Quoting from memory is costing you margin.
Metal fabricators and job shops live on quotes. But when quoting is tribal knowledge and lead times are guesses, you leave money on the table every day. The shops that make money are the ones who quote on data and schedule for visibility.
Quoting is a guessing game
Every estimator quotes differently based on experience and memory. Lead times are tribal knowledge. Material costs are locked from last month. When a quote goes sideways, nobody knows why — and customers see inconsistency.
Shop floor has no visibility
Work orders live on whiteboards and in someone's head. Material allocation is guesswork. You don't know if a job is on time until the customer calls complaining it's late. Expediting happens constantly because nobody planned ahead.
Material utilization is written off, not optimized
Remnant inventory is scrap rather than stock. You don't know what material you actually have. Quoting doesn't account for what's on hand. Procurement buys what they think you need, not what you actually run.
Quoting becomes consistent and defensible
When quoting is built on real data — actual run times, current material costs, known lead times — every quote is accurate. Customers see consistency. Margins stop getting squeezed by bad estimates.
Shop floor visibility kills expediting
When every work order is tracked in real time, you see bottlenecks before they become crises. Material is allocated automatically. Scheduling is data-driven, not reactive. Your team builds product instead of fixing surprises.
Leftover material becomes inventory
When you know what you have and can plan around it, remnants become stock. Utilization improves automatically. Procurement buys what you actually run. Material cost as a percentage of revenue drops measurably.
You price jobs to make money, not to win them
Accurate quoting means you stop leaving money on the table. You say no to jobs that won't make margin. Your revenue per employee goes up even if your headcount stays flat.
- →Metal fabrication and job shops, $10M–$75M revenue
- →Custom fabricators, contract manufacturers with 20–150 employees
- →Companies running job costing manually or in a legacy system
- →Shops where quoting is based on memory and leads to margin surprises
What to assess: your quoting, scheduling, and material practices
We observe how you quote today — where the data comes from, what time estimates you use, how you manage material. The guidance quantifies the cost of guesswork and inconsistency.
System model: the job shop operating model
The system model maps how Odoo will handle quoting (with historical data), shop scheduling (with real-time visibility), and material allocation (with automatic stock management). Everything is built from how you actually work.
What the operating system needs to support
The systems guidance covers how to configure the system, load your historical data and material specs, and train your team to quote, schedule, and track work inside Odoo. The system goes live when your team is ready.
Quoting Accuracy and Consistency Analysis
Compares actual job costs to estimated costs across your last 50 jobs. Identifies where estimates miss and why — material, labor, overhead, or machine time. Shows the cost of estimation error.
Shop Floor Throughput and Capacity Assessment
Measures actual lead time from order receipt to completion. Identifies bottlenecks and constraint machines. Quantifies the impact of rework and expediting on capacity.
Material Utilization and Scrap Analysis
Tracks material purchased vs. material consumed vs. material scrapped. Identifies waste opportunities and revenue recovery potential through remnant inventory management.
Start with the operating questions.
Use the industry patterns above to compare your current systems, data, workflows, and risk exposure. The right first step is understanding what the problem costs and which operating decision it should inform.
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