Industry insights, product updates & customer wins

We’re excited to announce the launch of our innovative AI Chat Assistant, designed to transform customer support within Tempus Tools, our leading laser cutting quoting software.

Thanks to recent advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs) like OpenAI’s GPT-4, we’re able to provide a chatbot experience unlike anything before. Previous chatbots often lacked context and struggled with understanding questions. With GPT-4, our Tempus Tools AI assistant overcomes these challenges, bringing you on-demand support answers and general knowledge information within the context of laser cutting.

Key features of the Tempus Tools AI Assistant

1. Real-time access to support articles: The AI chat assistant quickly provides accurate information from our support articles.
2. User-friendly interface: Type your query in the chat window within Tempus Tools for instant support.
3. Constantly evolving: Our AI Chat Assistant learns and improves over time, offering increasingly efficient support. Give it a thumb up or a thumbs down if the answer isn’t what you were expecting, and that information will be used to improve future conversation.
4. Available 24/7: The AI Chat Assistant is always available, ensuring help when you need it.
5. Context of laser cutting in general: the Tempus Tools AI can answer questions with a general understanding of laser cutting.

Accessing the Tempus Tools AI Assistant

Log in or create a Tempus Tools account, find the help button in the lower right-hand corner, and click to open the chat window. Enter your question for instant assistance.

We believe our AI Chat Assistant will significantly enhance your Tempus Tools experience, and we can’t wait for your feedback. For any questions, reach out to our support team at support@tempustools.com.

Automation is often presented as “taking jobs” away from real workers, but Red Horizon Engineering owner, Steve Geroski, sees it as a company builder for smaller businesses.

“When I established my own job shop for engineering, maintenance, equipment design, and laser cutting, it was software and automation programs that allowed me to maintain efficiency and quality to match the larger players – it’s what gave me a chance to be competitive,” he said.

After 17 years as a senior operations manager for a major tire and rubber company, Steve decided to “bet the house” and establish his own engineering company, with a 6000W CNC fiber laser.

“There is a huge demand for laser cut materials here in Ohio and surrounding areas, especially from heavy industry. But I just don’t have time to manually quote all the orders while establishing and managing all areas of my business,” he said.

Red Horizon Engineering’s laser cutting machine is capable of cutting 1” mild steel, 1/2” Stainless Steel, 3/8” aluminium, and 1/4” brass, with titanium and other metals available too.

Steve wanted to avoid the headaches of using spreadsheets or clunky interfaces within Excel estimating software programs to quote jobs, so he did some research, and found Tempus Tools, a rules-based laser cutting quoting software specifically designed for laser cutting job shops.

“Tempus Tools has been one of the smoothest and most intuitive programs I’ve ever used. This meant I could implement it straight away and start quoting for orders while continuing to set up other parts of the job shop,” he said.

“I could easily train my business partner Joe to use the software when I’m not here, and as we expand in the future, training new staff won’t be a time-consuming exercise. The job shop estimating software is well laid out, it has point-to-click functionality, and it’s clear it has been designed by professionals who know this industry inside out.”

“And the support has been outstanding. I get quick responses, there’s a group for asking questions and providing feedback. It’s so rare to find a company so receptive to customer feedback, but Tempus Tools takes customer comments and uses them to create new features or enhance existing ones.”

Red Horizon Engineering’s laser cutting quotes are mostly going to heavy industry, which typically demands pre-welded parts on 1/4” plate or larger, and are often used for materials handling equipment, such as conveyors. But they also get jobs for signage, personal projects, and even commercial art.

“Heavy industry is where we see growth, but the other projects are a lot of fun. And with Tempus Tools, it’s so easy to adjust pricing on the fly. I haven’t had to turn down any work since we opened, because I’m not wasting time manually preparing quotes,” said Steve.

Investing in Tube Capabilities

Steve decided to further differentiate himself from the competition by adding a rotary attachment to his laser cutting machine to allow tube cutting.

