Overview
Gallo Mechanical, the Gulf Coast’s leading mechanical and plumbing contractor, has been helping customers for more than 70 years. The firm specializes in HVAC maintenance, plumbing repairs, fabrication, design, 3D BIM modeling, installations, and more. Gallo brings a unique service-first culture playing a crucial role in its evolution. But what makes them leaders in the marketplace is the commitment to innovation and continuous improvement.
Gallo Mechanical saw a real opportunity to eliminate paper and automate its fabrication shop with advanced technology. After a competitive bid, Gallo selected MSUITE for its integration capabilities to TigerStop and its features for tracking time and production of the fab shop.
The MSUITE-to-TigerStop integration means Gallo’s staff no longer must create and manage CSV files, use paper, eliminating multiple manual steps to maximize efficiencies of the cutting process, reducing wasted materials scrap and time.
“From the start, the integration between MSUITE and TigerStop saved our firm $4000.”
Ray McDonald
General Manager and Fabrication Coordinator
Gallo Mechanical
The integration between MSUITE to TigerStop helps Gallo Mechanical save money, increase productivity and efficiency, and reduce risks in the shop,” said Mr. McDonald.
Integration Benefits
An efficient flow of information transforms metal fabrication.
For Gallo Mechanical, paper ruled the day before implementing MSUITE and TigerStop. Gallo employees would transfer paperwork orders to the programmer, attach physical nest reports, set up the fab book, and carry it to the shop floor. All-day. Upon finishing a job, the machine operator completed a job report to update inventory. Suppose any stakeholder (supervisor, customer, executives, etc.) wanted to know where a job is in production. In that case, staff needed to walk to the floor, talk with operators, and continue hunting until they find the work.
Business Challenges
— Manual processes (fab shop, interdepartmentally)
— Substantial paper and material waste
— Administrative time using paper timecards
— Fab shop staff technology adoption
Automate Processes and Eliminate Waste
After implementing MSUITE’s BIM, and FAB’s integration to TigerStop, Gallo’s Design team automatically uploads their designs and manufacturing data to FAB for nesting. FAB creates the nesting layout built on the sheet inventory as directed but analyzes several available sheet sizes and selects the sheet that provides optimal material utilization. FAB nests material by company, job, package, drawing level, and sequence to cut materials in the most effective manner virtually eliminating waste.
Scheduling jobs in MSUITE offers superior production workflows. If an urgent request comes in at the last minute for the fabrication shop, slipping priority jobs into the schedule is much easier for Gallo Mechanical. Notifications are automatically sent to operators to keep them in sync with workload changes.
I was printing and delivering books the entire day and built-up a massive library. The MSUITE to TigerStop integration helps me focus on more important priorities.
Byron Sharp
Fab Shop Foreman
Gallo Mechanical
Fab Shop Staff Tech Adoption
A major concern of Mr. McDonald’s was the fabrication shop team’s willingness to use technology at stations—a common fear among fabricators.
Gallo is a special company because of the family atmosphere and long-time committed employees who work there. Gallo Mechanical employees are familiar with tackling complex problems, but the fabrication staff never used any software before.
I was deeply concerned how our team was going to react to implementing the monitors and tablets at each workstation, but it was for not. MSUITE and TigerStop were straightforward to train on and use. I would be hard-pressed from the team to ever pull them out.
Mr. McDonald
Gallo Mechanical
Ease of Implementation
Mr. McDonald and the team mapped out every manual step in the fabrication shop to be configured in MSUITE. Spreadsheets and paper were eliminated and replaced with automated production management software and monitors set at each station.
“We worked closely with MSUITE’s exceptional client success team to eliminate unnecessary steps, and how to set up an organized process for optimizing our workflows and tracking employee time,” said Mr. McDonald. “TigerStop took two days to turn on, and we started seeing results, as well.”
Gallo’s shop-controlled environment enables them to maintain high quality and constant productivity levels regardless of project site conditions. MSUITE automates real-time production and material logistics from the shop floor to take their fabrication capabilities to a new level.
Advanced Tech for MEP Contractors
Gallo is at the forefront of using MEP manufacturing technology to gain strategic advantages. The MSUITE – TigerStop integration connects model data to shop floor cut stations to automate the cut list creation and optimization/nesting processes.
No longer do staff have to create and manage CSV files. With this integration, MSUITE and TigerStop helps them eliminate multiple tedious steps and maximize efficiencies of the cutting process, reducing wasted materials scrap and time.
“Not only is our MSUITE-to-TigerStop helping us save on scrap, but it has also saved us an incredible amount of money on raw material purchases. We are saving 10% on every single job. The integration between BIM to FAB to TigerStop helps Gallo Mechanical save money, increase productivity and efficiency, and reduce risks in the shop,” said Mr. McDonald.
The Solutions
BIM for Design
Automation 10x faster than the competition
BIM is a design automation solution that helps Gallo Mechanical increase design quality, eliminate the bore of dimensioning and tagging, and improves productivity by automating spooling and sheet creation 10x faster than traditional methods.
FAB for the Shop
Enhanced Material Tracking, Coordination
Fab automates real-time production and material tracking for Gallo’s fabrication shop. The productivity software increases visibility, productivity, and accuracy in the facility to manage production and materials logistics. “Fab helps us automate production tracking, mitigate schedule risks by predicting whether due dates are realistic the moment our work is loaded and if materials are available,” said Mr. McDonald.
TigerStop
Push, pull, and position material to perfection
The TigerStop machine accurately positions and cuts various materials, including copper, PVC, Aquatherm and Uponor pipe, and other plastics for Gallo Mechanical’s prefabrication division.
The Competitive Advantage
With the BIM-to-Fab-to-TigerStop integration, the automation and workflows replaced several manual steps and take ¼ of the time.
Ray McDonald, General Manager and Fabrication Coordinator, Gallo Mechanical
