Your best customers came through a GC who moved on or an engineer who changed jobs. Steel work still runs on who knows you. We build the part that does not depend on it.
One GC or one OEM fills most of the schedule. When their project slips or their buyer leaves, the floor goes quiet and nobody else knows your name.
An RFQ arrives as a photo of a sketch: no material, no gauge, no finish, no quantity. Your estimator spends an hour finding out whether it is worth quoting.
An engineer uploads a STEP file to Xometry and gets a price on the spot. Your shop answers by email days later, and the part goes to the marketplace.
Steel and aluminum moved since you priced the job. A quote with no expiry date turns into a loss the day the buyer finally says yes.
The same bid invite at Quenby Steel Works, a sample fab shop, run twice: first a PDF under a pile of invites, then a job that takes the set, gets the steel answered and follows up the quote. The takeoff stays the estimator’s, in Bluebeam Revu.
Example job record for Quenby Steel Works, a sample fab shop: a bid invite from Brisco & Tamm, a general contractor, for steel storefront frames and a canopy, with a 96 hour bid clock. In a shared inbox, the first reply takes 3 days, the quote goes out 5 hours after the bid date, nobody follows up and no answer comes back. On the job record, the set comes in through the site form, a first reply goes out in 6 min and the bid passes straight to the estimator. Three questions on steel, finish and glazing come back with site photos. The estimator does the takeoff in Bluebeam Revu and attaches the marked PDF, 11 frames and the canopy, and sends a quote of $27,800 with 65 hours left. Two follow-ups go out and stop when the contractor awards the job. A hand-off note goes to the shop floor, production stays in Tekla PowerFab, and a review request follows the install.
Slab and steelBrisco & Tamm, site form
Embed platesBrisco & Tamm
Anchor bolts, left bayBrisco & Tamm
Frames, our last runNora, with the quote
First frame, fit-upShop floor
Not on a job
Quote to Brisco & Tamm ConstructionMill Street Lofts, retail
Total$27,800
Priced by NoraSent Tue 2:30pm
Awarded
Mill Street Lofts, retailBrisco & Tamm Construction, Bid due Fri 7:30am
A site that shows capabilities, materials and tolerances, with an RFQ form that takes drawings.
Capability and material pages that come up when buyers search custom fabrication near me.
Answers on materials, tolerances and lead times that AI tools quote to a buyer.
An RFQ page that takes drawings, with a capabilities sheet to download.
Parts and projects you shipped, posted on LinkedIn where buyers look.
An AI agent checks each RFQ for material, quantity and due date before it reaches you.
A missed call from a buyer gets a text back and a call back from the shop.
RFQ reviews and shop visits book into the estimator’s calendar.
Every RFQ with its drawings on one dashboard, by due date.
After each order ships, buyers get asked for a review and who else buys parts.
Past buyers hear about new capabilities and open shop time.
PostHog shows which capability pages buyers read before they send an RFQ.
Session replay shows the buyer who tried to upload a drawing and gave up.
Each month you see RFQs in, quotes sent and orders won.
Every RFQ reaches one dashboard, and JobBOSS² stays.
What we buildRFQs arrive with the drawing, material and quantity, so the estimator stops chasing them.
Your estimator quotes the jobs worth quoting and skips the rest sooner.
More buyers beyond your one or two big customers can find you and send a drawing.
Your numbers Set them and both lines move.
Extra jobs a month that pay for the plan
$30,000 moreWith a system, plan paid
$0 moreNo system
2 extra jobs a month × $2,000 kept per job − $1,500 for the plan = $2,500 more a month. Count only work you would not have won anyway.
Free website
Plans from $1,500 a month.
You always keep your name, logo, photos, copy and domain. We keep the code and the system behind the site.
$1,500 a month
No lead lost.
Every lead answered and booked, and we keep it running.
$4,000 a month
Every stage handled.
Everything in Automated, and we run every stage for you.
No AI brain or agents of your own.
$7,500 a month
We run the whole cycle.
Everything in Automated, plus us working it and building on it.
Ad budgets and paid software stay on your accounts. Designed image and video posts start once you’re comfortable with AI drafts.
For glaziers and miscellaneous metals subs: GC prequalification, BuildingConnected, PlanHub, The Blue Book and what an estimator checks first.
Pick the markets your shop suits, show proof a buyer can check, and test Thomasnet with numbers. A plain plan for fabrication shop owners.
What engineers and purchasing buyers look for before they send an RFQ: materials, tolerances, drawing formats, certifications and lead times.
What AISC asks a fabricator to submit, how long it takes, and the 2026 fees from AISC's own schedule, plus the costs it does not publish.
How a glass shop shows up for repair, shower door and board-up searches, using Google's own Business Profile rules on hours, names and service areas.
An honest look at AI for fabricators and glass shops: quoting intake, steel takeoff and follow-up, what vendors claim and what is still unproven.
Most shops start with who they know: GCs, builders exchanges, OEM buyers nearby. Add a capabilities page and a quote form that takes drawings, so buyers who search for a fab shop can send work too.
For a shop with steady customers and tight quoting, often yes. The trouble is lumpy demand and costs that move: material, freight, labour. A pipeline beyond one or two big customers is what smooths it out.
From the drawings: material by weight or by sheet, cut and weld time, the finish such as galvanizing or powder coat, freight, and erection if you install. Say how long the price holds, because steel moves.
Leads GHOBZ. Scopes, builds, tests and hands off every site. ghobady.com (opens in a new tab)
“I started ghobz because good businesses kept losing work to websites that did not do them justice. I still look at every site before it ships.”
Thursday