Quick Tools for Fast Manufacturing Estimates
Mini calculators for price-per-meter, hourly rate, and pierce time. Ideal for quick quotes, phone calls, and early-stage planning when you do not have time to build a full job in the detailed calculators.
Quick Tools trade some detail for speed. Use them for ballpark estimates, then verify with the full calculators and your own historical jobs before sending formal quotes or signing long-term agreements.
Price per Meter Calculator
Ultra-fast estimate of operating cost per meter based on material type and thickness, using typical speeds and rates for ballpark pricing.
USE CASE:
Best for: straight or simple cutting paths on standard materials when you already have a reasonable hourly rate. Not ideal for complex nests, multi-process jobs, or high-value contracts—use the full laser cutting calculator instead.
Laser Hourly Rate Calculator
Estimate an all-in hourly operating cost including equipment, energy, labor, overhead, and maintenance—your baseline for any pricing discussion.
USE CASE:
Best for: establishing internal break-even and target rates before you quote. Not ideal as a standalone customer price—combine with part-level tools and your own accounting for formal proposals.
Pierce Time Estimator
Estimate total piercing time from material, thickness, laser power, and number of pierces so you can see when holes dominate cycle time.
USE CASE:
Best for: parts with many holes where pierce time meaningfully affects cost. Not ideal for thick plate, unusual alloys, or heat-sensitive jobs—validate with your own parameter tables and full cutting calculators.
When to Use Quick Tools
- - First conversations with new or existing customers
- - Checking whether a job is roughly profitable before deep planning
- - Standard, repeatable jobs where you already know typical parameters
- - Rapid feasibility checks during scheduling or capacity planning
- - Budget discussions and early-stage business cases
- - Not for long-term contracts or frame agreements with penalties
- - Not for highly customized, multi-step or multi-process jobs
- - Simplified assumptions for efficiency, waste, and setup time
- - Material, nesting, and scrap handling are not modeled in detail
- - Does not connect to your ERP or accounting system automatically
- - Full Laser Cutting Calculator for part-level costing before formal quotes
- - Marking Calculator and Welding Calculator for process-specific, detailed breakdowns
- - ROI Calculator when you need to translate shop-level economics into investment decisions
- - Always upgrade to a full calculator before committing pricing for large or risky jobs.
Quick Tools vs Full Calculators
| Feature | Quick Tools | Full Calculators |
|---|---|---|
| Input Time | <60 seconds | 2-5 minutes |
| Accuracy | Typically within ~10–20% once calibrated to your shop | Tighter alignment possible when you supply full detail and match to historical jobs |
| Parameters | 3-8 inputs | 15-30 inputs |
| Material Costs | Not included | Fully included |
| Gas Costs | Assumes typical shop settings | Detailed calculation |
| Waste Factor | Standard 10% waste assumption | Customizable |
| Best Use | Quick quotes | Formal proposals |
Workflow Integration
- 1. Capture reference inputs. Use the quick reference tables for baseline speeds, gas, and material costs, then pick the matching quick tool.
- 2. Run the fast calculators. Use the hourly rate calculator first to establish a realistic baseline, then combine it with the Price per Meter and Pierce Time tools to get a dollarized target for the quote or phone call.
- 3. Promote to full calculators. When the job moves forward, transfer the same assumptions into the laser cutting or ROI calculator so your proposal, analytics, and production plans all share identical inputs.
How Quick Tools Work
Inputs and processing
- You provide a handful of high-impact parameters such as material, thickness, and basic shop rates.
- Quick Tools combine those inputs with typical values from the reference tables —cutting speeds, pierce times, and efficiency factors.
- Dozens of secondary inputs stay hidden here to keep things fast; they live in the full calculators.
Outputs and next steps
- The output is a structured ballpark number—price per meter, hourly rate, or total pierce time—that helps you decide whether a job is worth pursuing.
- For standard work, these numbers are often within 10–20% of a fully detailed calculation once you align inputs with your own shop data.
- When the job moves forward or the stakes are high, copy the same assumptions into the full calculators to add material, gas, nesting, setup, and tax-aware ROI before sending a formal quote.
Related Resources
Quick Reference Tables
Cutting speeds, material costs, gas costs, power consumption, and processing parameters
All Calculators
Full calculator suite including laser cutting, marking, welding, CNC, ROI, and more
Limitations & common misuses
Quick Tools do not track your actual shop data automatically, do not model full nesting, scrap value, or overhead in detail, and do not replace your accounting system.
Avoid using default example rates directly in customer quotes, treating Quick results as a guaranteed margin, or relying on them for extreme thicknesses, exotic materials, or highly complex geometries.
Treat these tools as a fast first pass. For real money on the line, always upgrade to the detailed calculators and compare the outputs against at least a few historical jobs.