Pricing by weight in a copper and brass workshop, and following the metal given to artisans
In a copper and brass workshop, metal goes to artisans by the kilo and comes back as trays and lanterns. Weighing it out and back shows its cost and loss.
A sheet of brass is cut into discs and handed to an artisan who hammers them. Another artisan chases or engraves them, then they are polished, and some are sent out to be silver-plated. Every stage takes a little metal away as filings and offcuts. In a copper and brass workshop the metal is the expensive part, and it changes hands many times. When it is handed over by eye and the pieces come back without being weighed, nobody can say at the end of the month how much was lost, or where.
The price has the same problem. Brass and red copper follow the market, so a tray quoted at last month’s metal price can be sold at a loss this month without anyone noticing. A workshop that sets its own price per kilo for each metal, and changes it when the market moves, can price every quote from that figure. The quote then says how long it holds: for example seven days, and only while the metal price stays close to the day’s.
Handmade pieces priced from rules
A piece made by hand can still be priced from rules. A round tray is a disc, so its metal follows from the diameter and the thickness of the sheet. A tray of 400 mm in diameter starts from a disc of 0.126 m². In brass sheet of 0.8 mm, that disc weighs 0.85 kg before any work is done. With the 4 % allowed for loss, the quote counts 0.89 kg, the weight the screen shows. With pricing by weight, the metal part of the price comes from that weight and the brass price per kilo. Hammering, engraving or chasing, polishing and any silver plating are added on top, each according to the size and the decoration chosen.
The same thinking works for the rest of the catalogue. A basin is raised from a disc larger than its diameter, because the metal has to climb the sides. A chandelier depends on the size of its body and the number of arms, each with its glass shade. Each of these can be written once as a template, with the inputs the seller types: diameter, depth, number of arms, metal, decoration, finish.
Follow the metal to the cost
Following the metal given to artisans is the second half. When a piece goes to an artisan, the metal leaves stock by weight and is recorded as being with that person. When the work comes back, it is weighed in three parts: finished pieces, scrap, and metal not used. The scrap goes into its own stock item, so it can be sold or returned, and the unused metal goes back to stock. The difference is the loss. Each step can carry the loss it is allowed, a few percent for hammering and more for openwork. A loss above that is flagged at once, while the artisan still remembers the job and long before the stock count.
Artisans in this trade are usually paid by the piece. When an artisan closes a step on the phone, the pieces count towards the monthly pay, and silver plating sent to another workshop goes onto that supplier’s invoice draft. When every step of a piece is done, the piece gets its cost from the metal it used, the steps that were paid and the workshop time. Trays and lanterns made for the showroom enter stock at that cost, so the margin on each sale is known.
This is how sahmrev Workshop works for copper and brass craft. It includes everything in sahmrev Commerce and adds the workshop work. The copper craft page shows the tray template and how the metal is followed, and the live demo lets you try a workshop end to end.