Manufacturing Processes

A manufacturing process is a type of work your shop performs -- CNC milling, turning, welding, surface grinding, assembly, anodizing, painting, and so on. Processes are used when adding operations to quote parts, and they carry the hourly rates that drive your cost calculations.

Getting There

Go to Settings > Processes & Equipment. The Processes tab is selected by default.

Adding a Process

  1. Click Add Process.
  2. Enter a name for the process (e.g., "CNC Milling", "TIG Welding", "Assembly").
  3. Click Save.

The process is created with no equipment linked. You can add equipment to it right away or come back later.

Processes list with equipment

Linking Equipment to a Process

Each process can have one or more pieces of equipment. The equipment-process link is where you define hourly rates.

  1. Find the process card on the Processes tab.
  2. Click Add Equipment.
  3. Choose Create New to add a brand-new machine, or Select Existing to pick one you've already created for another process.
  4. Set the rates for this equipment on this process:
    • Programming -- cost/hr, markup %, and the resulting selling rate/hr.
    • Setup -- cost/hr, markup %, and the resulting selling rate/hr.
    • Cycle (time per unit) -- cost/hr, markup %, and the resulting selling rate/hr.
  5. Click Save Equipment.

The rate per hour is calculated automatically: Cost/hr x (1 + Markup% / 100) = Rate/hr.

How Processes Appear on Quotes

When you add an operation to a quote part:

  1. You select a process (e.g., "CNC Milling").
  2. You select which equipment will perform it (e.g., "Haas VF-2").
  3. You enter the estimated time for programming, setup, and cycle.
  4. Forge calculates the cost by multiplying the time by the rates you defined here.

This means your quotes are always based on the rates you configured in settings. If you update a rate, new quotes use the updated rate. Existing quotes keep the rate they were created with.

Editing a Process

  1. Click the edit icon (pencil) on the process card.
  2. Update the name.
  3. Click Save.

To edit the rates for a specific piece of equipment under a process, click the edit icon on the equipment row within the process card.

Removing Equipment from a Process

Click the delete icon on the equipment row within the process card. This removes the equipment-process link and its rates, but does not delete the equipment itself. The machine remains available in the Equipment tab and can be linked to other processes.

Deleting a Process

  1. Click the delete icon (trash) on the process card.
  2. If the process is used in existing quote operations, Forge warns you and asks for confirmation. Deleting the process also removes those operations from quotes.

Note: Deleting a process is permanent and affects any quotes that reference it. Consider whether you still need those quote operations before confirming.

Related Articles

← Equipment SetupTeam & Account→