Plan the month, not just the job.
Most small shops plan week to week from memory and buy material one job at a time, so every job pays for its own half-used sheet. Plan has three commands. Together they show what each model needs, how many of each the project builds, and what the whole period needs, nested as one batch, with a formal forecast for your suppliers.
One batch for the period.
Name the period, pick the jobs the shop will run and how many of each model. Signal nests every part of every job together, so parts from different jobs share the same sheets, and writes what to buy.
- Reads
- The exported jobs you pick, each at its project quantity.
- Calculates
- One nest across all jobs: sheet and plate by material, gauge and finish; tube by profile; wood pooled for saw, CNC or hybrid. A sheet that uses half a standard sheet or less becomes a cut piece in millimetres, to buy from a supplier who sells offcuts.
- Writes
- A material forecast PDF per supplier category (sheet and plate, tube, boards) with formats, quantities, area and weight. Customers are left off unless you choose to name the jobs.
The forecast is something to negotiate with: a supplier who sees a month of demand prices it differently from a single order.
Drawn by Signal · from the Fusion model⤢ InspectA real test month: five jobs (two bars, a workstation program and two kitchens), 636 metal parts nested as one batch into 37 sheets and cut pieces, 28 tube sticks and 3 boards. The 18 ga 304 3P stainless alone came to 19 sheets at 74% yield.
What one model needs, on one screen.
A panel inside Fusion, read from the last export: pieces, material to buy, laser by material and gauge, tube cutting, bending, welding, finishing and woodworking. One button turns it into a PDF for your supplier or your team, in the supplier's language.
| Pieces | 151 |
| Sheet laser | 78.7 m of cut |
| Tube laser | 50.4 m of cut |
| Welding | 1,338.0 in |
| Area to coat | 9.53 m² |
| Weight | 266.7 kg |
Quantities only. Your rates stay in Signal, which turns them into a quote.
Drawn by Signal · from the Fusion model⤢ InspectHow many of each.
A project links several models. Project records how many units of each it builds (Bar Tonala: 11 piston tables and 22 chairs alongside the bar), and every summary, nest and plan multiplies by it. Each model's export stays per unit, so nothing is re-exported when a quantity changes.
For a small shop this is where the difference shows first: material bought once for the period, fewer half-used sheets, and a forecast your suppliers take seriously.
Get Signal for Fusion