The cheapest change on any project is the one made before anyone draws it.
Most of the cost in a fabricated job is fixed early: the material chosen, the way the job is split into modules, how those modules reach site and what code they have to meet. Get those right at the start and the drawings, the build and the install follow. Get one wrong and it comes back later as a additional cost.
Our consultancy puts those questions to the people who answer them every week. Project engineers who design vessels and structures. A production team that intimately understand the fabrication process. An install crew that has craned tanks into live dairy plants since 1992.
Send us a concept, a sketch, a photo of the part that keeps failing, or a plant that isn’t doing what it should. We’ll work through it with you and hand back a clear route forward, whether or not we end up building it.
We can join at any stage but the earlier we’re in, the more cost we can help to remove.
01
Concept and feasibility
Can it be built, roughly what will it cost, and what will decide the answer? We test the idea against fabrication, transport and site limits before you commit budget to design.
02
Before the spec is locked
Material grades, surface finishes, codes and the way the job is divided into modules. These choices set most of the price, and they’re still easy to change here.
03
Tender and pricing
A buildability review of drawings you already have. We flag details that are hard to fabricate, parts that won’t fit on a truck and specs that conflict, then suggest alternatives.
04
In service
Plant that isn’t performing, parts that keep failing, or a site due for expansion – we look at what’s there and plan the fix, the upgrade or the maintenance around your production.
Feasibility and concept refinement
We pressure-test the idea for buildability: access, weld sequence, lifting points, and whether it can be made in one piece or needs splitting into modules.
Mechanical design and optimisation
Pre-engineering input on layout, wall thickness, stiffening and supports, so the design that goes to drawing is already close to the one that gets built.
Materials selection
The material grade and finish for your product, cleaning regime and environment. Specifying 316L where 304L would do wastes money; the reverse could cause quality issues.
Compliance and regulatory pathway
Which codes apply, what approvals you’ll need, and who signs what. Knowing this up front keeps a consent or a verifier from stalling the job later.
Cost estimates and budget planning
Budget pricing from a team that quotes fabrication every day, with the assumptions written down so you can see what moves the number.
Transport and installation planning
Load dimensions, lifting and crane plans, access, and traffic management worked out before fabrication starts.
Maintenance and service planning
Access for cleaning and inspection, and maintenance advice, so the asset is easy to look after for decades.
Problem solving on existing plant
Cracking, corrosion, poor drainage, CIP issues. We find the cause, then recommend a repair, a modification or a replacement.
We partner with industry leaders setting the benchmark, and innovators looking to shape something remarkable.
Before you lock the scope
As early as you can. Materials, buildability and transport limits cost almost nothing to change at concept stage. Once drawings are issued and material is on order, the same changes come back as variations.
No. However, when the same team carries the job through to fabrication and install, nothing gets lost in a handover, but the choice is yours.
It is. A rough idea and a description of what it has to do gives us enough to ask the right questions, and we’ll tell you what else we need as we go.
We scope it with you first and agree the fee before any work starts. Early advice on a job we go on to build is often absorbed into the project.
Yes. We prepare the design and drawings, and our engineering partners carry out the independent Chartered Professional Engineer review and issue the PS1 design producer statement your council will ask for.
Yes. A lot of our problem-solving is on equipment from other suppliers. We inspect it, find why it’s failing and tell you whether it’s worth fixing.
Always. Client confidentiality is standard on every engagement, and your ideas and drawings stay yours.
Need a team of problem-solving fabricators?