Batching laser and 3D-print orders by material and machine

When I started selling 3D prints, I made things in the order they were bought. Order one in black, order two in white, order three in black again. I spent half my day changing filament. Batching fixed that. Here's how I do it, and it works the same way for a laser.

What batching means in a small shop

A batch is a group of jobs you run together because they share a setup. For laser and 3D-print work, the setup that costs you time is almost always one of two things:

• The material: a sheet of 1/8" birch, a roll of black PETG, a box of anodized tumblers.
• The machine: which laser or printer it runs on, and how that machine is set up right now.

Every change costs time: unloading, loading, refocusing, a purge line, a test cut. Batching pays that cost once per group instead of once per order.

Your batch key: material plus machine

Pick one simple rule for grouping: same material, same machine, same batch. For example:

• Black PLA, Printer 2
• 1/8" walnut ply, 40 W laser
• Clear acrylic 3 mm, 40 W laser

Don't get fancier than that at first. If two jobs share a material but need different machines, they're different batches. If you find yourself splitting batches by color all the time, make color part of the material name (PLA Galaxy Black, not just PLA).

Decide each product's material and machine once

The slowest part of batching is deciding, for every new order, what it's made of and where it runs. Do that work once per product instead of once per order.

Make a short table: product (or listing), material, machine, how many working days it takes. When a new order comes in, look it up. If a buyer's choice changes the material (say, a color option), give each option its own line. This is also where you set honest lead times: a product that needs paint gets more days than one that's ready to pack off the bed.

Set a cutoff, then close the batch

A batch needs an end. Pick a time each day, say 10 a.m., and treat everything that came in before it as today's batch candidates. Group them, start the machine, and don't keep adding jobs to a running batch. New orders wait for the next one. This habit stops the "just one more" loop that turns a two-hour plate into a five-hour day.

Due dates come first, batches come second

Batching is a way to save time, not a reason to ship late. Before you group anything, sort by promised date. Then:

1. Anything due tomorrow or late runs today, batched or not.
2. Fill out those batches with other jobs that share the same material and machine.
3. Only then start batches that are mostly about saving setup time.

If one rush order in white would sit until you have "enough" white jobs, run it alone. A late order costs you more than a filament change.

Job sheets that travel with the work

Once a batch is running, the risk moves from "what do I make" to "which one is which." Print one sheet per job with:

• The order number
• The personalization in large type
• Material and machine
• The promised date

Stack the sheets in the order you'll pull parts off the bed or out of the laser. Check each finished part against its sheet, then keep them together through packing.

Laser tips

• Group by material and thickness together. Same wood, different thickness means different settings. Treat them as different materials.
• Nest small jobs on one sheet. Keychains and tags from several orders can share a sheet. Mark each part's order number lightly on the scrap edge or in your layout file.
• Separate engrave-only from cut jobs if your settings or focus change between them.
• Run proof-approved jobs only. If you send mockups, don't put an unapproved job in a batch. A changed name means a wasted part.

3D-printing tips

• Batch by filament first. A spool change is the setup cost you feel most.
• Pack plates with a mix of orders that share a filament, and write down which part is whose before you slice.
• Keep multi-color jobs in their own batches. They tie up an AMS or tool changer, so group them by palette.
• Watch long prints. A 14-hour print might be better alone overnight than holding up a plate of small jobs.

Doing this in an app

A spreadsheet plus a product table gets you far. When mine stopped keeping up, I built CrossBatch to do this for my own Shopify and Etsy orders. Product rules set each job's material, machine and lead time automatically, with promised dates counted in working days. You batch by material and machine; starting a batch moves its jobs to In production. Job sheets print with the personalization in large type and a QR code back to the job. Batches are on the Starter plan ($19/month) and up, and there's a free plan if you want to try the queue first.

Whatever you use, keep the order: due dates first, then batches, then sheets.

Etsy is a trademark of Etsy, Inc. CrossBatch is not affiliated with Etsy.