Custom post-calculation app for machining
Appfront builds post-calculation apps for machining companies: the operator starts and stops each operation at the machine, with material, tooling and scrap added, and for each order the estimate sits alongside what it actually cost. So the estimator knows which orders make money and which assumptions in the estimate are consistently wrong.
What is a post-calculation app for machining?
Post-calculation in machining answers one question per order: what did it actually cost, compared with what we assumed? The costs sit in set-up time, machine time per operation, material, tooling and scrap. The app records them where they arise: the operator starts and stops each operation at the machine, material is booked off at the saw, and scrap is reported with a reason. For each order, the estimate then sits next to the reality, operation by operation.
Without post-calculation, the estimate is a guess that confirms itself. The estimator works from a standard set-up time and a machine time based on experience, the order goes onto the shop floor, and nobody knows whether it was right, because the hours sit on a weekly timesheet with no operation attached and material is booked off in bulk. By year end the margin is lower than expected, and it's impossible to trace which customer or type of work caused it.
We build custom solutions because the recording only works if it fits how your workshop runs: which machines, which operations, how the operator switches between orders, whether you run staffed or unstaffed, and what your ERP already knows. A time registration system knows hours per employee, not per operation; an ERP knows the order, not the actual set-up time. The app sits in between, at the machine, and gives the estimator what they need to make the next quote better.
Recording at the machine
Start and stop per order and operation, set-up time separate from machine time, staffed or unstaffed, on a tablet or screen at the machine with a single tap.
Material, tooling and scrap
Material booked off at the saw, tooling consumption per operation where it affects cost, and scrap reported with a reason and quantity.
Estimate versus actual
Per order and per operation, the estimate alongside the reality, the variance in hours and money, and the margin per order, customer and product type.
How we build your post-calculation app for machining
We start with your estimating and your workshop: how you cost jobs, how hours and material are currently recorded, and where the margin disappears. The app follows from that.
How the estimate is built, which standards it uses, which machines and operations there are, how operators currently record, and what the ERP already tracks. We look at orders you suspect ran at a loss.
The screen at the machine: choose an order, start and stop an operation, set-up time separately, report scrap. As few taps as possible, because otherwise it won't get done.
Recording material usage when cutting or from the ERP, tool consumption where it determines the cost price, and the integration with the order.
The calculator screen with before, during and after comparisons, reporting per customer and product type, feedback into the standards, and then management and ongoing development.
What an afterclaculation app for machining does in practice
The components below come up at almost every machining company. Which ones you need depends on your machines and on how your ERP is set up.
Machine screen
A screen per machine showing today's orders, start and stop per operation, setup time recorded separately, attended or unattended running, and downtime reporting with a reason.
Material booking
Material booked against each order at the sawing stage or taken over from the ERP, with offcuts returned to stock.
Tooling consumption
Tooling per operation where it drives the cost price, such as inserts on long runs, with the cost per order.
Pre- and post-calculation
For each order and operation, the estimated hours and costs alongside the actual ones, the variance in hours and money, and the cause where one has been reported.
Margin per customer and product
Margin per order, totalled by customer, product type and machine, with orders below the threshold listed for the management team.
Feeding back into standards
The average variance between standard and actual per operation and material type, as a proposal for a revised standard in the pre-calculation.
Who we build an afterclaculation app for machining for
The app is designed for businesses where the margin per order is unknown until the annual accounts, and where the pre-calculation runs on standards that are never checked.
Machinists on one-off jobs and small batches
Many orders, a lot of setup time, little repetition. Setup time tracked separately and margin per customer are the core.
Series manufacturers
Long runs where tooling and unattended hours drive the cost price. Tooling consumption and attended versus unattended running matter most.
Suppliers with fixed customers
Annual agreements with prices per product. Margin per product over the year and standards per operation are what's needed.
Businesses with several departments
Turning, milling, grinding and assembly within one order. Afterclaculation per operation and per department is the core.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
This page covers post-calculation at the machine. For pre-calculation and quotes, see our page on calculation software; for the workshop as a whole, see our page on metal processing software. You can read about how we work at custom software development.
For quotes that learn from afterclaculation, with a cost price per machine hour, see our software for afterclaculation and quote calculation.
Why choose Appfront for your afterclaculation app for machining?
Afterclaculation only works if the operator does it. That's why we build the machine screen first, and the reporting afterwards.
One tap at the machine
Choose the order, start the operation, stop it. If it's more than that, it gets filled in at the end of the day and it no longer adds up.
Setup time tracked separately
The difference between setting up and running is usually where the estimate goes wrong. The app keeps them apart, per operation.
Back to the standard
Afterclaculation isn't a report for the drawer, but a proposal for the estimator: this operation costs on average this much more than the standard. The next quote is better.
Security and privacy in an afterclaculation app for machining
The app holds cost prices, margins and customer prices, and hours per operator. Access is set by role: the operator sees their machine and their orders, the estimator sees before and after, management sees the margins. Hours per operator are used for afterclaculation per order, not as an assessment of the employee, and that is how it is set up.
The app runs in a European data centre, with encrypted storage and daily backups. Integrations with ERP and time registration use their own keys, which can be revoked per integration.
Frequently asked questions about an app for post-calculation in machining
Questions that machining companies ask before getting started with this.
At the machine, the operator records set-up time and machine time per order and operation, material and tools are logged alongside, and downtime is reported. For each order, the pre-calculation is then shown next to the actual costs, per operation, and the margin per customer and product type becomes visible. Deviations are fed back into the standards.
By keeping it simple: choose the order, start the operation, stop, all on a screen at the machine. No forms and no data entry at the end of the day. Where the machine itself provides signals, such as running or idle, the app can take those over, and the operator only needs to confirm.
Yes. An operation can be manned or unmanned, and the costs differ: unmanned machine time incurs no operator hours. On long runs, that is the difference between an order that makes a profit and one that makes a loss, and it is shown separately in the post-calculation.
From your ERP or costing software, per order and per operation, if it is recorded there. If the pre-calculation is only a total, the app places it alongside the actual total, and the calculator then allocates it afterwards. Comparison per operation is the goal, and the app helps the costing work towards it.
Material is charged to each order at sawing or taken over from the ERP, with offcuts returned to stock. Tool consumption is recorded where it determines the cost price, such as inserts on series runs; for one-off parts, a rate per machine hour may suffice. You decide what to record for each operation.
Yes. Orders, operations and the pre-calculation come from the ERP, and the actual hours and costs flow back, so the order in the ERP knows its post-calculation. We connect to the package you use; the app does not become a second ERP or a second time registration.
Check this first. Some ERPs have a workshop module with start and stop, and that may be enough if the operators use it. Custom software makes sense if that module requires too many taps and goes unused, if set-up time, unmanned running and tool use cannot be recorded separately, or if feedback into the standards is missing.
Want to know which orders make money before the annual accounts?
Tell us how many machines you have, how you currently calculate, and how hours and material are recorded. We'll show you what the machine screen, the post-calculation per order and the feedback into the standards look like.