Coordinating with an off-site fabricator
The wall-panel fabricator needs dimensions before cutting. The field survey is waiting for the edge forms to be stripped, while the supplier has already reserved a production slot. The schedule shows panel delivery, but none of those decisions appears as a separate task.
Coordinate an off-site fabricator by working backward from installation to the information, approval and release decisions needed before production. Give each decision an owner and a required date, then agree how changes will be handled after release. Tracking only the delivery date hides the period when a wrong dimension or an unresolved detail can still be corrected without remaking the component. Your coordination record should distinguish a forecast from a confirmed release.
Connect production to the work front
- Define the installation sequence with the site lead. Identify which pieces arrive first, where they will be lifted or moved and how they will be identified. Check whether the building can receive that sequence.
- List the information needed to fabricate. Ask for the dimensions, interfaces, shop drawings and design answers the fabricator needs. Name which measurements come from the field and which require the designer’s decision.
- Assign the verification work. Record who takes measurements, who checks them and how the fabricator receives the result. State the drawing revision and reference points so measurements cannot be confused with an earlier survey.
- Agree a release checkpoint. Confirm who can authorize production under the project’s procedure. Do not treat an informal conversation or an unreviewed drawing as permission to proceed.
- Track the production slot separately. Ask what must arrive by the slot’s decision date and what happens if it is missed. Record the supplier’s answer as a project-specific commitment, not an assumed industry lead time.
- Recheck transport and receipt. Match the packing list to the installation order, confirm the receiving area and keep the component identification visible. Send discrepancies to the fabricator before distributing the pieces.
Common mistakes
- Measuring from a temporary reference without telling the fabricator.
- Calling a shop drawing approved when unresolved comments still affect fabrication.
- Shipping every component together because the factory has finished, although the site cannot store or install it.
Action list
Add these to the fabrication register
- Installation order and receiving location.
- Required information with owners and dates.
- Verified measurement references and revisions.
- Named production-release authority.
- Production-slot commitment and change procedure.
- Packing identification that matches installation.
Check your understanding
The supplier can meet the delivery date only if it starts cutting before a dimension is confirmed. What should you do?
