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Business & Labor
Structural Steel Industry Addresses 13% Nationwide Growth
in Demand
Industry members are taking a proactive approach to providing flexible solutions for material acquisition.
(intermountain.construction.com,
September 2006 issue)
Recognizing increased demand for structural
steel on construction projects throughout the United States,
members of the structural steel industry are taking action
to ensure that steel continues to be readily available for
every type of project.
Every level of the structural steel
supply chain - producers, service centers, fabricators and
erectors - has been working with architects, engineers, general
contractors and developers to supply steel in a timely manner.
Efforts to continue prompt supply of product and services
have included:
- Early Involvement - Architects,
engineers, contractors and developers are finding that a
true key to ensuring that their projects run smoothly and
their structural steel satisfies the project schedule is
the early involvement of fabricators in the design and planning
process.
Early involvement also provides significant
cost and schedule benefits by utilizing the expertise of
the fabricator early in the project's life, when the greatest
opportunity for capturing value exists. More structural
steel industry members are now working with customers under
the early involvement approach than ever before.
- Flexible Solutions - Industry
members are also taking a proactive approach to providing
flexible solutions for material acquisition through the
involvement of steel service centers. Service centers currently
stock nearly one million tons of structural products and
have become a highly effective resource in assisting in
the selection of commonly available structural sections
during the design process.
As with the early involvement of
fabricators, the work of service centers has been instrumental
in helping designers and builders complete projects in a
timely, cost-effective way.
- Steel Solutions Center
- Offered as a no-charge service through the American Institute
of Steel Construction, the Steel Solutions Center has aided
hundreds of projects in providing conceptual solutions and
technical expertise.
In addition, the Steel Solutions Center
can assist in the identification of particular section shapes
available from area service centers and producing mills.
Fielding more than 200 inquiries a week,
the Steel Solutions Center serves as the top technical and
steel availability resource for steel fabricators, structural
engineers, architects, owners, developers and other professionals.
"More and more, designers and builders
are recognizing the value that structural steel brings to
their projects, which has served to drive demand higher,"
said Roger E. Ferch, president of the American Institute of
Steel Construction Inc., which is headquartered in Chicago.
"Industry members have been producing, distributing,
fabricating and erecting steel at high levels over the past
12 months."
The American Institute of Steel
Construction is a not-for-profit technical institute and trade
association established in 1921 to serve the structural steel
design community and construction industry.
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