Measured inventory: glass, marble and fabric
You have 20 m² of glass in the warehouse. Here is the question an ordinary inventory system cannot answer: is that one big sheet, or ten small offcuts? The difference between the two is the difference between filling a 3×2 m order and apologising to the customer. Zemam tracks every piece by its own size and number, alongside the ordinary quantity.
The idea in a minute
A cut in Zemam is a straight, edge-to-edge cut (the way glass and stone are actually cut) — so it yields the piece you asked for plus at most one or two offcuts. The total square metres in stock do not change: the sheet simply became pieces.
How it works
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1. Pick the tracking mode on the item
Every item has three modes. “No tracking” is the ordinary one, where the system follows quantity only. “Track every piece” gives each unit its own number and sells it whole — good for expensive, slow-moving items. “Track by size + cutting” gives every piece a size, computes quantity from area, and lets you cut. That last one is for glass, marble, wood and fabric.
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2. Buying: enter each sheet's size
When the shipment arrives, instead of writing “50 m²” and moving on, you enter each sheet's size: 2.4×1.8, 3×2, and so on. Zemam gives every sheet an automatic number (PC-000001) and computes its area; the balance is the sum of those areas. This works from the purchase invoice and from the goods receipt.
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3. Selling: you pick the sheet, not type a number
On the invoice line you open the list of available pieces with their sizes and tick what is being sold; the line quantity comes out of their combined area by itself. For counted items you type the quantity and the system pre-ticks the oldest ones — leave them or change them. Confirmation refuses any dimensional line where no pieces were chosen.
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4. Cutting: the piece you need + the offcuts
A customer wants 1.2×0.8 out of a 2.4×1.8 sheet. You press “cut”, type the size, and Zemam shows you the cut before you commit: the requested piece plus one or two offcuts. If the size only fits turned 90°, it tries that too. And between the two possible ways of making the cut, it keeps the one that leaves the largest offcut biggest — so the leftover stays usable instead of becoming slivers.
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5. Cutting changes neither your balance nor your books
This is the part that keeps your accountant calm: a cut is not a stock movement. The total square metres before and after are identical — the sheet merely became pieces. Zemam verifies that the areas of the resulting pieces add up to the original sheet exactly, so not a single metre is lost or invented in the records.
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6. A return waits in quarantine until you inspect it
A sheet coming back from a customer is not the same as a new one — it may be scratched or chipped at an edge. A returned piece enters a “quarantine” state: present in the warehouse and counted in the physical balance, but not offered for sale until you inspect it and decide. That stops you selling a customer something nobody has checked.
In short
The balance tells you an area; the piece ledger tells you how many sheets that area is in, and at what sizes.
A cut computes the offcuts for you, and tries to leave you the biggest usable leftover.
The pieces always add up to the balance — cutting never creates or loses a metre in the books.
Returns land in quarantine pending inspection, so you never sell an unchecked piece.
Who this is for
Glass & aluminium
You buy standard sheets and cut to each window's size. The daily question “do I have a sheet this size can come out of?” now has an answer on screen instead of someone walking to the warehouse to look.
Marble & granite
Every slab has its own size and veining, and the offcut after a cut has real value. Tracking offcuts stops them being forgotten in a corner of the yard until they break.
Fabric & upholstery
A bolt of fabric is cut down for orders of different lengths. Zemam knows how much is left on each bolt and lets you sell from the remainder instead of opening a fresh one.
Wood & board
MDF or plywood sheets get cut down to joinery sizes. Same logic: the sheet has a number, the cut yields offcuts, and the offcuts stay in stock carrying value.
Related reading
Do you sell by the metre or by size?
Talk to us and we'll show you measured inventory running on your own items — your sheets, your sizes, the way you cut.