“Not many fabrication shops have this capability – it’s usually bigger steel suppliers – and there was interest in it straight away. But tube is almost impossible to quote manually. With Tempus Tools, I can easily input the information and get an accurate quote every time,” he said.

The Tube feature allows the user to easily drag and drop rectangular, square, or round hollow sections into Tempus Tools. It flattens the part and calculates runtime in the quoting module.

Looking To The Future

As Steve continues to establish and grow his job shop, the next Tempus Tools feature he plans to implement is Web Store, which provides a 24/7 online store for laser cutting, which he can embed into his own website.

“With Web Store, customers can get quotes and place orders via my website, which multiplies the number of orders I’m able to receive. I plan on setting up a member’s login area where my valued customers can access this service 24/7,” he said.

“Tempus Tools has built some fantastic features into their Tempus Tools software, and I’ve been impressed with the responsiveness of their support team. Their price-point is also highly competitive, so it was the best decision for my business.”

To learn more about Tempus Tools, please click here.

Red Horizon Engineering can be contacted on:

redhorizonengineering.com
Ph: +1 (419) 619-2894
Email: SteveGeroski@RedHorizonEngineering.com

When you’re quoting for a laser cutting job, the major components that determine price are the material cost, the fixed and variable costs of your laser cutting system and the labour costs.

Material costs typically represent more than 55% of the part price and, of the remainder, the machine’s fixed and variable costs represent the major portion. Understanding material costs and knowledge of future trends in material costs are key factors in determining your quotation part prices.

Fluctuations in material cost are so easy to overlook. If you’re not careful, and not keeping pricing up to date, you could lose money on the job.

Material price changes

Let’s take the three most common metals for laser cutting jobs – mild steel, stainless steel, and aluminium, and see how they’ve changed over recent years. Prices can vary greatly due to geopolitical events, economic conditions, and global supply and demand.

Keeping an eye on markets and pricing changes, and updating your quoting system to reflect the newest prices will help make sure you are never in a situation where you are losing money on a job because of an inaccurate laser cutting quote.

Sheet Metal Price – raw data

For the purposes of this analysis, we will take a standard 3000x1500mm sheet with 5mm thickness. All prices are in US Dollars (USD).

The data above shows that for mild steel (which is used on approximately 85% of laser cutting jobs), prices have risen more than 30% from 2021-2023. Stainless Steel has seen an even bigger increase, with prices rising more than 50% during this same period. Aluminium has seen price increases of around 18% over that time period.

In some cases, the difference may not seem like a lot, but it can really add up as the volume of laser cutting jobs increases.

What if prices go down?

We haven’t seen this happen for a while, but what happens if material prices go down? Then, you have the opposite problem.

If you are still charging the higher price, but your competitors have updated their material costs, they will be winning more jobs, because their job shop estimating software allows them to offer more competitive quotes will be more competitive.

Let your quoting system keep you accurate and consistent

One way to keep material pricing data accurate is to use a rules-based laser cutting quoting software like Tempus Tools, where you can set the current market pricing of materials to assist you in delivering accurate, consistent, and fast quotes, every time.

Tempus Tools

also has a range of features – developed by professionals with decades of hands-on experience in the laser cutting industry – to make laser cutting quoting easier and quicker, so that job shops can reduce costs, save time, and win more work. Some of these features include:

• Automatic 3D unfolding, with the ability to turn 3D models into quotable 2D drawings
• Web Store, which gives job shops their own online store where customers can get 24/7 pricing and place orders
• Drawing Doctor® to fix up errors in customer drawings
• Part Library – save parts data to make repeat orders even faster
• … and many more time-saving features!

If you’d like to see how simple quoting via  is, you can start a no-obligation 14-day free trial.

