Linarc launches fabrication project tool with linked billing

Linarc has launched a project management offering for specialty fabricators that links estimating and invoicing. The product targets fabrication businesses that manufacture in the shop, then deliver to sites or carry out installation work.

The offering is aimed at metal fabricators, structural steel contractors, mechanical shops, cabinetry manufacturers and other specialist businesses that manage both production and project delivery. It sits within Linarc's broader construction management platform and adds workflows tailored to fabrication shops.

The system is designed to reduce the manual re-entry of data that often occurs as shops move from estimating to purchasing, scheduling, production tracking and billing. Estimates can be imported from a standard Excel sheet, with details then carried through to work orders, purchase orders, schedules and invoices.

This is particularly relevant for shops that still use spreadsheets for estimating while relying on separate manual steps for procurement, scheduling and production records. When project information is spread across different systems, businesses can struggle to track changing costs and understand the effect on margins before a job is complete.

Shop workflow

The fabrication offering covers five areas: estimating and project setup; purchasing and cost tracking; scheduling and shop hours; invoicing and project coordination; and project, cash and estimate reporting.

In estimating and project setup, shops can import products, labour, materials, suppliers, subcontractor costs and overhead from an existing estimate sheet. The system also tracks whether opportunities are won, lost, revised or reopened. Once an estimate is marked as won, the software creates a project and work order and links the contract.

For purchasing, the platform creates purchase orders from estimated material and subcontract lines. Users can send those orders to vendors, upload receipts when deliveries arrive and close completed orders. As work progresses, estimated material and overhead costs are replaced with actual figures, while labour costs are tracked alongside them.

Scheduling tools build plans from the estimate and provide what Linarc describes as a single active schedule view across projects. Shop Floor Managers can log crew hours against scheduled work and commit each day's entries, while employee rate changes can be applied from a set effective date.

For invoicing, the system generates bills from quantities manufactured and supports a shop's own invoice design, along with dispatch records and packing slips. A shared job status list is designed to give Project Managers and Shop Floor Managers a common set of action items across projects.

Margin visibility

The reporting component focuses on cost and payment performance. According to Linarc, users can compare planned and actual cost and margin by customer and subdivision, track outstanding payments, monitor billed versus paid amounts and review how quickly customers pay. Estimate reporting also tracks pipeline, win rate, awards by deal size and broader trends.

The launch reflects a broader push by software suppliers to tailor construction technology to narrower operating segments rather than offer a single system for all contractor types. Fabrication businesses often have a different mix of shop production, purchasing, labour allocation and site delivery from general contractors, creating demand for more specific workflows.

Linarc described the release as the first in a series of segment-focused launches. Based in Los Angeles, with offices in Austin and Chennai, the company positions its wider platform as a connected system for scheduling, field updates, documents, cost tracking and reporting.

Shanthi Rajan, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Linarc, said the product was built around a recurring issue in fabrication shops: the same estimate data is repeatedly entered into different documents and systems.

"A fabrication shop already has most of what it needs in the estimate. The materials, the labor, the subcontractor, the overhead. Then someone re-enters those estimate details into a purchase order, a schedule and an invoice, and nobody looks at the margin until the job is done," said Shanthi Rajan, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Linarc.

"We built this fabrication offering so the estimate does the work once. You buy what you estimated, you schedule from it, you bill from it, and you can see where the margin is while the job is still running," Rajan said.