In this guide 6 sections
Excel is enough while one person owns the glass schedule and jobs are small. Panel software makes sense once glass passes through processors, sites and RA bills, because each panel then needs one record. GullySystem builds this for façade firms, tracking every panel from cutting list to elevation mark.
What Excel does well for a glazing firm
A spreadsheet is quick to start. The estimator lists each panel with size, thickness, type and location mark, and sorts it any way the job needs. For shower cubicles, railings and small shopfronts, that may be all there is to track.
Excel also needs no new training. Most estimators already think in rows.
Where the spreadsheet starts to break
Trouble starts when the sheet is copied. The processor receives a retyped cutting list, and one figure changes on the way. Toughened glass cannot be cut after the furnace, so a wrong size means a fresh order.
Copies multiply on a façade job. The office has one version, the processor another, and the site a printout from last week. Nobody can say which panels are ready, which are queued for the furnace and which broke.
- Cutting lists retyped for each processor
- Panel status held in phone calls
- Breakages with no recorded cause
- Silicone and gaskets issued without a count
What panel-by-panel software adds
Software holds one record per panel. Size, type, drawing reference and elevation mark sit on it, and the processor order points to that same record. A status per panel replaces the phone call.
Breakages get a cause and a reorder against the same mark. Aluminium profiles, ACP sheets, gaskets, cleats and structural silicone are issued against the project, so a shortage shows before the crew reaches site.
Installed area by elevation and floor then feeds the monthly RA bill. Retention is tracked beside it.
The two side by side
The choice rests on how many hands touch a panel. Compare the two on the points that cost a façade job its days.
Neither tool fixes a wrong drawing. Both depend on the shop drawing being right before the schedule is built.
- One source of sizes: discipline in Excel, a single record in software
- Processor status: phone calls in Excel, a status per panel in software
- Breakage cause: seldom kept in Excel, logged per panel in software
- RA bill area: summed by hand in Excel, drawn from installed marks in software
Settling the choice for a glazing firm
Count the panels on your largest live job and the processors you use. Then count how many panels were reordered last month. Those three figures usually settle it.
If most work is retail glazing, keep the spreadsheet and limit who may edit it. If façade and structural glazing fill the order book, trace one panel through your files first. The gaps show what to fix.
One-panel trace sheet
Pick one installed panel and list every file it appears in, from GFC drawing to processor order, delivery note, installation photo and RA bill. Mark each place the size was retyped. Every retype is a point where an error can enter.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
We mostly do shower cubicles and railings. Do we need software?
Probably not. A simpler order and measurement system will do for retail glazing. Panel tracking suits façade and structural glazing work.
Can the processor update panel status themselves?
Yes, if they agree. They get a narrow view of your orders and update status per panel. If they do not, your office updates it.
Will software stop panels from breaking?
No. It records where and why each breakage happened, so the cost can be discussed with facts. Handling on site and in transport still decides how many break.
Can the builder see progress by elevation?
Yes. A builder view can show panels and ACP sheets installed by elevation and floor, with photos and the area ready to bill.