Project-Ready Fabrication Coordination in Ontario
Project-ready fabrication coordination at WeFab in Leamington, Ontario, puts drawings, engineering, production, trucking, and field crews under one team for general contractors and owners.
Successful projects begin with a clear plan. Our project ready coordination process aligns fabrication, scheduling, logistics, and installation requirements before production starts, helping reduce delays and improve communication throughout the project.
Working closely with customers, engineers, contractors, and project teams, we coordinate drawings, material requirements, production sequencing, and delivery schedules to ensure every stage is prepared before fabrication begins.
What Project-Ready Coordination Means
Project-ready coordination means WeFab aligns fabrication, scheduling, logistics, and installation before production starts. One vendor holds the shop drawings, material, production sequence, delivery, and erection crews against a single schedule, so the general contractor manages one steel contact instead of four.
On a typical steel package, drafting, fabrication, trucking, and erection sit with separate companies, and every handoff is a place for a revision to get lost. At WeFab, those stages sit inside South Essex Fabricating Inc. (SEF), fabricating in Leamington since 1994. Project-management credentials are held on staff.
Erection sequence: The order in which steel members are lifted and connected on site. Fabricating and shipping in that order puts the crane’s next lift on the next truck, not buried in a pile.
Delegated design: An arrangement where the engineer of record assigns the design of specific components, typically connections, to the fabricator’s engineer, so connection design runs alongside shop drawings.
Coordination Resources
WeFab coordinates projects with a four-person in-house design and drafting team, sealed drawings through a retained licensed structural engineer, a 208,000 sq ft shop with a 70,000 sq ft staging yard, four owned tractors, and up to five concurrent SEF field crews.
| Coordination stage | WeFab resource |
|---|---|
| Design and drafting | 4 designers/drafters, 30+ combined years; SolidWorks, AutoCAD, Revit, SketchUp, Tekla, MBS |
| Revision control | SolidWorks PDM |
| Sealed drawings | Through retained licensed structural engineer, typically 2 weeks |
| Engineering delivery models | Design-build and delegated design |
| Model handover | Autodesk Construction Cloud or Forma Build |
| Fabrication | 208,000 sq ft under roof, CWB W47.1 Division 2 (DENDE1, held by parent company SEF) |
| Staging and load-out | 70,000 sq ft yard, 88,000 lb overhead bridge crane, 2 JCBs |
| Trucking | 4 owned tractors, flatbed and step-deck trailers, stake truck; no freight brokers |
| Field erection | SEF crews, up to 5 concurrent, roughly 500 km from Leamington |
Our Workflow, Step by Step
The WeFab workflow runs in six stages: scope intake, engineering, shop drawings, sequence planning, production, and sequenced delivery with installation. Each stage is planned against the site’s erection sequence before steel is cut.
Step 1: Scope intake
Send drawings, a 3D model, or an early scope for drafting-team review of connection access and shipping sizes.
Step 2: Engineering path
Projects with an engineer of record send stamped drawings and WeFab fabricates to that design under CSA S16. Design-build and delegated-design projects receive sealed drawings provided through WeFab’s retained licensed structural engineer, typically within two weeks. See Structural Engineering.
Step 3: Shop drawings and revision control
Shop drawings are produced in Tekla, SolidWorks, or the platform the job requires, and every revision is tracked in SolidWorks PDM so the shop builds from the current issue. See Design and Drafting.
Step 4: Sequence planning
Members are grouped into shipments that match the install order, so each load carries the next stage of erection.
Step 5: Production and marking
Cutting, forming, welding, and QC run on one site. Members are dot-peen marked (on a recent warehouse project, every beam was marked for faster field layout), and HoloLens 2 model checks are available on demand. See Structural Fabrication.
Step 6: Sequenced delivery and installation
The 88,000 lb crane loads shipments onto WeFab’s owned trucks in erection order, with Ontario oversize-load permits handled in-house. SEF field crews erect the steel. See Logistics and Field Installation.
What You Provide vs What We Handle
Project teams provide the design intent, site schedule, and site access details. WeFab handles shop drawings, sealed drawings when design-build or delegated design is requested, fabrication, trucking, Ontario oversize permits, and erection crews.
| You provide | WeFab handles |
|---|---|
| Contract drawings, model, or early scope | Shop drawings and revision control |
| Engineer-of-record design, or a request for design-build | Sealed drawings through the retained licensed structural engineer |
| Site schedule and erection priorities | Shipment grouping by erection sequence |
| Site access and lay-down details | Owned-fleet delivery and Ontario oversize permits |
| Model platform preference | Handover through Autodesk Construction Cloud or Forma Build |
Galvanizing, powder coating, and NDT (UT, RT, PT, MT) are subcontracted. US deliveries go through a customs broker, and US projects run as site management with local installation crews.
How Project-Ready Fabrication Coordination Reduces Your Field Time
Project-ready fabrication coordination reduces field time by removing handoffs. Steel arrives marked and grouped in erection order, on trucks WeFab schedules directly, for crews from the same organization that built it, so the site spends less time sorting, waiting, and chasing revisions.
- No laydown sorting: shipments are grouped by erection sequence, so crews lift what arrives instead of searching a staging area.
- Faster layout: dot-peen marks tie each member to its drawing.
- One revision chain: SolidWorks PDM keeps the shop, the drawings, and the field on the same issue.
- No broker in the delivery chain: owned tractors put load timing inside WeFab’s control.
Service Area: Ontario First, US Projects by Arrangement
WeFab coordinates steel packages across Ontario. Our core service area is Windsor-Essex, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Hamilton, and the Greater Toronto Area, direct from our Leamington shop, with field crews working within roughly 500 km of the shop. US work is handled by arrangement.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does project-ready coordination include at WeFab?
It covers shop drawings, engineering through a retained licensed structural engineer when needed, fabrication, erection-sequence shipment grouping, delivery on WeFab’s owned fleet, and installation by SEF field crews. The general contractor works with one steel vendor from drawing review to erection.
Can WeFab provide sealed drawings for my project?
Yes. WeFab offers design-build and delegated-design packages, with sealed drawings provided through its retained licensed structural engineer, typically within two weeks. Projects with their own engineer of record can send stamped drawings, and WeFab fabricates to that design under CSA S16.
Does WeFab use freight brokers for delivery?
No. WeFab ships on its own fleet of four tractors with flatbed and step-deck trailers plus a stake truck, and handles Ontario oversize-load permits in-house. US deliveries are arranged through a customs broker rather than a scheduled cross-border lane.
How many projects can WeFab install at the same time?
WeFab draws on South Essex Fabricating field crews, with up to five crews working concurrently. Default installation coverage is roughly 500 km from Leamington, Ontario. WeFab does not run US installation crews; US projects are handled as site management with local installers.
Request a Project-Ready Coordination Quote
Send your drawings, model, or early scope to the WeFab estimating team for a project-ready fabrication coordination quote covering drafting, fabrication, delivery, and installation.
Call 548-919-0125 or email sales@wefab.ca to start a project.
Related capabilities: Design and drafting · Structural engineering · Logistics · Field installation · Structural fabrication
