Materials, box kinds and parts rules
Set up your boards, finishes, edge bands, hardware and labour with dated rates. Describe how each kind of box is built: its parts by formula, its hardware and its sizes allowed. Every box in an estimate or a design is then priced from the materials it uses, with your overhead and margin.
PLANSEvery plan
The problem it solves
- Kitchens are priced by a flat rate per square foot, and a tall unit full of drawers loses money.
- A shutter in acrylic on MR ply is quoted, though your factory never puts acrylic on that core.
- Each estimator remembers a different plywood rate, and nobody updates them when the supplier raises prices.
- A client asks for an 850 mm wardrobe shutter and sales says yes, though your hinges carry only 600 mm.
How it works
- Enter your materials: name, kind (board, surface finish, edge band, hardware, labour, other) and the roles each can play. Add unit, sheet size, thickness, waste % and the rate from a date.
- Make material sets, such as Essential, Premium and Luxury: one material per role, to fill every box at once.
- For each box kind, choose how it is priced: built from materials, or a simple rate with extras. For material pricing, list its parts with formulas, such as width D - 20 or W / S - 3. List its hardware too, such as hinges S * (2 if H < 900 else 3).
- Set the sizes allowed (from, up to, and the step for widths), the labour, the overhead % and the margin %.
- Press Try a Size on the box kind for a size and set of materials, without saving. It shows the cost, the price, the rate per front area and any problem.
- Make box uses, such as Kitchen Base or Wall Unit, with their usual sizes and materials. Estimates and the 3D designer pick from them.
Everything it does
Materials
- Kind: Board, Surface Finish, Edge Band, Hardware, Labour, Other; Code and Brand
- Can Be Used As: Carcass, Back Panel, Shutter Core, Shelf, Outside Finish, Inside Finish, Edge Band, Handle, Hinge. Also Drawer Runner, Lift-up, Basket / Pull-out, Labour, Worktop, Sink, Tap, Worktop Fitting, Other
- Unit: Sheet, m², ft², Running m, Running ft, Piece, Hour. Sheet Length and Width (2440 x 1220 mm to start with), Thickness, Waste % (10 to start with)
- Rates: cost per unit from a date, per entity or for all; the rate of the estimate's date is used
- Goes Only On: the shutter cores a finish may be put on; a finish on another core is refused
- For 3D: colour, swatch photo, texture at real size, surface (matt to high gloss, wood grain, glass, metal). Also handle style and length, inside fitting shape and size
- Stock Product, with SmartMy Manufacturing: the product a board is bought and stocked as
Box kinds
- Price: Built from Materials, or Simple Rate + Extras
- Priced Per (simple): area of front (W x H), running length (W), piece, or area (W x D). A base rate plus the extras of the options chosen
- Parts (materials): name, role (Carcass, Back Panel, Shelf, Shutter / Front, Drawer Box, Other) and count. Length and width as formulas of W, H, D, T (board thickness) and S (shutters). Also edges banded 0 to 4, faces finished, groove, measure (area, frame round it, running length)
- Hardware: per slot (Handle, Hinge, Drawer Runner, Lift-up, Basket / Pull-out, Other) the default fitting and a quantity formula
- Labour Hours per Box (at the first labour material's rate) and Labour per Front Area
- Overhead % (10) and Margin % (25) to start with
- Sizes Allowed: width, height and depth from and up to, and a step for widths, in mm, inch or ft. Sizes outside are refused with the reason
How a box is priced from materials
- Board area per material from the parts, with waste, at the sheet, m² or ft² rate
- Profiles sold by the running metre counted by the frame round each part, or its length
- Finish area on the faces finished (outside, and inside for two faces)
- Edge band length from the edges banded
- Hardware from the quantity formulas, labour, then overhead and margin on the cost
- Both the cost and the price are kept; the rate per front area is shown for sales talk
Material sets and box uses
- Material sets: one material per role, Made For the box kinds they suit, and an About text shown in the picker
- Each box can still change any part from its set
- Box uses: name, box kind, usual width, height and depth, shutters, On the Floor, On the Wall or Above (Loft). Also height from the floor, usual materials, counter top look in 3D
- Starter data: plywood, HDHMR, MDF, UPVC, WPC, stainless steel, aluminium profiles, ACP, glass, laminates, acrylic, PU, stone and metal finishes. Also handles, hinges, runners and fittings, all with sample rates
- Starter sets: Essential, Premium, Luxury, and one per system (plywood and laminate, plywood and acrylic, HDHMR wardrobe, UPVC vanity, aluminium kitchen)
- Starter box kinds: Box Unit, Loft Unit, Wardrobe, Open Box, Aluminium Box Unit, and Box Unit priced per ft² of front
Try a Size
- On a box kind: width, height, depth (600 x 720 x 560 mm to start with), shutters, units, material set and options
- Shows each cost line, the cost, the price, the rate per front area and any problem
- Nothing is saved
Who uses it
Owner or factory headDecides how each box is built and priced, the overhead and the margin.
