Turning complexity into the metal fabrication CEO's competitive edge

Leading metal fabrication through complexity: Why digital transformation is non-negotiable

Running a metal fabrication business right now means holding several conflicting truths at once. Customers want custom work, but it’s harder to keep custom work profitable than volume production. Steel and aluminium prices won't stabilise long enough to plan around. Every quarter, the gap between what your systems can tell you and what you need to know to make a good call seems to get wider. The question most leaders are wrestling with isn't whether to modernise anymore. It's how to do it without putting the business at risk in the process.

Why this feels harder than it used to be

Energy and input costs swing in ways that shake investment confidence even when the underlying business is healthy. Trade and tariff uncertainty complicates capacity planning, while the industry hasn't agreed on how to absorb the rising costs. A recent Gartner report found that 45% of supply chain leaders plan to pass the tariff-driven costs straight to customers, while 43% are trying to absorb the hit through operational changes instead. That near-even split tells you: there's no consensus playbook here, and most leaders are making this call with less certainty than they'd like.

Beyond that, fragmented systems and data silos mean decisions are made even later than they should because the information arrives too late to matter. Margins erode quietly because nobody saw the cost or project risk early enough to act on it. That's the real cost of standing still: not a single dramatic failure but a slow accumulation of decisions made a little too late repeatedly.

The value void is measurable, and it's widening

The gap between the technology manufacturers have bought and the value they actually realise has a name: the value void. In a global study done by Infor™—one of the largest of its kind—we surveyed 3,600 respondents across 15 countries, including 500 industrial manufacturers and found a 42% performance gap between the most and least productive organisations. More than three-quarters of participating organisations expect a 20% boost in efficiency over the next three years, and 80% agree that success will depend on adopting new technology. The leading organisations aren't the ones who bought the most technology. They're the ones who closed the gap between investment and outcome.

Key statistic: A 42% productivity gap separates the most and least productive industrial manufacturers.

Why most transformation attempts fall short

Many transformation programmes promise agility but deliver disruption instead. Generic enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms need heavy customisations to support engineer-to-order and make-to-order work, dimensional inventory and project-based costing. Most fabricators need all three running simultaneously. Every customisation adds cost and creates technical debt that must be addressed eventually. A transformation that threatens operational stability or takes years to pay back is a legitimate reason for a company board to say no to.

A different approach

Infor CloudSuite™ Industrial Enterprise is built specifically for industrial manufacturers, with metal fabrication's particular needs already built into the platform, including dimensional inventory and traceability, material price surcharge management, configure-to-order with 3D visualisation and project cost tracking. Infor CloudSuite cuts down the customisations that usually drag these projects out and lowers the risk of the whole thing going sideways.

Built on an open, multi-tenant cloud platform running on Amazon Web Service® (AWS®), Infor CloudSuite connects ERP, product lifecycle management (PLM), manufacturing execution system (MES) and configure, price, quote (CPQ) into one operational backbone. With Infor CloudSuite, an engineering change reaches the shop floor instantly and a configured order moves into production without someone re-entering it by hand.

Where AI comes in

 

Most chief executive officers (CEOs) are not looking for artificial intelligence (AI) for its own sake. They are looking for better ways to grow, protect margins, improve productivity and make faster decisions in a business that keeps getting more complex.

For metal fabricators, the real value of AI comes when it is grounded in connected and trusted operational data. That means helping leaders see risks earlier—whether it is a material shortage, a project running over budget, a quality issue starting to repeat, or a supplier delay that could put delivery commitments at risk. Instead of asking teams to monitor across disconnected systems, AI can help surface the right signals sooner, so leaders can act before small issues become expensive problems.

This is where Infor Velocity Suite comes in. It gives manufacturers a practical path to AI adoption with a discover, build, measure and expand approach—starting with process visibility before moving to targeted automation where the business case is clear. For CEOs, the opportunity is not just higher efficiency. It is a more resilient operating model where people have better information, decision-making happens faster and the business can scale without adding unnecessary complexity.

Gartner forecasts that, by 2027, 62% of ERP application spending will go towards solutions with embedded AI, up from 14% in 2024. For metal fabrication leaders, the question is not whether AI will become part of the operating model. It is whether the business has the digital foundation needed to use AI responsibly and measurably at scale.

Proof that this works, not just a theory

Manufacturers are already showing what happens when connected operations, industry-specific capabilities and modern cloud technology come together.

Oberg Industries, a global contract manufacturer of precision stamped and machined metal parts, moved to Infor CloudSuite Industrial Enterprise to unify planning across its production facilities. With standardised processes and advanced planning, Oberg now delivers around 90% of orders on time, placing it in the top quartile among fabricators, compared with the industry average of 84% on-time delivery, according to the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association’s (FMA) benchmark.

 

Ellwood Group, a manufacturer of high-quality engineered heavy metal components, uses Infor to manage multiple locations with better visibility and consistency and to integrate acquisitions as it extends its reach—a live example of holding margin steady despite the steel-price and tariff volatility that fabricators face today.

 

Combilift, one of the world's largest manufacturers of multi-directional forklifts, achieved a 30% increase in revenue per transaction and gained 75% faster parts identification using Infor's AI-powered recommendations on AWS, with time to value under 60 days.

 

Independent analysis reinforces these results: a Forrester Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study, commissioned by Infor, found a 114% return on investment (ROI) within 20 months, a $10.52 million US net present value, and a 70% reduction in revenue leakage for a manufacturing and distribution composite organisation. Infor is also a Leader for the fifth consecutive year in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Product-Centric Enterprises report.

Where this leaves leadership

Metal fabrication isn't going to get simpler, but the outlook is far from bleak. The Fabricator forecasts 5.5% growth in fabricated-metal production in 2026, up from 2.19% in 2025, driven largely by data centre constructions. Customers will keep asking for more customisations, materials will keep moving and the talent pool will keep tightening. For manufacturers with an industry-specific foundation and AI built on trusted data, these challenges become opportunities to improve productivity, make faster decisions and outperform competitors that still rely on spreadsheets and disconnected systems.

Get more with Infor and disrupt your industry—not your operations.

Turn complexity into your competitive edge.

When connected operations, industry-specific capabilities and AI work together, manufacturers gain the agility to adapt, grow and outperform competitors.

Don't let disconnected systems hold back growth.

With industry-specific capabilities, real-time visibility and AI-powered innovation, Infor helps metal fabricators transform complexity into measurable business results. Explore Infor Metal Fabrication ERP software and start unlocking more value from your operations today.