Should a fabrication shop replace SecturaFAB with QuotedPart?

Start with the sheet purchase, then the selling price

Consider a fictional laser-cut mounting plate, 12 × 8 inches in 0.125-inch mild steel, with an asymmetric tab that makes nesting consequential. Assume a purchased sheet costs $300 delivered. The two yields below are deliberately supplied test inputs, not nesting results from either product. A quote should explain which yield it used and whether remnants receive a credit.

At a 60-piece order, a 20-part yield consumes three sheets. A 24-part yield still requires three purchased sheets if no useful stock is already available. That distinction matters: allocating material by theoretical yield can produce a different cost than charging the actual purchase. Decide whether the customer pays for a dedicated buy, shares a pooled nest or leaves a reusable remnant.

Where SecturaFAB has a stronger documented fit

SecturaFAB's product page, checked October 30, 2026, describes true-shape nests, machine-time calculations, material requirements and additional operations. Its configured calculators, customer/vendor records and inventory pricing suit a fabricator whose estimate depends on more than an isolated part. Those capabilities deserve a live demonstration using your sheet sizes and purchasing policy.

QuotedPart measures STEP, IGES and DXF geometry, reads PDF drawings, and prices editable operations and quantity breaks. Treat that as a part-estimating workflow. Do not assume it supplies the same production nesting or inventory workflow merely because both products can price laser work. Keep your cutting programmer involved whenever a quoted yield depends on machine-ready nesting.

Make the ERP demonstration specific

SecturaFAB's integration page names JobBoss, Epicor, Global Shop and other systems for CoreConnect, plus standardized file exchange through FlexConnect. The names alone do not establish support for your edition or every field. Ask the vendor to carry one quote through with material grade, thickness, purchased hardware, routing, outside coating and the correct customer record.

Have the office change a quantity after transfer. Check whether the receiving system recalculates material and whether the selling price stays under the estimator's control. Record who owns corrections and duplicate prevention. A connector that moves a header successfully can still leave the expensive work of maintaining routing and stock data with your staff.

Budget for the process you actually intend to keep

A standalone SecturaFAB subscription amount, contract length and free-trial entitlement were not published on the product page reviewed. Request those terms separately; do not substitute a Stella Source bundle's starting price for a SecturaFAB implementation quote. Also ask which file formats and modules are included, rather than interpreting a general parts-upload statement as a complete format list.

Run one flat plate, one bent bracket and one welded assembly through the proposed workflow. Retain the estimate, assumptions and ERP result for each. If the smaller tool covers the jobs you sell without forcing a second manual material calculation, it may simplify the office. If configured nesting and inventory rules are central to daily work, their value belongs in the decision alongside the subscription.

• Stella Source's broader metals sales offering
• QuotedPart for sheet-metal estimates