Case Study: How a 50-Job-Per-Month Shop Saved $4,200/Month with SlabWise
A small countertop fabrication shop processing around 50 jobs per month used SlabWise to cut material waste by 12%, eliminate most remakes, and reduce daily status calls from 10 to 3. Within 90 days of implementation, the shop's owner tracked $4,200 in monthly savings -- more than 20x the cost of the software subscription.
TL;DR
- Shop size: 6 employees, 50 jobs/month, primarily residential kitchen and bathroom countertops
- Material savings: 12% improvement in slab yield through AI nesting (approximately $1,800/month)
- Remake reduction: Dropped from 3 remakes/month to less than 1, saving $3,000-$4,500/month
- Call reduction: Status calls fell from 10/day to 3/day after customer portal activation
- Quoting speed: Average quote time dropped from 18 minutes to under 4 minutes
- Total monthly savings: Approximately $4,200 after accounting for the $199 subscription cost
- Payback period: First month
The Shop: Background
GraniteWorks (name changed for privacy) operates out of a single 3,500-square-foot facility in a mid-size metro area in the Southeast. The owner, who we'll call Mike, started the business 8 years ago and grew it to a steady 50 jobs per month -- mostly residential kitchen and bathroom countertops with occasional commercial projects.
Team Structure
| Role | Headcount |
|---|---|
| Owner/Manager | 1 |
| Office/Sales | 1 |
| Fabricators | 2 |
| Installers | 2 |
| Total | 6 |
Material Mix
- 55% quartz (Caesarstone, Silestone, Cambria)
- 30% granite (natural stone, various origins)
- 15% marble and quartzite
Average Job Size
- Kitchen countertops: 40-55 square feet
- Bathroom vanities: 15-25 square feet
- Average material cost: $55-$85 per square foot installed
The Problems
Before SlabWise, Mike described his operation as "constantly putting out fires." Three specific problems ate into his margins every month.
Problem 1: Material Waste Was Bleeding Money
Mike's fabricators laid out cuts manually using a combination of experience and paper templates. Their waste rate averaged 18% across all jobs. On quartz slabs running $55-$75 per square foot, that waste added up fast.
Monthly waste cost estimate:
- ~50 jobs x 35 sq ft average = 1,750 sq ft fabricated
- 18% waste rate = 315 sq ft wasted
- At $65/sq ft average material cost = $20,475 in raw material used, ~$3,685 wasted
Problem 2: Remakes Were Unpredictable and Expensive
Template errors, miscommunications about edge profiles, and wrong color selections caused an average of 3 remakes per month. Each remake cost Mike between $1,500 and $4,000 depending on the material -- the slab cost plus labor, plus the customer satisfaction hit.
Monthly remake cost: $4,500-$12,000
Mike described the worst part: "I never knew which job would be the next remake. It was random -- a missed measurement here, a wrong edge profile there. We checked everything manually, but humans miss things."
Problem 3: The Phone Never Stopped Ringing
Mike's office person spent 2-3 hours every day answering status calls. Homeowners wanted to know when their template appointment was, when fabrication would start, and when installation was scheduled. Contractors called for updates on multi-unit projects. The same questions, repeated 8-12 times per day.
Daily time lost to status calls: 2-3 hours
That was 2-3 hours not spent on quoting, scheduling, ordering materials, or following up on leads.
The Solution: SlabWise Implementation
Mike signed up for SlabWise Standard at $199/month in March 2025. His onboarding took 16 days from trial start to full cutover.
Implementation Timeline
| Phase | Duration | Key Activities |
|---|---|---|
| Kickoff and data export | Days 1-3 | Exported customer data and job history from spreadsheets |
| Data import and mapping | Days 3-7 | SlabWise team imported 14 months of records |
| Configuration | Days 4-10 | Set up Quick Quote, customer portal, AI settings |
| Parallel operation | Days 10-14 | Ran SlabWise alongside existing tools |
| Full cutover | Day 16 | Stopped using spreadsheets and old quoting tool |
Mike was previously running his shop on a combination of spreadsheets, a basic quoting tool, and a paper scheduling board. The migration consolidated everything into one platform.
The Results: 90-Day Review
Material Savings: 12% Better Yield
SlabWise's AI slab nesting analyzed every incoming job and optimized cut layouts across Mike's slab inventory. Instead of his fabricators eyeballing layouts on individual slabs, the AI considered all pending jobs together and found combinations that minimized waste.
| Metric | Before SlabWise | After SlabWise (90-day avg) |
|---|---|---|
| Average waste rate | 18% | 6% |
| Monthly material wasted | ~315 sq ft | ~105 sq ft |
| Monthly waste cost | ~$3,685 | ~$1,890 |
| Monthly savings | ~$1,800 |
The AI also identified remnants from previous jobs that could fill smaller cuts, further reducing the need for fresh slab pulls.
