Process equipment fabricator Bruns Bros takes the guesswork out of quoting with ToolBox

A process equipment fabricator with 37 years’ experience, Bruns Bros Process Equipment, is taking the guesswork out of estimating, with a new SaaS solution.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, USA, November 22, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A process equipment fabricator with 37 years’ experience in the food and beverage, dairy, and pharmaceutical industries, Bruns Bros Process Equipment, is taking the guesswork out of estimating, with a new SaaS (Software as a Service) solution.

Bruns Bros decided to trial ToolBox, by Tempus Tools, an all-in-one fabricating estimating solution, designed to save time and produce accurate, repeatable quotes for laser, plasma, waterjet, and oxy cutting services.

Tempus Tools’ co-founders have a combined 100 years of experience in the laser industry, from operating job shops to designing and installing machines across the globe. They have used this practical, hands-on experience to shape the development of their estimating automation software, to ensure it responds to the real needs of job shops around the world.

Bruns Bros uses laser and waterjet cutting for its own job shops, and the company has also become known as the go-to place for CNC cutting in their home state of Maine, in the Northeast of the US.

“Our CAM software does not accurately estimate cutting times, so we were making educated guesses, which means we weren’t being very consistent from quote to quote,” says Bruns Bros Process Equipment Operations Manager, Caleb Davenport, who has been in the industry for more than a decade.

“At best, we were using a ‘guessing and rounding’ approach. With recent expansions, we’ve taken on more estimators, so it’s become more important than ever to have a consistent tool for each person to use,” he said.

The laser estimator’s time-saving ToolBox

Right from the start of a trial of ToolBox, by Tempus Tools, Bruns Bros noticed the time saving they were achieving, as well as the desired quoting consistency.

“The user interface was simpler and more user-friendly than any other software we’d tried, and it was able to deliver us faster estimates with totally consistent, repeatable pricing,” said Davenport.

“We were able to turn several minutes into just seconds to develop a completed quote, which not only saves us time, but allows us to respond to more RFQs [Request For Quotes] in a day,” he said.

With ToolBox, fabricators and job shops can upload PDFs and extract the 2D DXF/DWG CAD files The software will automatically select only the parts to be cut, including all internal geometries, alleviating the need for time-consuming tracing and fixing of drawings.

Tempus Tools CEO, Ivan Cooper, says that ToolBox even takes this to a new level, with automatic unfolding of 3D models, including STEP, SLDPART, IPT, and IGES files.

“By dragging and dropping files or assemblies into ToolBox, metal components and other components, such as nuts and bolts, will be separated out. Solid modelling software is not required, and the user does not need experience in this type of software,” says Cooper.

Software flexibility

A major advantage of a SaaS platform like ToolBox is that it can easily be updated with new features to suit the needs of its user base. Regular software and security updates can also be rolled out with ease, without needing to purchase a whole new software package.

Caleb Davenport says the service from Tempus Tools was outstanding, which is why Bruns Bros has continued with multiple ToolBox subscriptions after the trial period.

“Tempus Tools is highly responsive to any questions we have, and what was especially encouraging to us was that they were so receptive to feedback and requests for new features – it was clear they wanted the software to deliver maximum value to us,” he said.

“Bruns Bros has grown from a two-man sanitary welding company in 1985 to a diverse corporation with over 60 employees over several locations. We are looking to build on this consistent growth, and a time-saving solution like ToolBox will undoubtedly help us with this expansion,” added Davenport.

ToolBox features

In addition to 2D and 3D unfolding, ToolBox includes a folding module that has been developed by specialists with decades of experience using brake presses.

Cooper explains, “after uploading the drawing through our 3D module, ToolBox recognises fold lines on the correct layers, populates the fold length, calculates prices, and produces a flat DXF.”

ToolBox features also include:

Tube. Users can drag and drop STEP files of rectangular hollow sections and tubes into ToolBox, which will flatten the part and calculate runtime in the quoting module. ToolBox has a separate material database for Long Products.

Secondary processes. Using ToolBox, you can include the majority of the secondary processes that occur within a job shop. Common examples include:
o Tapping
o Powder coating
o Mig welding
o Transport
o Linishing
o Counter sinking
o Galvanising
o Tig welding
o Rivet nuts

Easy integration with other systems. With ToolBox, the user can export data to generic CSV files, or other CAM, ERP, and MRP systems.

Solving drawing problems. ToolBox can solve a range of common issues, including zero length entities, overlapping elements, multiple parts in the same file, Z-axis issues and more.

“We’ve used our combined experience in the laser and fabrication industries and thought of the features we wish we’d had when creating estimates for customers. We’re delighted Bruns Bros is seeing the potential of ToolBox, and we will continue to take on board their valuable feedback as we look to add new features to the software,” said Cooper.

To learn more about ToolBox, and start a free 14-day trial, please click here.

Sebastian Rojas
Tempus Tools Inc
sebastian.rojas@tempustools.com