Almost every fabricator starts in Excel — it is free, familiar and endlessly flexible. For a workshop quoting a handful of simple windows a week, a well-built spreadsheet can genuinely be enough.
The trouble starts as you grow. Formulas drift, a single wrong cell quietly eats your margin, the cutting list ignores your real stock lengths, and the whole thing lives in one person’s head. AluSync keeps the flexibility you like but adds the accuracy, optimization and shared structure a spreadsheet cannot.
Excel vs AluSync, side by side
| Capability | Excel | AluSync |
|---|---|---|
| Free to start | ||
| Soot, inches & mm without manual conversion | ||
| Consistent formulas across the whole team | ||
| Cutting optimization vs real stock lengths | ||
| Branded quotation PDFs with margin hidden | ||
| Batch inventory and production tracking | ||
| Real profit per job | ||
| One source of truth, not many files |
When Excel is still the right choice
If you quote only a few simple windows a week, already have a spreadsheet you trust, and do not need cutting optimization, inventory or production tracking, Excel may be all you need — and it is free.
AluSync earns its place the moment volume, accuracy or visibility start to cost you: when a wrong cell loses real money, when the shop floor cannot follow the cutting list, or when only one person can produce a quote.
What AluSync adds over a spreadsheet
- Accuracy you can check. Shared, formula-mapped materials mean every estimator quotes the same window the same way — no drifting cells.
- Optimized cutting. Cuts packed against the stock lengths you actually buy, with visual layouts and exact wastage.
- Margin protection. Labour and markup fold into the rate, so a shared quote never reveals your cost.
- The whole factory. Estimation, quoting, inventory, production and invoicing share one set of data.
Questions
Is AluSync better than an Excel window-quoting template?
For a few simple windows a week, a trusted Excel template can be enough. As volume grows, AluSync adds accuracy (shared formulas, no drifting cells), cutting optimization against real stock lengths, margin-safe quotation PDFs, and inventory and production in one system — things a spreadsheet cannot do reliably.
Can I move my existing Excel data into AluSync?
Yes. During onboarding we help set up your materials, profiles and rates, so the knowledge currently in your spreadsheets becomes shared, consistent formulas in AluSync.
See AluSync on your own windows
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