In 2025, construction leaders face an all-too-familiar challenge: material costs are spiking again. With new tariffs, global demand is higher than supply and material cost increases from tariffs present new challenges in estimating your work.
Critical materials like copper are getting more expensive. As a result, fabricators are facing a margin crunch. The stakes are even higher for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) contractors, who rely heavily on prefabrication workflows.
But there’s good news—contractors who invest in digital fabrication workflows and better material visibility are better equipped to maintain profitability and schedule certainty. Here’s how MSUITE helps.
Construction companies are using prefabrication more. This is because material costs are rising and especially true for important items like sheet metal and piping.
Prefabrication helps contractors work faster and manage their costs better. MSUITE offers solutions that streamline these processes, enabling contractors to adapt effectively to market challenges.
The Impact of Rising Material Costs on Fabrication Shops
The construction industry is once again feeling the squeeze from rising material prices. Tariffs, global demand, and limited local supply chains are raising the cost of important materials. This includes sheet metal, piping, steel, and HVAC parts.
The Associated General Contractors (AGC) say that prices for steel products and metal structures have gone up by more than 10% since last year. This information is from the first quarter of 2025 and not inclusive of tariffs.
Read more from AGC’s latest inflation alert
Materials for prefabrication are expensive. These include black iron pipe, copper-nickel alloys, galvanized sheet metal, and structural steel. They are also harder to find consistently. Supply disruptions and fluctuating delivery times continue to challenge procurement teams and shop managers alike.
Fabrication Shops Feel the Pressure
In fabrication environments where schedule precision and labor productivity drive profitability, rising material costs mean:
- Higher risk when prefabricating long-lead assemblies
- Reduced margins on bid day
- Increased urgency to minimize waste
- Tighter coordination required across BIM, fab, and field
In this climate, top MEP contractors are using technology and lean prefabrication methods. This helps them improve operations and protect their profit margins.
Prefabrication Best Practices That Matter More Than Ever
1. Digitize Your Spooling Process
Manual spool drawings slow down fabrication and increase risk. MSUITE BIM makes the process easier. It lets BIM and VDC teams create and release spool packages directly from Revit or AutoCAD.
This speeds up the drawing-to-fab process, cuts shop downtime, and ensures teams use the latest designs.
2. Track Material Usage and Waste by Spool
With the price of sheet metal and piping on the rise, every inch matters. MSUITE tracks progress and material use in real-time for each spool. This helps teams get the data they need to reduce waste and improve future planning.
With MSUITE FAB:
- Wasted cuts, incorrect measurements, and material overruns are flagged early
- Real-world data improves shop layout and lean practices
- Production history helps validate material use in change orders and billing
3. Standardize BOMs and Tie Them to Procurement
Material mistakes become more costly as prices rise. MSUITE connects BOMs to fabrication packages and procurement systems. This helps contractors order every component accurately and on time. This includes items like spiral duct and Victaulic fittings.
Benefits include:
- Real-time bill of materials (BOM) updates from the model
- Fewer errors in purchase orders and shipments
- Improved relationships with suppliers via consistent and timely requests
4. Use Real-Time Fab Tracking to Control Labor
When material prices go up, controlling labor becomes even more critical. MSUITE’s production tracking tools help fab managers see who is doing what. They show where bottlenecks are and if an assembly is on track or behind schedule.
5. Coordinate Delivery with Fabrication Progress
Late or early material deliveries add to costs—either by holding excess inventory or delaying installation crews. MSUITE helps fab and field teams update completion status easily. It ensures that large ductwork sections or pipe racks arrive right on time.
This supports modular building strategies and kit-of-parts thinking. McKinsey & Company says these are important for improving construction productivity.
Case Study: Jackson & Blanc’s Expansion with MSUITE
Jackson & Blanc, a Southern California-based mechanical fabricator, faced challenges in managing their fabrication operations amid growing project demands. They started in a small 500-square-foot shop. Now, they have an 8,000-square-foot facility to manage more work.
Challenges:
- Manual Processes: Relied heavily on emails and spreadsheets for tracking fabrication tasks, leading to inefficiencies.
- Communication Gaps: Difficulty in coordinating between field staff and the fabrication shop.
Solution:
By implementing MSUITE’s suite of tools, Jackson & Blanc achieved:
- Streamlined Operations: Automated tracking of fabrication processes, reducing reliance on manual methods.
- Enhanced Collaboration: Improved communication between teams, ensuring timely updates and coordination.
- Competitive Edge: Helped the company compete with bigger contractors by providing high-quality products on time and within budget.
Brian Underwood, the Fab Shop foreman at Jackson & Blanc’s fabrication shop, said, “MSUITE gives us an edge. It helps us deliver high-quality products on time and within budget.”
For more details on Jackson & Blanc’s experience with MSUITE, click here.
Why Prefabrication Leaders Are Adopting MSUITE Now
In a volatile materials market, modernizing your fab workflows isn’t a luxury—it’s essential. As the costs of sheet metal, piping, and other shop materials climb, MSUITE helps construction firms stay:
- More accurate in takeoffs and BOMs
- More productive in the shop
- More coordinated between VDC, fab, and field
- More profitable, even when costs rise
Final Thoughts
Material volatility is now common. Contractors who use prefabrication best practices and modern tools like MSUITE are gaining a competitive edge.
MSUITE helps you create ductwork, piping systems, or multi-trade racks. It allows you to build precise assemblies faster. You will waste less and have better control over your rising material costs.
