FabCal User Manual

1. Introduction to FabCal

FabCal is a web-based fabrication cost calculator built specifically for exhibition stall designers and fabricators at Orange Fabrication. It helps you quickly produce accurate material estimates and cost breakdowns for stalls at trade shows, expos, and events.

With FabCal you can:

• Calculate material quantities for every stall component automatically.
• Apply current market rates to instantly get total project costs.
• Save and manage unlimited costings (Professional plan).
• Export professional-quality PDF reports (full costing, purchase lists, and production lists).
• Collaborate across your workshop and design departments seamlessly within a shared corporate account setup.

2. Registration & Login

Creating a New Account

1. Visit the FabCal website and click “Get Started” or “Register”.
2. Enter your full name, business email address, and choose a strong password.
3. A One-Time Password (OTP) is sent to your email; enter it to verify your address.
4. After verification you are placed on the Free Trial (7 days, up to 2 saved costings).
5. To unlock unlimited costings, custom rate modifications, and the ability to add 2 additional team members under a single unified billing seat, upgrade to the Professional plan from your Profile page.

Logging In

1. Enter your registered email and password and click “Login”.
2. Team Member Access: First, the team member should be registered as a free user in FabCal app. After registration, use the Team option in the left panel to add the team member.
3. If you forget your password, use the “Forgot Password” link to receive a reset OTP by email.
4. Sessions are automatically kept active while you work. Closing the browser will require you to log in again.

3. Dashboard Overview

The Dashboard is your home screen after login. It shows:

• A quick-access “Open Calculator” button to start a brand-new costing immediately.
• Your recent saved costings with date, customer name, stall size, and total cost at a glance.
• Your current plan status (Free / Professional) and the number of days remaining.
• Notifications or reminders about upcoming subscription renewals.

The left sidebar gives quick access to all application sections: Dashboard, Calculator, Saved Costings, Profile, Material Setting, Team, User Manual, and Help.

4. The Calculator – Step by Step

The calculator is the core of FabCal. Work through each numbered section from top to bottom. All sections are optional – only fill in what applies to your stall. The running cost total updates automatically as you enter values.

4.1 Customer Details

• Company Name: Your client’s company name (appears on PDF exports).
• Expo/Event Name: Name of the exhibition or event.
• Expo Date: Date of the event (shown in the PDF header).
• Expo Location: Venue and city.
• Stall Size: e.g., 3m × 3m or 10 × 10 ft (for reference only, does not affect calculations).
• Days: Number of days the stall is operational (used by furniture rental calculations).

4.2 Walls

Walls form the main structure of the stall. You can add multiple walls of different sizes.

• Click “Add Wall” to add a new wall entry.
• Width / Height: The horizontal span and vertical height of your wall module.
• Double-Sided: Enable this if the wall is visible from both sides (e.g., island stalls). This doubles plywood and finish requirements.
• Custom Plywood: Choose a specific thickness (6mm, 8mm, 12mm, or 18mm). Default is 6mm.
• Reaper Channel: Automatically calculated at 1.125x the wall area.
• Rental: On checking this, no production calculation will be done. Instead, rental cost (SqFt) will be calculated for total SqFt.

4.3 Pelmets

Pelmets are the decorative top fascia boards that sit above walls, often branded with the company name.

• Width / Height: Horizontal length and depth drop of the pelmet.
• Pelmet LED: Enable if an LED strip runs along the inside/underside of the pelmet.
• Custom Plywood: Same as walls; default is 6mm.

4.4 Wall & Pelmet Finish

Wall Finish (Multi-Material Selection): You can select one or more finish types using checkboxes. If multiple finishes are checked, area input boxes appear for each material. Common options include Paint Finish, Flex Printing, Fabric Printing, and Vinyl Printing.

Pelmet Finish (Single Selection): Use the dropdown to choose the pelmet finish. Defaults to Paint if not changed.

4.5 Backlit Boxes

• Width and Height: Outer dimensions of the box layout.
• LED Strip: The system calculates linear footage of LED strips required based on the box perimeter.
• Custom Plywood: Default is 12mm for backlit box frames.
• Calculated Materials: Plywood sheets, LED strips, wiring, and translucent flex printing.

4.6 Room / Cabin Section

Use this section when your stall includes an enclosed meeting room or cabin area. You can input basic external room dimensions, adjust individual wall counts, toggle “Custom Wall Sizes” for irregular configurations, configure double-sided requirements, and add a roof ceiling layer with integrated concealed lighting modules.

4.7 Flooring

• Floor Materials: Select one or more floor finishes (Carpet, PVC, Parquet, Wooden). Full footprint area applies automatically.
• Edge Beading / LED Edge: Checkboxes calculate PVC/aluminum trim borders or ambient lighting strip runs.
• Custom Plywood: Default 18mm for flooring subframe construction.
• Rental: On checking this, no production calculation will be done. Instead, rental cost (SqFt) will be calculated for total SqFt.

4.8 Fascias

Fascias are the large branded display boards typically hung at the top of the stall. The system restricts maximum distribution based on wall configurations (maximum 3 for single-wall down to 1 for 3+ walls). You can also specify surface finish treatments and assign internal logo element placements.

4.9 Logos / Branding Panels

Supports standalone 3D or flat elements (ACP sheets, acrylic, vinyl stickers, raised cut-outs). Core cost rates map seamlessly with options configured in administrative Settings.

