Why it matters
Machines are capital sitting on your floor. Knowing how much each one actually runs tells you whether you have too much capacity, not enough, or about the right amount. Utilization is shown in shifts' worth of running time, so the number means something you can picture.
The cost half matters more than it sounds. Without an hourly cost on a machine, a job that spent ten hours on the waterjet shows the same machine cost as one that never touched it: nothing. In a shop where the machines do most of the work, that makes every job look cheaper than it was, and the margin you think you have isn't the margin you have.
Setting a rough hourly cost fixes that. It's an estimate and FabWise labels it as one — it never mixes into your labor cost, and it never touches a quote or an invoice. It's there so machine-heavy jobs stop reading as free.
How it works
Utilization looks at a trailing window (7, 30, or 90 days) and compares how much of that time each machine was actually running against how much it COULD have run if it never stopped. FabWise shows this as a percentage and a plain-language comparison — roughly one shift a day, two shifts a day, or round-the-clock.
Cost is a simple estimate, not a precise accounting figure. Set an hourly rate on a machine, and every run on that machine gets a cost estimate based on how long it ran. If you change the rate later, past runs keep the rate that was in effect when they happened — only new runs use the new rate.
Machine cost is shown separately from labor cost — it's never added into your labor totals. Think of it as a second, independent number, not a replacement for anything you already track.
Where to find it
- Utilization page: Admin — Machines — Utilization
- Cost rate: set on each machine's edit page — Admin — Machines — (a machine) — Edit
- Who can see it: account owners, admins, and managers
What you'll see
The Utilization report
A table of your active machines with a utilization percentage and shift-equivalent label for the selected window. You can switch between 7-, 30-, and 90-day windows.
A machine's estimated cost per run
On a job or a machine run's detail, if the machine has an hourly rate set, you'll see an estimated machine cost alongside the run's time. If the machine has no rate set, this shows as a dash — not $0 — so you know it's just not configured yet, not that the machine costs nothing.
What to do
- If a machine's utilization looks low, consider whether it's under-scheduled, or whether jobs that use it are bottlenecked elsewhere.
- To start seeing cost estimates, set an hourly cost rate on each machine you want costed. Leave it blank on machines you don't want to estimate.
- Don't treat the cost estimate as precise. It's a rough directional number based on a flat hourly rate — it doesn't account for energy, maintenance, or tooling costs.
Common questions
Q: Why does a machine show a dash instead of $0 for cost?
A: A dash means no hourly rate is set yet. $0 would wrongly suggest the machine costs nothing to run.
Q: If I change a machine's hourly rate, does it change past job costs?
A: No. Each run keeps the rate that was in effect when it happened, so changing the rate today only affects new runs going forward.
Q: Does machine cost show up in my labor cost totals?
A: No — it's tracked and shown separately, never combined with labor cost.
Q: Is the utilization percentage based on my whole account or per machine?
A: Per machine — each machine gets its own utilization figure for the window you select.
Related
Last updated: 2026-07-23