Fabrication Inventory Management — Built for Real Shops

Fabrication shops don't deal in simple SKUs.

Inventory often includes:

• Raw materials in different sizes and units
• Hardware with varying specs
• Components used across multiple products
• Assemblies built from other assemblies

In spreadsheets, these relationships are manual. As inventory grows, files become fragile, inconsistent, and difficult to trust.

Arc Manager treats inventory as structured data, not rows in a table.

Materials, hardware, components, and products are tracked as distinct inventory types, each with clear relationships between them. This structure allows inventory to scale without breaking or becoming unmanageable.

Arc Manager organizes inventory into clear categories:

• Materials — Sheet, tube, bar, or bulk materials with defined units and costs
• Hardware — Fasteners, fittings, and purchased items
• Components — Sub-assemblies made from materials and hardware
• Products — Finished items built from components and materials

Each category serves a specific role, and items can be reused across assemblies and products. This prevents duplication and keeps inventory consistent.

Inventory in Arc Manager isn't isolated from costing.

Materials, hardware, and components are directly referenced by BOMs. When inventory costs change, related BOMs update automatically.

This connection ensures inventory and costing stay aligned — without manual updates or formula maintenance. Learn more about our BOM costing system.

Arc Manager can check whether enough inventory exists to build a product or assembly before quoting or starting a job.

Instead of guessing or manually checking stock, you can see availability based on real inventory data. This helps prevent material shortages, delays, and incomplete builds.

Arc Manager's inventory system runs entirely on your computer.

There's no cloud sync, no server dependency, and no internet requirement. Your inventory data stays local, private, and always accessible.

This makes inventory tracking reliable in real shop environments — not dependent on connectivity or subscriptions. Read more about our offline-first design.

Arc Manager's inventory system is built for fabrication and welding shops that:

• Track materials, hardware, and assemblies
• Build products from shared components
• Want accurate costing tied to inventory
• Are tired of maintaining spreadsheets
• Prefer local, offline tools they own outright

If your inventory lives in multiple spreadsheets or feels hard to trust, this system replaces guesswork with structure.