Software helps building products manufacturer make the most of new laser cutting system

Situation

Finding and investing in the best laser cutting metals manufacturing machinery is often just the first step in reaping the rewards of a sound purchase in this rapidly expanding and competitive business.

The more important steps come afterward—making the purchase pay for itself by using the machine to expand business, ideally by freeing up the time of skilled staff to produce more work for it by producing quotes faster and better tailored to customer needs.

This was the situation Melbourne, Australia-based sheet metal building product manufacturer Jonda Pty Ltd. was in after buying a top-line laser cutting machine. The system helped the company cut material more quickly and accurately, but Jonda soon realized that was only part of the solution to expanding its custom flashing and rainwater products business.

“After purchasing a fiber laser machine, we quickly ran into the issue of not being able to get quotes back to our customers in a timely manner. The manual quoting process was just too time consuming, which slowed down productivity,” said Jake Nikolopoulos, manager.

Resolution

Jonda chose ToolBox online quotation software from ipCompute (which includes Tempus Tools and ipLaser) to replace its slow, manual data-input process. The software is designed to more than halve the time and manual input currently required by laser cutting companies to prepare and deliver precise estimates to customers.

With the software, job shops can save time and keep quotes accurate and consistent, no matter who is preparing them, the manufacturer states.

“Getting the fastest and best machine is only half the equation,” said ipCompute's CEO/co-founder Ivan Cooper. “If you just buy the best machine and stop there, you have only improved half the business. If you let the old manual quotation output method continue to plod along at the same slow pace, you are doing only half the job of growing the business, or less.”

Nikolopoulos agrees. “We’re now able to get a personalized and professional-looking quote to our customers within minutes, not days,” he said. “Having our material database and secondary processes like folding, welding, powder coating, electroplating and more all integrated within ToolBox is super efficient. The whole process from importing drawings to exporting the finished quotes is absolutely effortless.”

According to Cooper, the latest versions of the software can turn a CAD drawing into an accurate quote in seconds. The time saved can be used to allow laser job shop staff and resources to be reallocated into areas such as business growth. “The technology is not just a time-saving tool; it is essentially a business growth tool, because the time saved allows the energy and knowledge of the business to be transferred into expanding the business,” Cooper said.

“It facilitates consistent and predictable quotes to particular customers, so they can rely on prompt and easily comparable prices for the same type of work, which is important in building trust and developing ongoing business.”

The software also can provide a 3D unfolding service. The operator enters 3D schematics of a product, and the software selects all the 2D sheet metal surfaces required to be cut by a laser. It’s also possible to create the drawing without using any CAD software, using the program’s Quick Part parametric parts library. The library includes a variety of customizable parts, like brackets, flanges, gussets, and plates, that can be adjusted to the specific needs of the user.