In this case study, we’re looking into the challenges that APS Group was facing before adopting EZIIL and how the software has helped them streamline their custom steel fabrication management, gain a tighter control over their profit and get a real time overview of their projects.
APS Group Business profile
APS Group is a Perth-based industrial fabrication specialist serving resources, energy, construction and related sectors across Australia.
Their multidisciplinary in-house team of engineers and welders handles custom steel fabrication projects ranging from access platforms and railings to heavy structural assemblies.
APS Group has built its reputation on quality and agility in delivering “design-to-delivery” solutions. The company runs 20+ active projects at any time, with job values roughly AUD $10K-$1M and durations from a couple of weeks to a couple of months.
Challenges before EZIIL
Before adopting EZIIL, APS Group was using Google Sheets for day-to-day production planning, while drawings and technical files were kept in an internal system. Progress and priorities were aligned through daily stand-ups, weekly and monthly meetings. Additionally, they conducted frequent in-person check-ins on the shop floor.
As the company grew and the number of concurrent projects increased, managing production projects in Google Sheets became increasingly challenging due to:
1) Manual, meeting-driven planning
Daily stand-ups depended on a shared Google Sheet that had to be updated manually. There was no automatic refresh or sync, so keeping the plan current and project status up to date took time and discipline.
2) Information split across tools
Planning lived in Google Sheets, while drawings and job data sat in a separate internal system. With status distributed between files and conversations, there was no single source of truth to see what was happening across all jobs in real time.
3) Limited real-time visibility on the floor
When priorities shifted, managers still needed to go to the workshop to explain tasks and gather updates. Physical presence remained the reliable way to confirm status, which slowed decisions on busy days.
4) Difficulties in coordinating many parallel jobs
With more than 20 projects moving at once (some small, some medium, a few large) prioritization and coordination were difficult to keep in one view. The team lacked an easy way to scan workload and spot risks early.
5) Limited basis for accurate back-costing
Because labor time by process wasn’t consolidated in one system, back-costing (and learning for future quotes) was harder than it needed to be. The team wanted clearer, job-level time data to understand profit/loss sooner.
Collectively, these challenges were hindering APS Group’s efficiency, resulting in indescrepencies in project planning and delays. It was clear to the team that they had outgrown the capabilities of spreadsheets and needed a solution to that could handle a dynamic, multi-project environment, eliminate the spreadsheet chaos and help them get real-time overview of where each job truly stood and what had to happen next.
Why did APS Group choose EZIIL
APS Group was looking for a single, user-friendly system where planners could see a master view of all projects, capture time per job on the shop floor, and compare plan vs. reality without waiting for the next stand-up meeting.
EZIIL is an excellent program for custom steel fabrication management and project planning. We can sum up the jobs and get a real time overview in the Master View and planning the projects is so easy. It has given us a much better control of the jobs, workshop and significantly improved how we run our business overall. – Syed Raza Hashimi, Planner, Control Manager and QA/QC at APS Group
It was important to them that the solution would be a purpose-built software for steel fabrication management and ticked the following boxes:
- One place to see all jobs (Master View): They wanted a simple, consolidated overview of every active project.
- Practical job planning and production routing: Beyond a list of projects, the team needed to structure work into steps and sequences.
- Time capture on the shop floor: Understanding labor hours by process was essential for steering projects and learning for future quotes.
- Drawings and instructions at the workstation: Workers needed immediate access to the correct and most up to date drawings.
- Plan vs Reality as a daily habit: APS wanted to compare what they planned to what’s really happening, without having to rebuild a report every meeting.
- Simple usability and a manageable learning curve
- A rollout that matched with their workflow
After evaluating the vendors on the market, APS Group chose to go with EZIIL Starter, a budget-friendly project-based production management software designed for steel fabricators transitioning from Excel, pen-and-paper and other disconnected tools. EZIIL stood out as the perfect fit for APS Group’s needs, offering an intuitive platform to plan, schedule, and track fabrication projects in real time.
EZIIL helps APS Group run their steel fabrication projects seamlessly from one place
APS rolled out EZIIL incrementally, starting from one job. Today, they have woven EZIIL into their day-to-day production without a big-bang change.
I really like EZIIL’s interface, it’s so user-friendly! Especially compared to the other programs. It only took us a few weeks to roll out EZIIL internally, as the learning curve was minimal. – Syed Raza Hashimi, Planner, Control Manager and QA/QC at APS Group
Planners start in the Master View, where they can sum up the jobs in one place and scan status instead of chasing multiple spreadsheets. Work is structured with production routing and job planning, so steps and sequences are clear before a job hits the floor.
EZIIL’s production routing and project planning features have been transformational for us. Having clear steps, sequences and structure in place before a job hits the floor, has helped a lot with prioritizing and makes briefs easy follow. – Syed Raza Hashimi, Planner, Control Manager and QA/QC at APS Group
On the shop side, teams clock in and out per job on tablets, capturing labor hours by process in real time. The tablets also give workers immediate access to the right drawings at the workstation, cutting down on back-and-forth for paperwork.
With all their project data flowing seamlessly, planners can review accurate plan vs. reality reports to steer active jobs and refine future estimates.
Now we can see exactly what the workers are doing in the workshop and how many hours they are spending on each process. This has given us a tighter control of active jobs, better-informed estimating and concrete profit/loss insights per job to correct assumptions and price future work more accurately. – Syed Raza Hashimi, Planner, Control Manager and QA/QC at APS Group
And most importantly, EZIIL runs smoothly alongside their existing routines, and has enabled APS Group to:
✅ Plan, schedule and manage projects seamlessly end-to-end: Production routing allows for efficient assignment of tasks to workers, ensuring that the right re sources are allocated to the right jobs at the right time.
✅ See true effort by process: Time capture exposes where hours really go (cutting, welding, etc.), enabling accurate job costing (profit/loss per job) and sharper estimating. Enhanced visibility into time spent on each process helps identify inefficiencies and areas for improvement, leading to better project planning.
✅ Monitor projects in real time from a single operational view: Master View + routing reduces status hunting across files and conversations. Project planning features provide a comprehensive overview of project timelines, milestones, and deliverables, facilitating better organization and management of tasks.
✅ Tighten quotes over time: Plan-vs-reality makes it easier to correct assumptions in the next estimate instead of repeating the same guess.
✅ Manage the shop floor seamlessly from anywhere: Tablets keep the upcoming tasks and latest instructions at the workstation, reducing interruptions.
✅ Give workers real-time access to the most up-to-date drawings and project documentation: Planners simply drag and drop any files (blueprints, drawings, docs, etc.) related to the project directly into EZIIL. Each team member has access to the information they need.
✅ Roll out the new tool and workflow incrementally at their own pace: EZIIL Starter’s modular rollout is designed to be easily manageable for small custom steel fabricators (teams of 10-50 people). EZIIL Starter focuses on immediate ROI by giving teams clarity and real-time overview of their custom steel fabrication projects, without risking a full-blown ERP meltdown. No massive upfront commitment and no unmanageable changeover.
APS Group’s adoption of EZIIL Starter’s project-based steel fabrication software has been a game-changer for the company. By addressing the core challenges of planning, visibility, scheduling, and resource allocation, EZIIL enabled APS to transform its operations from guesswork to data-driven clarity. The phased, modular implementation meant the team was never overwhelmed. They embraced the new system in steps and quickly started seeing results. Today, APS Group runs its many simultaneous steel fabrication projects with a level of confidence and control that simply wasn’t possible before. They deliver projects on time with less stress, optimize their resources efficiently, and maintain a real-time pulse on the shop floor at all times.
