Estimate the Job as Operations
A workflow quote is a row of operation cards: cut, bend, drill, weld, grind, finish, assemble, inspect, install. Each card knows what your shop counts for that step, such as bends, holes, metres of weld or minutes, and charges its department's rate and its machine's hourly cost.
Sub-assemblies have their own cards and feed the main assembly, so a gate with two leaves and a frame is estimated as the parts it really has.
Material Priced the Way You Buy It
Steel, aluminum and stainless are priced on the basis your supplier uses: by the pound or kilogram, the foot or metre, the square foot, the sheet or each. The standard library has more than 3,000 sizes of metal, plastic and wood with published weights, so Customakr can convert between them, and every material carries a waste allowance for offcuts and drops.
The Costs Small Shops Forget
Consumables per part, tool wear, outside work such as galvanizing or powder coating, setup charged once per job, cleanup, packing, delivery and installation on site all have a place on the estimate. Weld inspection can be added on structural work at the fee your inspector charges you.
After the Customer Says Yes
The approved quote becomes a work order. Your crew starts and stops a clock on each operation and is warned before the quoted hours run out, and on Pro, job history compares what you quoted with what the work really took. Long jobs can be billed in stages by milestones or percent complete.