Joinery software for UK workshops, built around the bench and the van

A joiner's week has two halves that rarely talk to each other: the bench and the site. The time goes where they meet.

None of this is unusual. It happens because the same size lives in three places: the survey sheet, the cutting list and the quote. Software earns its place when a size is taken once and then flows to the bench, the order and the invoice.

People looking for a joiner search close to home. They add their town or area, look at the map and read the reviews. A joinery firm that wins there has a few things in place.

• A page per kind of workSash window repair and replacement, timber casements, front doors, staircases, fitted wardrobes, kitchens. Each with photos of real jobs and a few lines on how you do it: draught-proofing a sash, matching mouldings, the timber you use.
• The places you work, by nameClifton, Redland, Bath, Keynsham, Clevedon: name them, with a job you did there. See local SEO and our local SEO tips.
• A Google Business Profile that is kept upPhotos of each finished job and a review after each one. See create a Google Business Profile and get more Google reviews.

The enquiry form does the rest. It asks for photos of the existing windows or doors, rough sizes, the age of the house and whether it is listed or in a conservation area. That last question can mean consent is needed before a sash is changed, and asking it early saves a wasted visit. For the website on its own, see website design and joinery website design.

A joinery workshop holds more stock than it thinks: boards of Accoya and oak, sheet material, glass on order, ironmongery on a shelf and half a van of fixings. When nobody knows what is where, a job waits for hinges that were already in the van.

• Timber per jobWhen a quote is accepted, the timber for it is reserved. Offcuts go back on the rack with a size, so the next small job can use them.
• Ironmongery and glass on orderSash weights, pulleys, locks, hinges and sealed units have lead times. The order date sits on the job, and the fit moves when the delivery moves.
• The van as a placeA scan when you load the van books fixings and sealant to the job. An alert proposes an order before a common item runs out.

More on stock in inventory management software. The job sheet itself, with hours, materials and the customer's signature, is on the work order app, and fitting days planned around the workshop on construction scheduling software.

Quoting joinery is repetitive arithmetic wrapped around judgement. The arithmetic is timber per metre, glass per square metre, ironmongery per opening, finishing and fitting hours. The judgement is yours: a rotten cill, a listed building, a customer who wants Accoya instead of softwood.

1. The customer sends photos and a few lines through the site, or you survey with the phone.
2. AI reads it and sets out the items per window or door, with an option such as Accoya next to softwood.
3. You check. You change what the photos could not show and send it.
4. The customer accepts online. Extra work on site becomes its own line with a signature.

Nothing goes out unchecked. AI can also read supplier emails and put a delivery date on the job, or sort enquiries by area and type of work. More on AI quote generator, AI for construction and AI automation.

A good bench joiner is not scrolling job boards with a CV ready. He is at a bench with a phone in his pocket. A job page on your own site asks three things: name and phone number, bench, site or both, and a photo of something he made. That photo says more than a CV: tight joints, clean mouldings, a door that hangs true.

You see who applied, book a chat or invite them for a trial day. Apprentices get their own place on the page, because that is where most joiners start.

For planning people across jobs, see staff scheduling software and the time tracking app.

A sole trader joiner does not need an ERP. A firm of forty with a showroom needs more than a website. This is where we start, by size.

Still on spreadsheets? Read replace Excel with software first.

Software that knows the rules puts the right figures on the invoice and keeps the proof you need. These are the ones that come up most for joiners in England.

A joinery job rarely stands alone. Kitchens, bathrooms and full refurbishments bring in other trades. See renovation, kitchen fitters and tilers. Working mostly for main contractors? Read website for contractors and software for construction companies. For marketing beyond the site, there is marketing for construction companies.

Want to talk about your own workshop? Get in contact. For SN Group, a building firm in Ghent that does external joinery, bathrooms and floors, we built a site with a cost calculation wizard: see our work for SN Group.