
- Typical effort to generate one bid
About American Steel Fabricators
American Steel Fabricators is a full-service structural steel, miscellaneous metals, and ornamental provider serving New England. The company has been in business for 34 years and is an industry leader in high-definition plasma cutting.
The business was built around two connected commitments: serving its customers and supporting its employees. It also specializes in difficult work, where a stronger shop performance creates a stronger client relationship.
Principal Peter Sirois brings more than 25 years of steel-industry expertise and still estimates alongside his partner. The bidding problem he describes is one he works through himself.
Four connected ContraVault capabilities move the legwork forward before an experienced estimator makes a single pricing decision.
Put together, the scope is located, confirmed, and organized, while the specifications are distilled into what matters. The estimator reaches the judgment-intensive work sooner.
Scope identification
ContraVault goes through the drawings and pulls out the scope, removing the task that used to consume the front half of every estimate. Mr. Sirois describes this as teeing up the job so estimators reach the higher-skilled work sooner.
Estimator hold points
The platform does not run silently and return an unchecked result. It pauses on potential scope items and asks the estimator to confirm whether each one should be priced. Those yes-or-no hold points make the output trustworthy enough to build on.
Organized scope spreadsheet
Confirmed scope lands in an organized spreadsheet. Estimators no longer have to flip repeatedly through drawings to find information they have already reviewed.
Specification digest and Go/No-Go analysis
ContraVault paraphrases thousands of specification pages and links each finding back to the source so the estimator can verify it. Go/No-Go analysis runs alongside this workflow, helping the team assess a bid before committing the estimating hours.
Mr. Sirois estimates that ContraVault can clear up to 80% of the work out of the way on the right job, leaving the estimator to apply the final finishing touches. Across bids generally, he estimates the figure at 60% to 70%.
Bid effort
up to 80% of the legwork removed on the right job
Typical estimate
60% to 70% of the work cleared across bids generally
Personal throughput
Mr. Sirois expects the finished program to make him twice as fast as an estimator
Decision ownership
every pricing judgment remains with the experienced estimator
In Mr. Sirois's words:
“I don't want the AI to do the thinking for us. I want it to do the legwork so that we can do the thinking faster.”