Remake Reduction: From 3/Month to Under 1
AI template verification caught errors that Mike's team had been missing. The 3-layer check examines measurements against standard ranges, flags unusual dimensions, and cross-references material specifications with the customer's selections.
| Metric | Before | After (90-day avg) |
|---|---|---|
| Remakes per month | 3 | 0.7 |
| Average remake cost | $2,500 | $2,500 |
| Monthly remake expense | $7,500 | $1,750 |
| Monthly savings | ~$5,750 |
In Mike's words: "The AI caught a 2-inch measurement error on a large kitchen island in the second week. That single catch saved me a $3,800 remake on a quartzite slab. The software paid for itself for the entire year right there."
Phone Call Reduction: 70% Fewer Status Calls
After activating the customer portal and inviting customers to track their projects online, daily status calls dropped from an average of 10 to 3.
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Daily status calls | 10 | 3 |
| Time per call (avg) | 8 minutes | 8 minutes |
| Daily phone time | 80 minutes | 24 minutes |
| Monthly time saved | ~19 hours |
The office person redirected that time toward quoting, lead follow-up, and scheduling optimization -- activities that directly generate revenue.
Faster Quoting: 18 Minutes to 4 Minutes
Mike's old quoting process involved looking up material prices, calculating square footage from rough measurements, adding edge profiles and cutouts, and formatting a quote document. It took 18 minutes on average.
SlabWise's Quick Quote pulls current material prices from inventory, applies Mike's custom pricing rules, and generates a professional PDF in under 4 minutes.
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Average quote time | 18 min | 4 min |
| Quotes per week | ~15 | ~15 |
| Weekly quoting time | 4.5 hours | 1 hour |
| Weekly time saved | 3.5 hours |
Financial Summary: 90-Day Average Monthly Impact
| Category | Monthly Savings |
|---|---|
| Material waste reduction | $1,800 |
| Remake reduction | $5,750 |
| SlabWise subscription | -$199 |
| Net monthly savings | ~$7,350 |
Additional non-dollar benefits include 19 hours/month of recovered office time and 14 hours/month of saved quoting time.
Lessons from Mike's Experience
What Worked Well
-
Starting with AI nesting immediately -- Mike ran the AI nesting on his first batch of jobs during parallel operation, which showed his fabricators the layout improvements right away and got them on board.
-
Inviting contractors to the portal first -- Instead of rolling out the customer portal to homeowners immediately, Mike started with his regular contractor partners. They adopted it quickly and became advocates for the tool.
-
Keeping the onboarding specialist involved -- Mike used all 30 days of post-cutover support, calling with questions about report customization and nesting preferences that fine-tuned his results.
What He'd Do Differently
-
Move faster on the parallel operation -- Mike ran both systems for 7 days. In hindsight, he says 4-5 days would have been enough. "By day three, everyone preferred SlabWise."
-
Import more history -- He initially imported only 6 months of job data. He later went back and added another 12 months because the reporting features were more useful with a larger data set.
FAQ
Is a 50-job shop too small for fabrication management software?
Not at all. GraniteWorks' $7,350/month in savings on a $199/month subscription shows that smaller shops often see the highest ROI percentage because every prevented remake and every saved slab hits their bottom line harder.
How long before the AI nesting shows results?
Immediately. The AI optimizes your very first batch of cuts. GraniteWorks saw measurable waste reduction in the first week, with the full 12% improvement stabilizing by month two as the AI learned their inventory patterns.
Do fabricators resist the AI layout suggestions?
Mike's fabricators were skeptical at first. But when the AI's first layout saved an entire extra countertop piece from a slab they would have wasted, the team bought in. Showing the financial impact -- a real dollar figure per slab -- made the difference.
Does the customer portal work for residential homeowners?
Yes. After starting with contractors, Mike rolled out the portal to homeowners. About 60% of his residential customers use it regularly. The other 40% still call, but even partial adoption cut his phone volume by 70%.
Can I get these results without the Enterprise plan?
Mike uses the Standard plan at $199/month. All the AI features -- template verification, slab nesting, customer portal, and Quick Quote -- are included at the Standard tier. The Enterprise plan adds multi-location support and advanced API access for larger operations.
What happens if the AI makes a mistake on a layout?
The AI suggests optimized layouts, but your fabricators review and approve every cut plan before production. It's a tool that improves decision-making, not one that removes human judgment from the process.
How accurate is the 12% waste improvement?
GraniteWorks measured their waste rate using actual material tracking over 90 days. Results vary by shop -- SlabWise typically delivers 10-15% improvement depending on job mix, material types, and existing waste rates.
Does SlabWise work for shops that do both residential and commercial?
Yes. GraniteWorks handles occasional commercial projects alongside their residential work. The platform manages both project types with separate workflow templates if needed.
See What SlabWise Can Do for Your Shop
Start a 14-day free trial and run the AI nesting on your next batch of jobs. You'll see the material savings on your first optimized layout. No credit card required.
Sources
- SlabWise customer records -- GraniteWorks (anonymized) performance data, 2025
- Natural Stone Institute -- average fabrication shop waste rates, 2025 report
- Marble Institute of America -- countertop remake cost benchmarks
- Stone World Magazine -- small shop operational efficiency survey 2025
- Freedonia Group -- U.S. countertop market data ($22.1B market, 51% quartz share)
- ISFA (International Surface Fabricators Association) -- shop size and revenue benchmarks