Author: Bruce Thomas, Executive (Product)

Laser cutting is a precise and efficient way of cutting materials such as metal, wood, and plastics. This process involves the use of a high-powered laser beam to melt, burn, or vaporize the material being cut, but it can also be dangerous if the right safety precautions are not followed.

Here are some potential safety hazards to look out for in your laser cutting job shop.

Fire Hazard: Laser cutting aluminum and mild steel

One hazard associated with laser cutting is the potential for a fire. This is especially true when cutting aluminum and mild steel. When these two metals are cut together, they create a dangerous byproduct known as ferrite. Ferrite is a mixture of aluminum and steel powder that can ignite and cause a fire. To prevent these types of fires, it’s crucial to separate aluminum and mild steel when cutting.

In the event of a fire, it’s essential to have a fire extinguisher that can put out a metal fire. These types of fires cannot be put out with water, and using the wrong extinguisher can make the situation worse. A class D fire extinguisher is the most appropriate type for this type of fire, and should be kept on-site in your laser cutting job shop.

Nitrogen hazard: Oxygen deficiency

When cutting large jobs with nitrogen in a small, confined space, it can lead to a health hazard. Nitrogen is not poisonous, but it reduces the oxygen content, which can lead to oxygen deficiency. This deficiency can cause drowsiness, which heightens the risk of tripping and workplace injuries. Additionally, it is not safe to run industrial equipment in a drowsy condition.

This hazard is especially true for small workshops that are becoming more common in laser cutting. It’s essential to ensure that proper ventilation is in place to prevent nitrogen buildup.

An oxygen sensor is a tool that can be used to monitor the oxygen levels in the workspace. This sensor can help identify when nitrogen is becoming a problem and when it’s time to take action.

Nitrogen is an odorless gas, so you won’t have any indication from your sense of smell, as to when the Nitrogen content is reaching unsafe levels.

High-pressure nitrogen hazard: Noise exposure

Using high-pressure nitrogen can generate very loud noises as it exits the nozzle. Prolonged exposure to these noises can cause ear damage. It’s essential to wear hearing protection when working with high-pressure nitrogen to prevent hearing damage. There are apps available on mobile phones to monitor decibel readings and help identify when noise levels are reaching dangerous levels.

Laser safety

All Class 4 lasers should be completely enclosed, and all operators should wear safety glasses designed specifically for the wavelength of light from the laser. Most countries have a laser safety standard, and in Australia, it is the law to keep a copy of the standard on the premises and to have all operators trained in laser safety.

Forklift safety

Risk analysis in a laser job shop is very likely to show that the forklift is one of the most dangerous pieces of equipment on site, if not used correctly. A risk that is often overlooked is the effect of continually dragging the tines on the concrete floor. This causes the tines to wear and become weaker than their design strength, leading to failure on one or both tines. If one tine fails, the load will shift sideways, creating an extremely dangerous situation. It’s essential to ensure that all forklift operators are licensed and trained in proper forklift safety procedures.

Cutting plastics

Cutting plastics can also be a hazardous process. Teflon generates hydrofluoric acid fumes, which can cause chest tightness, choking, coughing blood, rapid pulse and more health issues. PVC cutting generates hydrochloric acid and toxic fumes. It’s important to check the material data sheet for the product being cut to determine what is generated when combusted. This information can be used to identify potential hazards and take the necessary safety precautions.

In conclusion, laser cutting is an excellent method for cutting materials, but it’s essential to take safety precautions seriously. Understanding the potential hazards associated with laser cutting can help you prevent accidents and injuries. Always follow safety guidelines and ensure that all workers are adequately trained in laser safety procedures.

Author: Bruce Thomas, Executive (Product)

The laser cutting industry is a complex one to master. The early years can be particularly difficult if you don’t set up your job shop operations and quoting systems in an optimal way.

As someone who’s been in the industry for decades, both at the practical, hands-on factory floor level, as well as management and ownership level, here’s my advice on how to maximise your profitability. There are great tips for startups and new players here, but the advice will ring true for laser cutting businesses of any age.

