Calculate manufacturing costs for any part — every process, one engine.
ARCNM costs the whole part. It reads the process from the STEP geometry and plans each operation on your machines. That covers machining centres, lathes, laser, plasma and waterjet cutters, punches and press brakes. It also covers wire EDM, grinders, moulding presses and printers. ARCNM simulates every cycle time from physics. It reads heat treatment, coating and welding from the drawing. A physics model alone would miss them. You get one auditable unit cost across the lot-size curve. People use it in the workspace. Software and AI agents use the REST API and the MCP server.
Which manufacturing processes can ARCNM calculate?
- Machining: CNC milling (3-axis, 3+2, 5-axis) and CNC turning (2-axis, live-tool, Swiss-type, mill-turn). Also drilling, reaming, tapping, boring, thread milling, keyway slotting and sawing.
- Sheet metal and cutting: fibre laser, CNC plasma, abrasive waterjet, turret punch, guillotine shear. Also press-brake, roll and tube bending.
- Precision finishing: surface and cylindrical grinding routed automatically from the drawing's tolerances.
- Forming and additive: injection moulding, laser powder-bed fusion and industrial FDM.
- From the drawing: 38 heat treatments (ISO 4885), 37 coatings and surface finishes, and arc and laser welding. Each is priced as a subcontract line with its order minimum. Welds are read from ISO 2553 symbols and priced per metre of seam. A brazing symbol is read and priced at the same rate.
The engine by the numbers
- 54 operation types in the process taxonomy — milling, turning, cutting, bending, EDM, grinding, moulding, printing, treatments
- 26 machine classes — the cheapest suitable one is chosen per lot size
- 536 material grades, each mapped to its cutting data — steels, cast irons, light and heavy alloys, polymers and composites. Together they have 1,913 designations.
- 62 workpiece material groups behind the cutting data — ISO 513 groups, each with its own cutting data. A material of your own joins one.
- 22 manufacturability checks — per feature, graded by severity, before the shop floor
- 38 + 37 heat treatments, coatings and surface finishes priced from callouts — each with its ISO / DIN designation, DE and EN
- 10 lot sizes on every curve — 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1,000, 2,500
- 2 inputs, at most — a STEP file and a PDF drawing. The drawing is optional.
How does one engine cost so many processes?
One engine, one auditable unit cost per lot size for every process. The process follows the geometry. A rotational part is turned, a folded sheet is cut and bent, a ribbed housing is moulded. Heat treatments, coatings and welds come from the drawing. Every operation is planned on the cheapest feasible machine, costed with your machines and rates. The lot-size curve marks the optimum lot and the machine chosen at each quantity. Every euro traces back to the feature that caused it.
Who uses it, and for what?
Buyers and cost engineers get a defensible should-cost before a negotiation. Machining shops and job shops build their quote from the model and the drawing. Design engineers see what a tolerance, a material or a bend costs while the part is still on the screen. Estimators and work preparation derive a routing and times from the model. Developers price parts from code. AI agents answer “what should this part cost, and why?” through the MCP server, inside the tools people already use.
Frequently asked questions
Can I calculate manufacturing costs from a STEP file?
Yes. Upload the STEP model and, if you have it, the PDF drawing. Choose your machines and rates, and a lot size. ARCNM returns the process plan, cycle times and an itemised unit cost across the lot-size grid. This works in the workspace, via one REST call, or from an AI agent over MCP.
Do I need my own machine data?
No. ARCNM runs from day one with its own machine data, rates and material prices. Add your own machines, rates and material prices, or calibrate from a handful of real costs. Then the numbers reflect your shop.