| ▲ | djfobbz 2 days ago |
| I'm working on an affordable SaaS platform for small and mid-sized fabrication shops across the US and Canada. It automates quoting and production for sheet-metal and CNC jobs and can handle pretty much any CAD format, even full assemblies. On the AI side, we've got a mix of models doing the heavy lifting: a tuned geometric transformer for feature detection, a graph neural net for topology, and a vision model for mesh segmentation. All that ties into our custom CAD logic for geometry parsing, 2D nesting for laser/machining, and 3D nesting for forming and packaging. The whole idea is to level the playing field so smaller local shops can compete with the big instant-quote guys without needing an in-house dev team. |
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| ▲ | bruckie 11 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| Is is essentially a SaaS version of what businesses like OSH Cut and SendCutSend have built? And are you doing just the quoting, or full shop management? |
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| ▲ | djfobbz 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | That's exactly what it is. But instead of keeping it as some proprietary tool for one shop, our goal is to make that same tech accessible and affordable for all shops. Not every fab shop is tech-first, and that's totally fine. We're building something that helps them compete without needing a full-time developer or a six-figure software budget. As for your last question, we're not trying to replace any existing ERP or CRM systems. We're focused on delivering instant, accurate quotations through our own turnkey pricing model that helps job shops stay competitive day-to-day, manage payments seamlessly, and give customers real-time shipping options or an easy Will Call pickup if they're local. |
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| ▲ | abdullahkhalids a day ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I can't tell how you allow the small shops to make instant-quotes. Is it because they can instantly visualize the part? Or do you process the customer's design and provide the shop additional information that helps them do this? Or are you just generating the final quote itself already based on what you know about the shop and the customer design? |
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| ▲ | djfobbz a day ago | parent [-] | | Good question! Right now we’re starting with the sheet metal side of things: laser cutting, forming, welding, surface finishing, and final touches like anodizing, powder coat, or just a clean mill finish. The platform takes the customer’s CAD file, runs DFM checks, figures out material usage, laser time, bend complexity, and weld length, then instantly generates a production-ready quote based on each shop’s own pricing and capabilities. This quote includes delivery cost + an estimated time you can expect the part. There’s 2D and 3D visualization built in, but the real magic is the drag-and-drop, get-an-instant-quote experience. The reality is, most fab shops are still painfully slow when it comes to quoting. Even in 2025 it’s not unusual to wait a week (or three) just to hear back. That’s the gap we’re closing. | | |
| ▲ | abdullahkhalids 16 hours ago | parent [-] | | Very interesting. The big followup question is to ask is: Currently shops spend X% of their time creating quotes and talking to incoming customers, and (100-X)% time actually doing the work. What is X% for a typical shop and how much are you hoping to reduce it to? | | |
| ▲ | djfobbz 10 hours ago | parent [-] | | Based on industry data and first-hand experience, most small to mid-sized fabrication shops spend 25–40% of their total time on quoting-related activities: reviewing customer drawings, clarifying requirements, preparing cost breakdowns, and going back and forth over email or phone. In some job shops with limited staff, quoting can even eat up half a workweek for the owner or lead estimator. Our goal is to bring that number down to under 5% by automating geometry analysis, material costing, and lead-time estimation. Essentially turning what used to take days (or weeks) into an instant, self-service process for customers. That frees up the shop to spend the remaining 95%+ of their time doing what actually makes money: fabricating parts. For reference: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskEngineers/comments/n1yryi/mfg_qu... |
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| ▲ | zkmon 2 days ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| This sounds interesting. Are you using any CAD software for this? Can the fabricator create their own design? |
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| ▲ | djfobbz a day ago | parent [-] | | No, we aren’t using any CAD software for this since we’re not trying to be in the design space ourselves. Instead, we’re using libraries like OpenCascade’s Mesh Toolkit to read and tessellate CAD files into a hybrid 3D format optimized for web rendering, while preserving precise geometry, topology, and manufacturing data. |
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| ▲ | buildcaptive a day ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Got a link to a landing page? |
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| ▲ | skilldeliver 2 days ago | parent | prev [-] |
| interesting, send a website |
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