4.10 Pillar

Enables structural or decorative pillar modules. Input cross-section width, depth, height, and quantity variables. Finish styles deploy symmetrically across all exposed vertical faces.

4.11 Tables & Podiums

For custom-fabricated tables and reception podium elements. These utilize a heavy-load 12mm default plywood layer rule. (Note: These are built-to-spec elements, distinct from rental furniture supplies).

4.12 Profile Lights (LED Channel)

Calculates raw materials for aluminum LED channel strips mounted along edges or ceiling junctions based on total running length rules.

4.13 Furniture & AV Equipment

Covers rented structural assets or audio-visual accessories required across target event durations. Includes pricing rows for LED walls, Digital Standees, Sound Systems, Tables, Chairs, and TV panels spanning 42″ to 100″. Timelines are locked based on your primary customer section inputs.

4.14 Dynamic Sections (Custom Items)

Allows quick injection of non-standard items via two categories: Dynamic Furniture (one-off unique rental items tracking quantities and timelines) and Dynamic Expenses (flat-rate overhead inputs tracking insurance, courier, site entries, or specific tools).

4.15 Labor

Enter the labor requirement for stall build-up and tear-down:

• Number of Workers: Total labor count per day.
• Number of Days: Working days for construction + dismantling.

The daily labor rate is configured in your administrative Settings (Elements Labor).

4.16 Transportation

Record transport costs for moving fabricated materials to and from the event venue:

• Select the transport type from the dropdown managed in your Settings panel.
• The cost applies either as a fixed rate or can be overwritten manually as a flat project amount.

4.17 Other Expenses

A catch-all input field for any additional project costs not covered by standard operational sections:

• Additional transit costs or multiple freight trips.
• Extra labor for specialized on-site tasks.
• Site-specific charges (hall entry fees, electricity deposits, etc.).

4.18 Overhead / Margin

At the bottom of the calculator interface, set your desired profit margin or overhead percentage metric:

• The system defaults to a baseline 15% buffer. Adjust up or down based on project complexity.
• Overhead Amount = Total Material Cost x Overhead %.
• Grand Total = Total Material Cost + Overhead Amount.

4.19 Calculating & Saving

1. Click the orange “Calculate” button at the bottom of the page after filling in all sections.
2. Review the Results panel that appears showing a full material breakdown and cost summary.
3. Click “Save Costing” to store the project for future access, editing, and PDF exports.

5. Saved Costings

The Saved Costings page is a searchable, sortable archive of all your costing projects. You can search by company name, expo name, stall size, or date to quickly find a costing. Each costing module supports viewing material breakdowns, quick editing/overwriting, or creating duplicates to jumpstart similar layouts.

6. PDF Exports

FabCal generates four types of professional PDF reports. Open any saved costing and use the export buttons:

7. Material / Element Settings

The Settings page is where all material rates are configured. Materials are grouped into sections (Sheets, Wall Finish, Flooring, Labor, etc.). Admin users retain priority access to add or lock items, ensuring consistency across standard billing parameters for all sub-user layers.

8. Profile & Team Management

Manage your individual account security credentials, view your active subscription tier, and track your Razorpay billing histories directly from your dashboard profile hub.

Multi-User Sub-Account Routing

Under our updated subscription rules, the primary paying account holder can now add up to **2 separate team members** to share the same active account dashboard at no additional cost. This allows design, engineering, and workshop operations leads to collaborate seamlessly on standard project estimations.

• Inviting Members: Navigate to the “Team Management” panel inside your profile tab, enter your team member’s corporate email addresses, and click “Send Invitation”.
• Shared Workspace Permissions: All added sub-accounts share full professional capabilities, including viewing and creating estimates from the centralized master data registry. However, administrative capabilities (deleting saved records or changing financial setting variables) remain locked to the primary account owner.

9. Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I change plywood thickness for one section?

A: Each calculator section has a “Custom Plywood” checkbox. Enable it to choose from 6mm, 8mm, 12mm, or 18mm. The default thickness is optimised per section (e.g., 18mm for flooring, 12mm for tables).

Q: Can I edit a costing after saving?

A: Yes. Go to Saved Costings, open the costing, and click “Edit Costing”. All saved values reload into the calculator. Make your changes and save again—this overwrites the original.

Q: Can my two added team members view my saved projects simultaneously?

A: Yes. Because the updated multi-user protocol runs on active cloud sync architecture, both added team members can simultaneously search the master archive, pull real-time material parameters, and run individual client calculations under your account data umbrella.

Q: Why are some material rates greyed out?

A: Free Trial users cannot edit material rates. Upgrade to Professional to unlock rate editing. Admin-locked elements can only have their rate changed, not the name or unit.

10. Tips & Best Practices

• Always start with accurate stall drawings—double-check all dimensions before entering them.
• Add walls one by one for L-shaped or irregular stalls rather than trying to average dimensions.
• Use the Purchase List PDF when sending your material list to suppliers—it hides your cost structure.
• Use the Production List PDF for your workshop team—it organises materials by stage so nothing is missed.
• Review material rates in Settings at the start of each quarter to keep estimates accurate.
• Contact support@orangeaf.in for any issues. Include your account email and a description of the problem.