A walkthrough of how a cladding project moves from architectural elevations to material on a fabrication shop's cutting table.
Cladding fabrication starts well before anyone cuts metal. It starts with a panel layout decision that every downstream step — material ordering, nesting, cutting, and installation — depends on getting right the first time.
Working from approved architectural elevations, panel boundaries, joint locations and reveal widths get established across the façade. This is also where penetrations — mechanical louvers, structural connections, gutter and rainwater riser locations — get coordinated into the layout instead of discovered later.
With a panel layout in hand, we quantify material using PlanSwift and return an estimate with a variance report, so material ordering decisions are based on real numbers rather than a rough multiplier on floor area.
Behind every cladding panel is an assembly: Z-girts or H-channels, clips, back pans, insulation, and the substrate itself. Getting this detailing right is what keeps the panel flat, weathertight and serviceable — and it's specified before fabrication drawings are finalized, not improvised on site.
Once panel dimensions are confirmed, cladding fabrication moves into cutting files: nested layouts optimized for flat-material usage, with a leftover percentage the shop can plan against, and cut lists that carry through to CNC-ready files where applicable.
The last step ties it together: a coordinated job-site drawing set with matching codes marked on every façade piece, so the crew installing the panels always knows exactly where each one belongs.
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