In this topic we will create a new material in a step by step tutorial.

What is Materials Manager?

The Materials Manager provides the ability to create, modify or delete materials from any data source, as required. Assign new material textures, door styles, grain direction and even set pricing (includes accessing/using Price Tables) and markups. It is easy to use and follows the same layout as the rest of the CabMaster™ products.

The Materials Manager can be accessed in the Catalog/Drawing Properties from either the :-

• Materials-Advanced > Manager page

Pressing the Refresh - Default Material Data will update all materials in current job/drawing.

or

• Pricing > Material/Hardware page

The ability to Manage Materials under the Pricing category is provided because some pricing options, such as cost per Material/Item, requires access to the Material Manager.

Material/Hardware

Pricing > Material/Hardware page also provides access to Material Manager  -  Click to Expand

Material Inspector 

This opens a 'Material Colour Inspector Properties' dialog which allows you to view the selected DataSource.

Click to Expand

 

Create a New Material

Creating new materials is a simple step by step process. You can create your own materials for these categories:

• Bench
• Door
• Edge
• Extrusion
• Fascia
• Moulding
• Panel
• Splash
• Timber

Carcass material is created by adding to the Panel category.

 

Tutorial

The best way to explain how to create a new material is to go through the step by step process of creating a Door material, as this process can be applied to any of the other categories.

In this discussion we will create a new group for Formica Doors and a material in that group.

In Drawing Properties we will use the Materials-Advanced > Manager page.

• On this page click the Manage button.

Materials-Advanced > Manager page includes DataSource drop list - Click to Expand

The Materials-Advanced > Manager page has an added ability to select from the DataSource drop list. CabMaster uses a default set of materials [CM-Default] that can be customised to the user’s preference.  

If you want to update new material suppliers that are stored in a separate database, you can select here. 

 

These materials relate to Drawing Properties My Setup > Material DataSource.

 

Step 1: Details page

Create new Group and/or Name

The first step is to create a new material Name and specify Brand, Thickness, Colour and an optional Finish details.

In this tutorial we will also create a new material Group.

Manage Materials > Details page showing what we want to achieve

 

Select the Details page and enter the following settings to create a new Group for Formica Doors and a new material Name in that group:

Type	Select Door from the drop list
Group	Type in the edit box 18mm Formica Doors
Name	Type in the edit box 18mm Adobe Stucco Important: This name must be unique, regardless of category it is in.
Brand	Type in the edit box Formica This detail is mostly used for reporting.
Thickness	Type in the edit box 18mm
Colour	Type in the edit box Adobe Stucco
Folder	From the drop list of current selection of colours, select:- 1st folder - set to Formica 2nd folder - set to Adobe Stucco (a colour within the Formica range)
Finish	Optional and can be included in the name instead. Example of finish could be Satin, Gloss, Matt etc which will be included in reports.

  

Step 2: Options page

Next select the Options page and answer the questions concerning the newly created material.

Manage Materials > Options page showing what we want to achieve

 

Option	For Consideration
Transparent	Is the material entirely transparent?
Edge	Should the material have edging applied to it? Only applies to Bench and Doors. For this example we have enabled Edging by ticking the checkbox.
CNC	Does the material need to be sent to the CNC for machining? If Yes, what name to use? In this example, enable CNC machining by ticking the checkbox and enter in 18 Adobe Stucco. Note materials given the same CNC name as each other will be nested together when machined. This means that the CNC name for Panel and Door being sent for machining together need to have the same name.
Optimise	Is this material to be sent to the optimiser for cutting on a beam saw? If Yes, what name to use?  See documentation on Panel Estimator  in the Application User Guide for more details.
Part Number	Enter part number of the material if required on reports.
Grained	Is this a grained material? If Yes, does it have to be rotated 90 degrees?

 

Step 3: Door Style page

The Door Style is only applicable to Door Materials and defines what profile (if any) will be applied to the door.

Manage Materials > Door Style page showing what we want to achieve

 

Style Folder 1	Select from the drop list which has a range of categories for various door styles. Ensure that something is selected otherwise you will have problems at a later stage. Used in this example is the most common i.e. Slab
Style Folder 2	Select from the drop list provided, which is dependent on above Style i.e. with a Slab you will be presented with a selection choice of Edge Banded or Flat Panel. For this example we will select Edge Banded which will be applied to the material. If you select, for example a Shaker Style door, you will presented with different choices:-
Style	Optional. You can enter the name of the style for reporting purposes.
Infill	You can select from the drop list an applicable infill style.

 

Step 4: Save New Material

We will discuss Pricing later but for now we will save our newly created material.

Click the Save As button. You will be asked to confirm, as per example. If correct, press Yes.

Finally, press OK to save and close dialog, as shown below.

 

Save and Delete Buttons

Note that a Delete button is now made available if you decide to that you no longer want this material.

 

 

Step 5: Pricing page

There are a number of ways to price within CabMaster, so the following is just a simple explanation of options on the Pricing page.

Manage Materials > Pricing page

 

Option	Explanation of Option
Price Table	Use a price table for pricing any material based on its length and depth such as in the case of pricing Benchtops. Drop lists allow you to select applicable folder/table files. To edit selected price table use the Edit: Price Table button. The Manage : Price Tables button is here only for convenience and has same functionality as button on the Pricing > Material/Hardware page. Price Table based on length and depth Pricing, if the Treat as Linear is unticked, is calculated on the premise that measurement is ≤ Depth and ≤ Length i.e... If the Length is between 1mm and 230mm then the Row heading of 230mm will be used and.. if Depth is between 1mm and 350mm then the Column heading of 350mm will be used.  The price will be calculated using $38.10 if Depth is 351mm then the price will be calculated using $43.90 Pricing table based on depth and length  -  Click to Expand See topic Pricing Materials Advanced for example of use with calculating price of doors. Treat as Linear enabled/ticked is used with Benchtops as materials are priced only on depth. Linear Price table based on depth only Linear Price table based on depth only -  Click to Expand
Price Code	Each door material can have a default Door Price Group associated with it (a whole number between 0 and 10). If Use Price Groups is enabled and no default exists then the system will apply 1 as the default.
Area	Price per sqm that can be set for all appropriate materials e.g. this could correspond to your supplier's price lists. Can be used in conjunction with Price Table and Extra price per item. See topic Pricing Materials Advanced.
Linear	Used in conjunction with the calculated linear length of material to create the cost price automatically. See topic Pricing Materials Linear Rate.
Extra	Useful if accounting for fixed prices associated with material.
Markup	A percentage markup applied to the total cost.
Labour	Used if you are going to base your pricing on labour. The LabourTableFolder column is an optional column that can be added to the materials table.

 

Video

How to use Materials Manager to create Door and Panel Material in CabMaster (14:59 mins)