Bono Steel has become a trusted name in South Africa’s fabrication industry by focusing on reliable service, consistent quality and long-standing customer relationships.
As the company grew, the team realised that relying on manual quoting, manual nesting and phone-based production updates was becoming harder to maintain.
Higher demand brought tighter timelines, more RFQs, and the need for clearer visibility across jobs.
Instead of adding more administrative work or splitting processes across different tools, Bono Steel explored ways to move towards a single, connected workflow.
They wanted something that could help them quote faster, reduce scrap, and keep customers confidently updated without extra back-and-forth.
1. The Challenges Bono Steel Faced
1.1. Manual Quoting Slowed Down Follow-Ups
As the number of RFQs increased, preparing quotes by hand became slower and harder to manage. Each salesperson worked differently, which made pricing inconsistent and made it difficult for managers to see which quotes were being won or lost. Without this visibility, improving follow-up strategies was difficult.
1.2. Scrap and Material Forecasting Were Unpredictable
Plate usage depended heavily on who nested the job. Without automated nesting, scrap levels varied, off-cut reuse was hard to track and forecasting material needs was more guesswork than data. As workload increased, this inconsistency created planning pressure.
1.3. Limited Shop-Floor Visibility Slowed Customer ETAs
To give customers an update, sales teams had to call production, wait for someone to check the floor and then pass the message back. This worked when volumes were small but became straining as more jobs came in. Customers wanted fast, accurate answers, and the existing process couldn’t always provide them.
1.4. Adjusting to New Systems Took Time
Moving from manual routines to digital systems required patience and commitment. Some team members naturally preferred the old way of doing things, so early adoption came with expected resistance. Bono Steel needed a solution that offered clear value and was easy enough for the team to learn over time.
2. Why Bono Steel Chose SigmaNEST
Bono Steel chose SigmaNEST because it offered a complete workflow, from quoting through to production tracking, without needing multiple separate programs. A few key factors shaped their decision:
- A platform they already trusted – Sales & Marketing Manager Elvis Grundling had used SigmaNEST extensively before joining Bono Steel and knew what it could do in a busy shop.
- One connected environment – SigmaQUOTE, HD SuperNEST and Colour Offload/Load Manager work together to support quoting, nesting and shop-floor visibility.
- Consistent pricing and layouts – Automated costing and nesting removed the variability that came with manual processes.
- Live visibility for managers and sales – For the first time, the team could track quoting performance, scrap reduction and real-time job progress in one place.
- Reliable support – MECAD Manufacturing helped guide the rollout and supported the team as they adopted the system.
3. How SigmaNEST Improved Daily Work
3.1. Faster, More Consistent Quoting with SigmaQUOTE
SigmaQUOTE gave Bono Steel a central place to prepare quotes quickly and consistently.
Sales teams no longer needed to rely on different spreadsheets or manual calculations, and managers could finally track quote performance, follow-up needs and lost-quote reasons.
“The dashboard is fantastic. It lets me see productivity in a heartbeat.” — Elvis Grundling
3.2. Automated Nesting Increased Plate Yield
HD SuperNEST took over the manual nesting process and delivered cleaner, more efficient layouts.
It also flipped parts automatically when it improved utilisation, helping Bono Steel get more from each plate. This consistency brought more stability to plate forecasting and reduced unnecessary waste.
3.3. One Programmer Supporting Nine Salespeople
With manual nesting removed, programming capacity increased dramatically. Today, one programmer handles nesting for all nine sales representatives – something that would not have been possible before. This uplift helped keep production moving smoothly even during busy periods.
3.4. Real-Time Job Tracking Improved Customer Communication
Colour Offload/Load Manager gave the team live visibility of job status.
Sales and production now look at the same information, and customers receive accurate updates without delay.
Bono Steel even created WhatsApp groups to share ETAs quickly and transparently, which strengthened trust and reduced unnecessary follow-up calls.
4. The Results: Clear, Measurable Improvements
| Benefit | Impact at Bono Steel |
| Quote conversion | Increased from 52% to 60% |
| Material efficiency | Scrap value reduced by 12% in the first three months |
| Programming capacity | One programmer now supports nine sales reps |
| Customer communication | Faster ETAs and fewer follow-up calls |
| Operational visibility | Real-time traceability across production |
“If SigmaNEST goes down, we can’t quote, we can’t process, we can’t nest. It’s the heartbeat of our business.” – Elvis Grundling
5. The Bottom Line
Bono Steel’s move to SigmaNEST shows how a fabrication shop can strengthen its workflow without losing the personal, relationship-driven service customers value.
By modernising quoting, nesting and shop-floor tracking, the company gained more capacity, better accuracy and clearer communication – all essential for a growing business.
Read the full customer story here!