Interiors AdministratorKeeps the materials, rates, material sets, box kinds and box uses up to date.
EstimatorTries sizes and materials before quoting, and sees why a size is refused.
Where you use it
- Web: Interiors > Design > Configuration > Materials and Boxes (Materials, Material Sets, Box Types, Box Uses, Textures)
- Used in: estimates, the 3D designer, the client's 3D page (material sets with their prices), instant quote packages and cut lists
- Not in the phone apps
What you control
Settings
- Waste %: 10 per material to start with
- Sheet size: 2440 x 1220 mm per board to start with
- Overhead %: 10 and Margin %: 25 per box kind to start with
- Sizes allowed and width steps per box kind: empty (any size) to start with
- Rates per entity or for every entity, from a date
Works with
SmartMy ManufacturingA board's Stock Product is what the factory's manufacturing order uses when a cut list is released.
Questions
Can we keep our per square foot pricing?
Yes. Set a box kind to Simple Rate + Extras, priced per area of front. Give a base rate and extras for options such as BWP carcass or acrylic shutters. You can mix both kinds.Do the starter rates match the market?
They are samples with Indian-style rates, marked as such. Replace them with your supplier's rates before quoting.What happens to old estimates when a rate changes?
Nothing. Rates have a start date and each estimate uses its own date. Press Price Again on a draft to bring it up to its date's rates.Are boards priced by whole sheets?
In the price, a board is charged by the area used plus its waste %, at the sheet rate. The cut list then nests the panels and tells you the whole sheets to buy.Can we price in feet and inches?
Yes. Sizes allowed are set in mm, inch or ft, and estimates take sizes in mm, inch or ft. The rate per front area shows per ft² or m².Related features
ESTIMATING AND SELLINGEstimates with rooms as sectionsThe detailed quote, laid out room by room. Modular boxes are priced from your materials, work such as false ceiling or painting comes from your rate library, and other lines are typed. The client approves it on a web page, and each new version tells them what changed.DESIGN3D designer with a price on every boxDraw the rooms wall by wall and put your own kitchen and wardrobe boxes on the walls. Each box shows in 3D with its materials, its price and anything wrong with it. The client turns the design on their phone, tries other material sets with their prices, and approves.MEASURE AND MAKECut lists, nesting and CNC files from the approved designThe design the client approved becomes the cut list. Every panel has its cut size, edges, grain, groove, drilling and a barcode label; each board gets its sheets after nesting. The panel list goes out as a CSV, and each panel as a DXF drawing for your CNC or panel saw.SALESInstant quote with a decision pageA client sends a floor plan and, minutes later, gets a price range for each of your packages, such as Essential, Premium and Luxury. A picture card and a page let them pick a package or ask for a site visit. The ranges come from your own rates and quantity rules, room by room.SALESImport the catalogue and open quotesIf your firm runs today on an Odoo-based system, SmartMy Interiors connects to it with a login and API key. It brings over your catalogue as box types and rate items, and your open quotations as draft estimates. Run it again and what was brought before is updated, not doubled.
See your next quote on it.
Tell us what you design and build, how many enquiries and jobs you have in a month and how you quote today. We will set up your packages and rates with you and send your first instant quote.