Material pricing is always changing

And you’ll need to change your quotes to match it. If you’re quoting a job based on an old part price, and your supplier varies the price of materials, you could end up losing money on the job or charging a price that’s too high for the market. Ultimately, you may end up losing customers, so it’s a fine line to tread. Using a rules-based laser cutting quoting software that ensures current material market pricing can help deliver accuracy and consistency every time. More on this later, but first, how are you quoting?

Is quoting costing you money in the production area?

It’s a common issue amongst job shops. If your customer service staff are preparing the quote, they typically don’t have the experience to know how long different processes will take – from welding, to bending, to folding, to the cutting itself.

So you find yourself in a situation where customer service staff are heading out to the shop floor to ask each specialist how long tasks will take. These specialists (usually some of the higher paid staff) then have to take time away from their work to answer questions or run simulations to determine accurate times.

What you really need is a job shop estimating software system that accurately and consistently quotes the job, including all secondary processes. This way, your customer will receive consistent part prices every time, because nothing annoys them more than receiving two different prices from two different sales staff within the same business! The customer then doubts the pricing, can lose confidence in the pricing, which can then lead the customer to verify pricing by seeking a quote from an alternate supplier.

Have you factored in scrap metal and material wastage?

A recent survey of 100 of our customers worldwide showed that over a two year period approximately 56% of revenue in laser job shops was derived from the sale of material.

The problem of how much material is consumed in a month is always a very complicated calculation and depends on the value of material in work-in-progress, the value of the full sheets in your stores, and the value of the remnants of material you are holding.

It’s crucial that material wastage is considered in your part price calculations, or once again, you could lose money on jobs. Most cutting jobs produce a significant amount of scrap – and even with an optimal set-up, there will always be some material wastage. The key is to set up your material pricing correctly, so the customers are contributing.

There are three common methods for calculating material consumption and, therefore, part price and each creates a different result.

1. Area of a single part. Area-based material consumption is where the area of the part (the part itself, not the bounds) is calculated and then divided into the sheet. It doesn’t allow for any web and is quite inaccurate. In most cases, it gives a lower price per part than is actually consumed.

2. Rectangular bounds (with web allowance). Rectangular nesting is the safest in terms of making sure that you have charged for all the material that is used, given that the rectangular boundary around the part is always larger than the part itself. This means that a larger percentage of scrap is calculated in the part price. This generally results in a lower win rate of quotes, due to the material cost being higher than competitors that are using other methods.

3. True shape single-part nesting. This method uses the best of both worlds. Its main aim is to work out how many copies of a single part can be cut from a single sheet. The calculation for the material component of the part price allows you to apply rules that decide how you should price any remnant associated with the calculated sheet. This is vital as you may be willing to absorb a bit of scrap, knowing there is a good chance of filling it when it comes to production. But in a situation where you are, say, cutting disks that are 65% of the sheet height, and you are cutting a lot of them, you can potentially be stuck with a huge amount of remnant. It is important to understand who is paying for that.

A small change in nesting can mean a big change in annual revenue

Let’s take a simple example of a triangular part with a 100mm base, 300mm apex, and 10mm thickness (we will use the material thickness as the web). We use a triangle here to represent a complex non-rectangular shape, although they are simple to nest and price. If we use three different costing methods (based on a sheet 3000x1500mm with a price of $500), we get three different results.

1. Area of a single part results in 300 parts per sheet, with a cost per part of $1.67.
2. Rectangular bounds (with web allowance) results in 131 parts per sheet, with a cost per part of $3.82
3. True shape single-part nesting (with web allowance) results in 262 parts per sheet, with a cost per part of $1.91

If you use the first method without a significant markup, you run a real risk of losing money on the material component of your quote as there is zero allowance for web and scrap.

In this case, if you use the second method, you will be unlikely to win any work. The third method is the closest to what you will achieve in production and is the safest, most competitive method.

