Design and creative production: Scheduling software for model makers
Scheduling software for model makers that brings together build time per component, available model makers and fixed delivery dates, so a jury date is only promised when the model can really be finished.
What makes scheduling hard for model makers.
Model makers often work to delivery dates that cannot move: a jury presentation, the opening of a marketing suite or a council meeting. At the same time the work depends on drawings that sometimes arrive late or change during the build. As long as the schedule lives in a calendar and the owner's head, a new job gets accepted without seeing that three makers are already tied up that week on a large urban model. Machines such as the laser cutter become a bottleneck too when several projects need facades cut at once. The result is late nights just before delivery, or a model finished at the last minute with less detail than agreed.
Scheduling software for model makers
Example- 1
Estimate build time per component
DoneEach model is broken into components such as base, terrain, surroundings, main building and finishing.
- 2
Allocate makers and machines
In progressThe schedule sets components against available makers and machine time.
- 3
Guard the delivery date
NextEach model shows its delivery date, the components still open and the drawings being waited on.
From job to confirmed appointment.
Estimate build time per component
Each model is broken into components such as base, terrain, surroundings, main building and finishing. For each, the workshop estimates build time and machine use. It becomes visible which components can run in parallel and which wait on each other, for instance a facade that can only be cut once the final drawing is in.
Allocate makers and machines
The schedule sets components against available makers and machine time. A maker who excels at facades gets the facades, another the planting and terrain. If the laser cutter is overbooked in a given week, the planner sees it in advance and can bring cutting forward or push it back.
Guard the delivery date
Each model shows its delivery date, the components still open and the drawings being waited on. If a drawing arrives later than agreed, the planner immediately sees what shifts and whether delivery is at risk. That is the moment to talk to the client about detail or freezing the drawings.
Alongside your calendar and your team.
Model makers often plan with a weekly overview on a whiteboard, a shared calendar or a spreadsheet. Delivery dates come from the client by email and drawings via download links. We decide where the schedule per component is kept and how drawing status feeds into it. A whiteboard in the workshop can stay as a daily overview, fed from the same schedule. The owner or workshop manager owns the schedule; the client owns the delivery date and the moment drawings become final.
Schedule per model or per component
Planning a model as one block is simple but hides the fact that surroundings can be built while the main building waits for drawings. Planning per component takes more preparation but shows that room and prevents idle time. For small working models one block will do; for larger presentation models splitting pays off.
Include machines or just people
Scheduling only makers works as long as the machines are not the bottleneck. With several large projects at once, the laser cutter or printer often becomes the limiting factor. Including machine time stops two makers wanting to cut on the same day, but does require an estimate of cutting time per component.
Buffer for drawing changes or plan tightly
A tight schedule looks efficient but collapses at the first late revision. A fixed buffer before delivery absorbs that but can feel wasteful when everything goes smoothly. A practical middle route ties the size of the buffer to how final the drawings are when the build starts.
Clients in other industries.
No customer story from this industry yet. This is how the software works for businesses elsewhere.
All customer stories
Hotel Aadam Wilhelmina
Online check-in, even at two in the morning.
Read the story
L'Artiste Barbershop
A full calendar starts with easy booking.
Read the storyNovaw Pilates
Focus on the class. Let the booking take care of itself.
Read the storyWhat we set up in the schedule.
Models are planned per component with build time and machine time, spread across model makers, with each model's delivery date, open components and missing drawings. Together we plan a normal working week and a week in which a late facade revision coincides with another delivery. Alerts to clients about drawing freezes and a daily overview for the workshop are switched on once the schedule is running and everyone works in it.
View pricingSupport and updatesGood to know.
Explore pricing and optionsCan we see when the laser cutter is overbooked?
Yes, if cutting time per component is estimated. The schedule adds it up per day and flags days where the machine has more work than available time. The planner can then move cutting or bring another component forward.
How do we deal with a client who delivers drawings late?
The schedule shows which components are waiting on those drawings and what shifts. That gives you a concrete conversation with the client: the delivery date moves, a component is simplified, or extra capacity is needed. The decision is recorded against the model.
Does this work with freelance model makers?
Yes. A freelancer gets their own row with the days they are available and sees only the components assigned to them. You can absorb peaks in workload without giving them insight into other clients or projects they are not working on.
Can the schedule be shown on a screen in the workshop?
Yes. A daily overview per maker with that day's components can sit on a screen or tablet in the workshop. Whoever finishes a component ticks it off, so the planner sees progress without walking around.
What often connects to this.
- Digital job cards for model makersDigital job cards for model makers in the form of a build card per model component, holding the current drawing revision, scale, material choice and detail agreements together.
- Website for model makersA website for model makers that shows, for each model type, which scale, level of detail and finish is possible, so architects and developers send more focused enquiries.
- Enquiry form for model makersAn enquiry form for model makers that asks for construction drawings, scale choice, purpose of the model and delivery date, so an enquiry can be judged straight away on buildability and time.
A schedule that works in practice.
Start with a short intake. Then we schedule a call to show the software with your services, team and way of working.
WhatsAppinfo@vorlyo.com Scheduling software for model makers: makers, build time per component and delivery dates in one schedule, with visibility on waiting for drawings.
- Estimate build time per component
- Allocate makers and machines
- Guard the delivery date