FOR PANEL BUILDERS
A panel quote is two jobs in one: a sheet metal enclosure priced on steel, cutting, bending, welding and powder coating, and a bill of switchgear, busbar and wiring that can run to hundreds of lines. Copper, steel and switchgear prices move between quote and order. Kojo builds both halves of the quote from your own rates and costing rules, with material at today's price.
HOW THE WORK IS PRICED
The enclosure is priced like any sheet metal job. CRCA or galvanised sheet (thinner for doors and covers, heavier for mounting plates and base frames, stainless for outdoor or washdown duty) goes through CNC punching or laser cutting, press brake bending, welding, grinding, pre-treatment and powder coating, then gets hinges, locks, gaskets and gland plates. Sheet weight, number of bends and cut-outs, and the area to be coated drive most of the cost, and a higher IP rating adds gasketing and sealing work.
The panel side is priced off the bill of materials: breakers, contactors, relays, drives, PLCs, meters, terminals, ducts, wire and lugs, plus copper or aluminium busbar sized for the current rating. Bought-out items are often the biggest part of the price, branded switchgear changes with each price list revision, and copper moves with LME rates. On top sit assembly, wiring and ferruling labour, routine testing and the customer's inspection or FAT. Most panels are engineered to order against a single-line diagram, quoted through a consultant or EPC contractor against an approved makes list, and paid in stages, often with a retention held until site commissioning.
THE HEADACHES
A switchgear price list revision or a jump in copper between quote and order eats the margin on a job that was won at a tight number.
Every quote means rebuilding hundreds of lines in Excel, and a missed item such as a panel fan, a gland plate or a set of lugs comes out of your margin.
A flat rate per kilo ignores bends, cut-outs and coating area, so complex enclosures are underpriced and simple ones lose to cheaper bids.
The last payment waits on commissioning that someone else controls, and small retentions across many jobs quietly add up to a large sum.
THE WORKFLOW
A consultant, EPC contractor or end customer sends the SLD, specification, approved makes list and enclosure requirements such as IP rating, form of separation and colour.
Build the switchgear and busbar BOM from the approved makes, and cost the enclosure from sheet, cutting, bending, welding, coating and hardware, plus wiring and testing labour.
Send the techno-commercial offer, then revise it through clarifications, make changes and negotiation.
After the order, submit GA and wiring drawings for approval, and buy switchgear and copper against their lead times.
Fabricate and powder coat the enclosure, mount the components, fit busbars, then wire, ferrule and label.
Run routine tests and the customer's inspection, dispatch, then collect the dispatch payment and, after commissioning, the retention.
WHERE KOJO FITS
COMMERCIAL
LIVEKojo fills in sheet and copper at today's price from your raw-material price master, with overhead and margin from your own settings. Cutting, bending, welding, powder coating, wiring and testing are built from your own rates and costing rules, set up during onboarding, and the offer goes out as a PDF.
Explore module →OPERATIONS
ROLLING OUTDefine the bill of materials once for the panels and enclosure sizes you build again and again, and see their true cost at today's material price. Consumption variance shows when copper, wire or sheet usage drifts from standard.
Explore module →COMMERCIAL
ROLLING OUTConsultant and EPC enquiries go to many panel builders at once. Every offer you send gets an automatic follow-up schedule by email and WhatsApp, so it is not forgotten in someone's inbox.
Explore module →OPERATIONS
ROLLING OUTTracks sheet, copper, wire, lugs and consumables against real usage and warns at the reorder point, rounded up to the supplier's minimum order quantity.
Explore module →COMMERCIAL
ROLLING OUTReminds customers before and after each due date on WhatsApp, email and SMS. The ageing view shows who owes what and for how long, so old retentions stay on the list until they are paid.
Explore module →STARTER TO ENTERPRISE
Start with quoting, add production, inventory and payments, then scale across plants with integrations and a dedicated support team.
STARTER
Start with quoting: your sheet and copper prices, fabrication, wiring and testing rates, margins and offer format set up, so every enquiry is costed the same way.
GROWTH
Add BOM costing, inventory and payment reminders as volume grows, so repeat panels are costed at today's prices, sheet and copper are reordered in time, and dispatch and retention payments get chased.
ENTERPRISE
For groups with separate fabrication and assembly units, or several plants: multi-site roll-up reporting, an open API to your accounting or ERP system, a dedicated support team and an uptime SLA.
NUMBERS TO WATCH
MARGIN AT ORDER AGAINST MARGIN AT DISPATCH
Shows how much switchgear and copper price movement between quote and purchase took out of each job.DAYS FROM ENQUIRY TO OFFER
Consultants and EPC buyers compare offers against a deadline, and a late offer rarely wins.WIRING HOURS PER PANEL AGAINST ESTIMATE
Assembly and wiring labour is where panel jobs most often overrun without anyone noticing.RETENTION AND OVERDUE RECEIVABLES
Small amounts held back on many jobs add up and tie down working capital you need for the next order.COMMON MATERIALS
Each material page has properties, equivalent grades and a free weight and machining cost calculator.
QUESTIONS
Yes, from your own rates and costing rules, set up during onboarding. Kiviro configures the way you already price fabrication, coating, wiring, testing and margins, so the offer follows your logic rather than a generic formula.
Most panel builders repeat more than they think: standard feeders, distribution boards and enclosure sizes. Define those BOMs once and Kojo shows their true cost at today's material price, while one-off panels are still quoted job by job.
Integrations and an open API for accounting and ERP systems come with the Enterprise plan. On every plan you own your data and can export it.
Book a free 30-minute visit. We'll run one of your real jobs through Kojo on the spot. Outside India? We'll do it on a video call.
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