It does not make sense, at the quoting stage, to use multi-part nesting, because you do not know the final mix of parts to be cut, so you cannot be certain you are calculating the optimal price. Single-part nesting, on the other hand, is a highly effective way to calculate the price.

Drawing on Tempus Tools’ experience of more than one million parts quoted, our customers have found that true shape single-part nesting delivers the best economic returns to their laser job shop.

The choice of nesting method also influences where you should set your material markup.

These variations may not be significant for low-quantity jobs, but if you consider that an average laser cutting machine can generate in excess of $1 million in material revenues in a year, you are looking at potential lost revenue opportunities from $50,000 – $150,000, depending on which material nesting you select for your quotations.

The preferred method of calculating the material price for a part price is true shape nesting, as it will rotate and interleave parts to make the best nest, with a close approximation to the CAM system that you’ll actually be cutting the parts with.

Cutting different shapes changes cutting times

In addition to choosing the right nesting type, something that is often overlooked is the cutting times of different shapes. A CAM system will calculate cutting times based on the geometry to be cut, but if you compare a square plate to a circle with the exact same cut length, the circle will be quicker for the machine to cut, because the laser mechanical system does not need to slow down when changing directions.

Ensure your laser cutting quoting software has built-in algorithms that take care of acceleration/deceleration tolerances. Every second of laser cutting time lost is revenue lost.

Make your quoting system work for you

You can see how easy it is for an inaccurate quote to mean that you can lose money, or lose customers. Getting the right quoting system in place is crucial to your job shop’s ongoing success and profitability.

Tempus Tools, a laser cutting quoting software, was developed as a rules-based SAAS solution with tools specifically designed for smaller job shops to simplify all facets of the quoting process.

Any staff can use Tempus Tools – no CAD or CAM training or software is required. With Tempus Tools, you’re not only delivering accurate and consistent quotes every time, but you’re doing it much more efficiently, which means you can respond faster to a Request For Quote, and you’re subsequently more likely to win the business.

Using our own data of more than one million cut parts, we found that an average quote incorporates 5.5 parts. The industry average to quote 5.5 parts is approximately 30 minutes, but with Tempus Tools, 5.5 parts can be quoted in just two minutes. That’s 15 times faster than the industry average, and it’s totally repeatable every time.

If you’re looking for a rules-based, front-end, sales-focused laser cutting quoting software, Tempus Toolscould be the ideal solution to help grow your business.

Try Tempus Tools for free for the first 14 days to see just how easy it can be.

Tempus Tools – free 14-day trial

Are you tired of manually producing quotes for each of your potential laser cutting clients? Without affordable software built specifically for your industry, the process of producing quotes can be extremely time-consuming, commanding a large portion of your daily schedule and potentially without financial reward. Worse still, these long-winded processes have the potential for human error to take away from their accuracy, preventing you from offering quick and accurate quotes that showcase your business’s potential and assist your future growth.

However, by working with the laser cutting cost estimating software produced by Tempus Tools, you’ll maximise your efficiency and reduce the time you spend producing quotes. Our Tempus Tools system has been built specifically for the laser cutting industry, ensuring you produce accurate quotes in a fraction of the time taken on alternative quoting software programs. Whether you require sheet metal estimating software or are more reliant on using the system as a data storage tool, Tempus Tools can take your operation to the next level and help you win more business.  

Streamlined & Time-Saving Software

While there is a range of effective quoting solutions on the market produced by manufacturers of machinery or CAM-specific firms, these systems are geared towards production and lack a specified focus on sales and revenue generation. For your business to maximise its efficiency and produce accurate quotes quickly each and every time, these systems cannot be relied on. Importantly, these systems lack detailed sheet metal estimating software that helps you keep up to date with the changing costs of your raw materials. Additionally, these systems are heavily reliant upon input from the jobshop manager, as they typically are the only individual with knowledge of the business’s pricing policy.

Instead, Tempus Tools makes quick and efficient quoting a reality for even those customer service staff members without specified knowledge of your laser cutting technicalities. With direct CAD and CAM integration and the ability to import any type of file offered by your clients, our laser cutting cost estimating software ensures you experience a streamlined system that makes quotes extremely easy to produce. This allows you to spend less time winning business, and more time delivering your services that generate revenue and profits for your laser cutting jobshop.

Win More Business

While it’s inevitably a huge benefit to spend less time producing quotes for your clients, this also allows you to win more business in the long run. A key factor in winning jobs is producing accurate quotes in a timely manner, as this helps your clients understand your commitment to offering them a solution that meets their needs and doesn’t waste their time. With the typical laser cutting jobshop only winning 30-40% of the quotes they produce, it’s important for your business to minimise the time you spend on these complimentary activities and buck the trend by winning more of the jobs you quote for.

Using laser cutting cost estimating software can be a major point of your difference and prove beneficial in helping your jobshop win more business. By using an industry-specific quoting system for each quote you offer your clients, you can ensure a consistent method of cost estimation is used that is free from error. This eliminates any costly discrepancies from occurring that may see your business undercharge for your services, while also ensuring you do not overcharge for your services and consequently fail to win a laser cutting job you quote for. Despite its long-term industry presence, sheet metal estimating software has undergone a huge amount of development and improvement, and it can truly help you transition from satisfying your existing demand to attracting new clients that help your business grow and develop.

Consistency Of Service

One of the most common problems that laser cutting fabricators and jobshops encounter is failing to keep the relevant data of individual parts stored with their relevant files and images, with customer data often being mixed up. This means that each time a customer contacts you for information, simply finding the relevant data and part information is a task in itself. However, with Tempus Tools’ laser cutting cost estimating software, you can enjoy the benefits of a custom-built system that stores each of your customer’s information in one secure location, and every piece of data you add to their individual parts and drawings are stored together.

This software ensures that you can quickly call upon previously completed work and give your customers prompt responses with accurate information, ensuring you offer them fantastic customer service each time. Our laser cutting cost estimating software is also important in making sure every quote is consistent in its inclusion of both direct and indirect costs that may otherwise be neglected. Key factors such as insurance and rent increase the hourly rate you must charge, and it’s important for these rates to be consistent in each quote you produce.

When it comes to laser cutting, time is of the essence, but it’s important that this does not come at the expense of consistently delivering a high-quality and accurate service. Fortunately, our cost estimating software has been built to address all the challenges your business faces each day, and helps you take your operation to the next level by making mundane and frustrating tasks a matter of a few clicks.

Streamline Your Laser Cutting Quoting Process With Tempus Tools’ Sheet Metal Estimating Software!

With over a century of combined in the laser industry, our intimate knowledge of the industry has offered us a great understanding of both the challenges and opportunities our customers face.

Our experience has shown us that no two jobshops offer their services in an identical way, and they each have different challenges to address. This has shown us that a one size fits all approach does not work, and that’s why Tempus Tools has over 100 different features – all included – to suit the different needs of different jobshops.

We’re very passionate about designing innovative solutions that help laser businesses operate as effectively and efficiently as possible through the realisation of technology. We have a team of dedicated and highly skilled professionals that share a desire to deliver positive results for our clients and their customers. This has enabled us to develop the most essential tools that every single laser-cutting cost estimator should have access to.

At Tempus Tools, we offer jobshops an easy-to-use digital tool kit that ensures you can quickly calculate and prepare accurate and consistent quotes. Don’t waste your valuable time spending hours manually creating quotes. Make the most of your time and instead create your quotes in under 2 minutes with Tempus Tools.

Start your trial today!

If you’d like to find out more about Tempus Tools’ sheet metal estimating software that is a cut above the rest, contact our friendly team!